Since assuming office, President Donald Trump has signed orders aimed at dismantling DEI policies.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sent letters to 42 law firms, warning them about “potentially unfair and anticompetitive employment practices” involving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, the agency said in a Jan. 30 statement.
In the Jan. 30 letter, FTC Chair Andrew N. Ferguson said the firms’ participation in the DEI-based Mansfield Certification program, created by DEI consultancy Diversity Lab, poses “serious concerns.”
The program establishes “common race and gender-based employment practices across the legal industry,” the letter said.
According to the FTC, to be eligible for Mansfield Certification, a law firm must agree to consider talent pools for promotions and leadership opportunities that comprise at least 30 percent of members of underrepresented racial and other groups.
To achieve certification, law firms participate in monthly Mansfield meetings to discuss common labor-market challenges, Ferguson wrote in the letter.
As a result of the process, the firms have reportedly met the 30 percent benchmark for external hiring and internal promotion.
“Millions of American citizens participate in our economy both as workers and as consumers. The antitrust laws protect them from anticompetitive employer agreements in labor markets just as much as they do from anticompetitive seller agreements in product markets,” the letter said.
According to Diversity Lab, the Mansfield program ensures a “fair and equal” opportunity for all lawyers to advance to leadership roles. The program focuses on “equal treatment, equal opportunity, and equal access.”
The initiative is an “inclusive sourcing process” rather than a diverse slate policy, Diversity Lab said.
The program does not dictate or require that underrepresented groups be selected for any leadership role or activity. Nor does adopting the initiative result in any individual being excluded from employment consideration on the basis of gender, race, or other demographic characteristics.
“Mansfield does not, explicitly or implicitly, ask employers or their decision-makers to make any selection or employment decision because of a demographic trait. As always, employment and advancement decisions remain outside of the scope of Mansfield and should be based solely on merit,” according to Diversity Lab.
The FTC letter cited an October 2024 statement from Diversity Lab, which claimed that more than 360 law firms earned Mansfield Certification in 2023-24.
