Thousands march in Washington, D.C., protesting police brutality and the death of George Floyd, on June 6. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

UPDATE: Since this story was published, more firms have announced plans to observe the Juneteenth holiday by closing their U.S. offices or encouraging employees to take a paid day off. They include: Akerman; Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld; Arnold & Porter; Baker Botts; Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft; Cahill Gordon & Reindel; Clifford Chance; Cooley; Covington & Burling; Crowell & Moring; Davis & Gilbert; Davis Wright Tremaine; Debevoise & Plimpton; Dorsey & Whitney; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Greenberg Traurig; Haynes and Boone; Hogan Lovells; Jackson Lewis; Jenner & Block; Katten Muchin Rosenman; Kilpatrick Townsend; Kramer Levin; Latham & Watkins; Littler Mendelson; Mayer Brown; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; Morrison & Foerster; Munger, Tolles & Olson; Nixon Peabody; Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart; Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler; Paul Hastings; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Perkins Coie; Reed Smith; Ropes & Gray; Seyfarth Shaw; Shearman & Sterling; Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett; Smith, Grambell & Russell; Squire Patton Boggs; Stroock & Stroock & Lavan; Willkie Farr & Gallagher; Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr; Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; and Winston & Strawn. 

Several Am Law 100 firms have announced that they will observe Juneteenth, which celebrates the liberation of the last group of enslaved black Americans in the Confederacy, as a full or partial work holiday next week.

Dechert's U.S. offices will wrap up the business day beginning at noon June 19, the firm said Friday, while Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Sidley Austin are designating the full day as a firm holiday. The firms are encouraging employees to use the time off to reflect on racism in the United States.

"These are difficult times, troubling issues. Some things we've seen on video are horrific, and we think it's time for all of us, whatever your race, creed or color, to think about these issues, think about them seriously." said Andrew Levander, chair of Dechert's policy committee. "We thought it would be appropriate to give people some time off to think about it."

This is the first time Dechert is observing Juneteenth. Levander said the firm has not decided whether it will observe it next year.

"It was a decision I made in consulting with others that this year, 2020, in what we've seen and heard, it was the right thing do," Levander said.

Dechert said it is providing various resources to its employees. A history buff, Levander said he plans to keep reading "Leadership: In Turbulent Times" by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, and discuss its lessons with his colleagues. The book examines the leadership styles of four presidents, including Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon B. Johnson as the latter encountered the Civil Rights Movement.

Sidley Austin is "deeply rooted in the fundamental principles of equality, inclusion and justice," said Mike Schmidtberger, chair of Sidley's executive committee, in a June 14 statement. Schmidtberger noted that Juneteenth is "the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in America,"

"Juneteenth is an opportunity for all of us to take time to celebrate freedom and justice," he said.

Skadden, in an internal memo reported first by Above The Law, said it hopes its employees will use Juneteenth to "pause from our daily routines to reflect on issues around racism and its impact on our country."

Dechert, Skadden and Sidley's declarations on Juneteenth come as law firms across the United States have pledged to do more to promote equality, combat racial injustice and oppose police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's violent death in Minneapolis police custody May 25.

The three law firms are joining a growing number of companies and organizations, including Nike and the NFL that are observing Juneteenth as a holiday. It commemorates June 19, 1865, when a Union general declared in Galveston, Texas, that all slaves in the state were free, two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

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