DLA Piper - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

DLA Piper is High Risk.

DLA Piper is High Risk. The company yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. DLA Piper embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

Corporate Weaponization Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Cancellations	Medium Risk
Discriminatory Philanthropy	High Risk
Employment Protection	High Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	Medium Risk
Funding	High Risk
Political Actions	High Risk

Corporate Governance and Public Policy ⓘ

Rating Criteria Detail

Criteria Risk Level Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria:

Has canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

DLA Piper integrates ESG into its business practices. It is “fully integrating S&ESG due diligence processes throughout the entire procurement management lifecycle” (1). However, DLA Piper has not publicly canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs (2).

Criteria:

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

DLA Piper’s HRC 2025 CEI rating indicates the company will not donate to non-religious charities unless they embrace controversial sexual identity policies (1)(2). DLA Piper does not publish charitable giving guidelines (3).

Criteria:

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

DLA Piper is Mansfield Certified, indicating its support of DEI in its recruitment, hiring, promotions, and leadership composition (1)(2). DLA Piper offers unconscious bias training to its partners. By establishing specific gender and racial targets, DLA Piper appears to prioritize diversity over merit in its hiring, promotion, and leadership composition (3)(4). DLA Piper also appears to prioritize diversity over merit in its supply chain (5). DLA Piper does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (6).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

DLA Piper is a member of the Net Zero Lawyers Alliance, which aims to influence regulatory bodies and legal associations with net-zero emission and subsequent decarbonization goals (1)(2). Otherwise, it has not supported ideological causes or policies (3). DLA Piper scored a 40 out of 100 on the 2025 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a political stakeholder group (4)(5).

Criteria:

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

DLA Piper was a sponsor of the 2022, 2023, and 2024 HRC National Dinners (1)(2)(3). DLA Piper is a member of the MCCA, indicating its focus on recruiting, retaining, and promoting employees based on race (4)(5)(6). DLA Piper is a member of Out Leadership, and it supports Lawyers for LGBT+ and Allies Network (7)(8). The company is a corporate partner of Ashoka, a global network of entrepreneurs focused on widespread, systemic social and environmental change (9). DLA Piper is a Member of Out Leadership, a global network of LGBT+ business leaders from major companies that seeks to advance LGBTQ+ representation in corporate leadership and integrate LGBTQ+ priorities into workplace strategies. The first LGBTQ+ B-Corporation, Out Leadership accomplishes this through convening leadership summits, directing talent initiatives, and providing advisory solutions that emphasize the positive impact of LGBT+ inclusion for business (10)(11)(12)(13). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of the company using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (14).

Criteria:

Uses corporate political actions and/or financial contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

DLA Piper is a partner of the Center for Reproductive Rights, building case law, advocating before policy makers, and engaging in litigation to challenge bans and restrictions on access to abortion (1). The compnay has not used its PAC donations or lobbying for ideological purposes (2)(3)(4).