A group founded by a prominent anti-affirmative action activist on Wednesday dropped its latest lawsuit challenging a major U.S. law firm's fellowship program designed to foster diversity after the firm altered its application criteria.
Edward Blum's American Alliance for Equal Rights agreed to dismiss its lawsuit in federal court in Houston, Texas, against Winston & Strawn after the firm eliminated a requirement that applicants to the program belong to "a disadvantaged and/or historically underrepresented group in the legal profession."
The announcement marked the end of the last of three lawsuits that Blum's group has filed so far against law firms alleging their diversity fellowship programs unlawfully exclude certain people, including white students, based on their race.
Blum dropped his two other cases after the firms at issue, Morrison & Foerster and Perkins Coie, similarly altered their application criteria. Several other firms also changed their programs after receiving letters from Blum's group.
The latest to do so was Houston-based Susman Godfrey, which Blum on Wednesday said had altered the criteria for a diversity fellowship program and the terms of a prize it awards to law students of color.
"This membership organization is committed to challenging race-based policies at any corporation, law firm, institution, or government agency," Blum said in a statement.
Winston, a nearly 1,000-lawyer Chicago-founded firm, in a statement said it remains deeply committed to, and passionate about, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession and in our law firm."
Susman, a 190-lawyer firm based in Houston, did not respond to a request for comment.
At issue are paid fellowships designed in part to help support the recruitment of people of color, which major law firms have long struggled to add to their partnership ranks.
Last year, people of color comprised 11.4% of all partners in major U.S. law firms, according to the National Association for Law Placement.
Blum's group began suing over the programs after a different organization he founded in June won a landmark ruling at the U.S. Supreme Court on affirmative action.
In that case, the court's 6-3 conservative majority rejected race-conscious policies long used by American colleges and universities to increase the number of Black, Hispanic and other minority students on American campuses in lawsuits involving Harvard and the University of North Carolina.
In a lawsuit filed in October, Blum's group alleged that Winston & Strawn's 1L LCLD Scholars Program violated Section 1981 of the 1866 Civil Rights Act, a law enacted after the Civil War that was designed to protect formerly enslaved Black people from racial bias.
First-year law students who are accepted into the program work as paid summer associates and can potentially receive $50,000 scholarships.
In a joint filing on Wednesday, the parties pointed to updated criteria for Winston's program published on its website last week that eliminated that requirement, allowing law students of any race to apply.
Race will no longer be considered as a factor in considering applications, except to the extent contemplated by the U.S. Supreme Court in its affirmative action ruling, according to the filing.
The case is American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Winston & Strawn LLP, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, No. 4:23-cv-04113.
For American Alliance for Equal Rights: Thomas McCarthy and Cameron Norris of Consovoy McCarthy
For Winston & Strawn: Ishan Bhabha of Jenner & Block
Read more:
Winston & Strawn is latest US law firm sued over diversity programs
Affirmative action opponent drops case over law firm's diversity fellowship
Second major US law firm changes diversity fellowship after lawsuit
US law firm alters diversity fellowship criteria after lawsuit
Activist behind US affirmative action cases sues major law firms
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