FTC Warns Major Law Firms Over Diversity Hiring Practices, Citing Antitrust Concerns

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has put dozens of the nation's leading law firms on notice, raising antitrust concerns over their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring programs. In letters sent Friday, the agency warned that such initiatives could be construed as "potentially unfair and anticompetitive."

The move signals a significant regulatory escalation in the ongoing national debate over corporate DEI efforts. It follows the Trump administration's elimination of federal diversity programs and a recent pullback by some private companies. Legal experts suggest the FTC's focus on law firms—gatekeepers of corporate compliance—sends a powerful deterrent message across all industries.

Recipients of the warning letters include legal powerhouses such as Alston & Bird, Holland & Knight, Hogan Lovells, Ogletree Deakins, and Perkins Coie. The FTC has requested information from the firms to assess whether their hiring collaborations or shared DEI standards might unlawfully limit hiring pools or suppress competition for diverse legal talent.

"This is a chilling overreach that misunderstands the purpose of DEI," said Maya Chen, a senior associate at a mid-sized firm not named in the letters. "The FTC is treating efforts to level a historically uneven playing field as a cartel. It's absurd and counterproductive."

Conversely, David Riggs, a former FTC attorney now in private practice, offered a more measured view: "The FTC isn't attacking diversity goals per se. It's scrutinizing the 'how'—specifically, whether firms are coordinating in ways that reduce competition. It's a nuanced but important legal distinction."

The sharpest criticism came from Professor Elena Rodriguez, a labor law scholar. "This is a politically motivated assault disguised as antitrust enforcement," she stated. "It targets the very firms trying to rectify systemic inequities while ignoring decades of closed networks that favored a narrow demographic. The hypocrisy is glaring."

A fourth perspective came from Michael Boyd, a managing partner at a regional firm. "The legal industry has long operated on relationships and referrals, which inherently limit competition," he noted. "The FTC's sudden interest in 'competition' for talent only when it involves diversity initiatives raises legitimate questions about the agency's priorities and consistency."

The firms have not yet publicly commented on the letters. The outcome of this probe could redefine the permissible boundaries of corporate diversity programs nationwide.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas; Editing by David Ljunggren)