By Fred Satterwhite
On January 30, 2026, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent letters to 42 law firms warning that their participation in a diversity certification program could potentially create liability under federal antitrust laws that the FTC enforces. The law firms collectively employ more than 50,000 attorneys and are among the largest firms in the U.S.
The letters targeted firms that, according to publicly available information, had participated in the Mansfield Certification program, a process developed to create equal opportunity to help talent advance into leadership roles at law firms and corporate legal departments. FTC particularly took issue with a component of the program in which participating law firms regularly share knowledge about their experiences overcoming challenges in identifying and reaching broader talent pools in the labor market. The commission suggested that such a practice could constitute “anticompetitive collusion” among law firms, and reiterated required compliance with federal law including Section 1 of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 and Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914—laws typically applied to practices such as market and pricing manipulation.
The letter from FTC is the latest action from the Trump administration targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in private industry, and the second time in the past year that the administration has focused on law firms. However, unlike the March 17, 2025 letters sent by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to 20 law firms that requested detailed information about their hiring practices and diversity initiatives, the FTC letter does not request any information from the firms. Rather, the FTC letter states that its purpose is “to alert [firms] to potential for liability under laws that the FTC directly enforces” and “is not intended to be a comprehensive statement of concerns that may exist in connection with the Mansfield program or other use of DEI metrics.” The letter goes on to state that “…receipt of this letter is not intended to suggest that [firms] have engaged in illegal conduct.”
Given the current administration’s broader anti-DEI activity, it is noteworthy that the FTC letter lists EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas as a co-recipient and includes the following statement: “Other federal agencies will need to determine whether participation in the Mansfield program creates separate liability under the U.S. civil rights laws.” Notably, in 2025, a U.S. District Court discussed the Mansfield program as being aligned with anti-discrimination laws and the current administration’s focus on restoring merit-based opportunity.
DCI will continue to monitor developments and provide updates as they occur.
