EEOC, law students end lawsuit over DEI demands

Law students who had sued over the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) demands for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) data from law firms agreed to dismiss their lawsuit against the EEOC when the agency agreed that its requests for the data “was not mandatory, and that most law firms did not provide any of the requested information.” The agency said the time for law firms to respond had ended and the matter was now closed. This ends the EEOC’s investigation, which began when then-Acting Chair Andrea Lucas sent letters to 20 law firms requiring hiring and contact information for all law students or attorneys who applied for jobs since 2019. As a result of the EEOC’s letters and Executive Orders against law firms, nine major law firms agreed to provide nearly $1 billion in legal services to the Trump administration.

Law professors seek law firm DEI data

Two law professors have sued the EEOC seeking documents related to Lucas’ law firm letters. In their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, the professors said the EEOC denied their requests for the documents and didn’t respond within the 20 days required by the statute. The request sought information on all correspondence between the EEOC and any of the firms related to the letters; all contracts or other agreements between the firms and government as a result of the letters; and all records that “discuss, describe, or refer to the existence or contents of any such contracts or agreements.”