A group founded by the conservative activist behind the Supreme Court cases that overturned affirmative action targeted three more law firms this week over their diversity fellowships, Reuters reported.
Edward Blum’s group, American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER), recently filed lawsuits against two law firms, prompting them to change the criteria for their fellowships. The group sent letters to three additional law firms this week — Winston & Strawn, Hunton Andrews Kurth and Adams and Reese — alleging their programs violate federal civil rights law and threatening to file lawsuits unless the companies similarly changed their fellowship programs.
“To avoid litigation, the Alliance hopes these law firms will immediately modify their programs to bring them into compliance with our nation’s civil rights laws,” Blum said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “No student should be treated differently because of their race or ethnicity.”
The letters set an Oct. 13 deadline for firms to state whether they intend to proceed with the program in 2024, if they plans to change the program to “refrain from asking applicants their race and from considering race as a factor when making selections” and what role race will play in the selection process if it is not “strictly race neutral.”
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 31: Edward Blum, a long-time opponent of affirmative action in higher education and founder of Students for Fair Admissions, leaves the U.S. Supreme Court after oral arguments in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina on October 31, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Adams and Reese replied Thursday with a letter stating that it would not proceed with its 1L Minority Fellowship, which targeted “members of racial and ethnic minority groups and other disadvantaged groups,” according to Reuters. (RELATED: Major Investment Banks Quietly Scrubs Race-Based Eligibility Criteria From ‘Diversity’ Program)
AAER dropped its lawsuit against Perkins Coie Wednesday after it said it would allow all students to apply for its program, previously reserved for “historically underrepresented” groups. The group also dropped its lawsuit last week against Morrison & Foerster after it removed references to race and sexual orientation from its fellowship eligibility criteria.
Winston & Strawn, Hunton Andrews Kurth and Adams and Reese did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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