Conservative group sues law firm for ‘racial discrimination against prospective lawyers’

A conservative group sued the law firm Winston & Strawn on Monday for “racially discriminating against prospective lawyers.”

American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER), a group founded by Edward Blum, the activist behind the Supreme Court cases that struck down affirmative action in higher education, sued the company for a program it claims “discriminates against certain applicants because of their race.” The firm’s “Winston & Strawn’s 1L Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD).” program requires applicants to be part of a disadvantaged or historically underrepresented group in the legal profession, according to the complaint.

“This prestigious program pays a five-figure salary and leads to a six-figure job,” the lawsuit says. “But law students can’t make it unless they belong to a ‘disadvantaged’ or ‘historically underrepresented’ group – Winston’s shorthand for not being a straight white man. So between two straight men, a black and a white, the latter cannot be applied because of his skin color.”

AAER warned the firm would file a lawsuit if he did not change his judgment in a letter dated October 9.

When AAER sent the letter, the company’s web site included membership of a “disadvantaged and historically underrepresented group” as part of its selection criteria. The web now clarify that “all races, ethnicities, genders, disabilities, orientations, and socioeconomic or other backgrounds” are eligible to apply and says that selection criteria “include,” but “are not limited to,” membership in a disadvantaged or underrepresented group.

Blum called the program “unfair and illegal” in a statement Monday.

“It is puzzling why this company has not renewed its policies in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and the letter AAER sent asking the company to end all racial considerations for to eligibility for this program,” Blum said.

“The highly regarded law firms of Perkins Coie and Morrison Foerster ended all racial considerations for their law student programs after AAER filed similar lawsuits a few weeks ago,” it continued. “We hope that Winston & Strawn will be forced by the courts to comply with the law.”

The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Winston & Strawn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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