(CN) — An alliance whose president led the legal battle against Harvard’s affirmative action policy filed federal lawsuits against two large U.S. law firms Tuesday, accusing them of running biased fellowship programs.
The American Alliance for Equal Rights, a Texas nonprofit that describes itself as a “membership organization dedicated to challenging distinctions and preferences made on the basis of race and ethnicity,” and its president-founder Edward Blum found success at the Supreme Court in June.
The high court’s conservative bloc ruled that colleges cannot consider the race of applicants in their admissions decisions, striking down such policies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina.
Students for Fair Admissions, another group formed by Blum, brought the university challenges.
Now Blum is taking aim at the diversity efforts of two high-powered law firms: Seattle-based Perkins Coie, which boasts more than 1,200 lawyers in offices throughout the U.S. and Asia; and San Francisco-based Morrison Foerster, employer of over 1,000 attorneys at branches in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
Perkins Coie started its 1L diversity fellowship for first-year law students in 1991 and added a parallel program for second-year law students in 2020.
The firm offers lucrative pay for aspiring attorneys it selects for the diversity program — stipends of $10,000 and $15,000, plus pro-rated summer salary equal to that of its entry-level associates who make $190,000 a year, according to the lawsuit.
But Perkins Coie limits who can apply to law students who are members of a “group historically underrepresented in the legal profession, including students of color, students who identify as LGBTQ+, and students with disabilities.”
Morrison Foerster also handsomely pays hires of its Keith Wetmore 1L Fellowship for Excellence, Diversity and Inclusion — a $25,000 stipend plus a summer associate salary.
It too places racial parameters on applicants: They can only qualify if they are Black, Latino, Native Americans or LGBTQ+.
“The law abhors racial discrimination. The lawyers who help administer that law are supposed to abhor it too,” the American Alliance for Equal Rights says in the opening paragraphs of its lawsuits.
It is represented by James Hasson with Consovoy McCarthy of Arlington, Virginia, in the Dallas lawsuit, and Michael Sasso, principal of Sasso & Sasso of Winter Park, Florida, in the Miami suit.
Adam Mortara, founder of Lawfair LLC, a civil and voting rights firm, is also co-counsel in both cases.
The alliance seeks declarations that the firms’ diversity fellowships violate Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and permanent injunctions ending them.
Congress passed Section 1981 after the Civil War to protect the rights of formerly enslaved Black people.
It states in part, “All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every state and territory to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens.”
The alliance has two members — both identified as “Member A” and as white, heterosexual males in the lawsuits — who want to apply for the 2024 diversity fellowships at Perkins Coie’s Dallas office and Morrison Foerster’s Miami office.
But the alliance says they do not qualify because the firms’ fellowships are openly discriminatory contracts.
Morrison Foerster did not respond to a request for comment.
But Perkins Coie said it is eager to defend itself. “As a firm, we have been a leader in efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession. Our commitment to those values remains steadfast. We will defend this lawsuit vigorously," its spokesperson said.
Blum, a white man of Jewish descent, said he wants them to open their fellowships to all qualified applicants.
"Excluding students from these esteemed fellowships because they are the wrong race is unfair, polarizing and illegal,” he said in a statement.
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