Back in June 2021, President Joe Biden signed a bill to make Juneteenth an official federal holiday, memorializing the end of slavery in the United States. Before that momentous occasion, in the wake of protests that swept the nation following the George Floyd murder, Biglaw firms raced to meet the moment, stepping up one by one to announce that Juneteenth would be recognized as a holiday, giving employees the time to reflect on issues of racial injustice in America.
Unfortunately, times have changed since then, and against the backdrop of Trump’s sweeping anti-DEI declarations, Juneteenth celebrations have been dimmed, with support for these initiatives being pulled. But what about law firms?
To our knowledge, the following firms have declared Juneteenth a holiday, granting employees either half or full days off:
- Akerman
- Akin Gump
- Alterman Law Group
- Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer
- Baker Botts
- Baker Donelson
- Ballard Spahr
- Barnes & Thornburg
- Blank Rome
- Boies Schiller
- Bradley Arant
- Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
- Cadwalader
- Cahill
- Clifford Chance
- Cooley
- Covington
- Cozen O’Connor
- Davis & Gilbert
- Davis Wright Tremaine
- Debevoise
- Dechert
- Dinsmore & Shohl
- Dorsey & Whitney
- Faegre Drinker
- Foley Hoag
- Foley & Lardner
- Freshfields
- Fried Frank
- Gibson Dunn
- Gordon Rees
- Goulston & Storrs
- Greenberg Traurig
- Greenspoon Marder
- Griesing Law
- Haynes and Boone
- Hogan Lovells
- HSF Kramer
- Ice Miller
- Jackson Lewis
- Jones Day
- Katten
- Kelley Drye
- Kiernan Trebach
- Kirkland
- Latham
- Littler
- Loeb & Loeb
- Mayer Brown
- McDermott
- Moore & Van Allen
- Morgan Lewis
- Morrison & Foerster
- Munger Tolles & Olson
- Norton Rose
- Ogletree
- Patterson Belknap
- Paul Weiss
- Perkins Coie
- Polsinelli
- Reed Smith
- Ropes & Gray
- Schulte
- Selendy Gay
- Seyfarth
- Shearman
- Sheppard Mullin
- Sideman & Bancroft
- Sidley
- Simpson Thacher
- Skadden
- Steptoe
- Stradley Ronan
- Sullivan & Cromwell
- Sullivan & Worcester
- Venable
- Vinson & Elkins
- Weil (opt-in)
- White & Case
- Willkie
- Wilson Sonsini
- Winston & Strawn
There are many, many more law firms in this country — where do the rest of the Am Law 100, Am Law 200, midsize firms, and elite boutiques stand as far as Juneteenth is concerned? Taking a step back from legal work to commemorate the day and encouraging all employees to reflect on the legacy of slavery sends a important signal from the top of the firm that this is a very important issue.
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Please take our survey and let us know if your firm has declared Juneteenth a holiday. You can also email us, text us at (646) 820-8477, tweet us @atlblog, or skeet us @abovethelaw.com to let us know. Thank you.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.