{"id":2028863,"date":"2023-09-12T05:04:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T09:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/meet-the-top-flight-law-firms-running-illegal-diversity-programs\/"},"modified":"2023-09-12T05:07:29","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T09:07:29","slug":"meet-the-top-flight-law-firms-running-illegal-diversity-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/meet-the-top-flight-law-firms-running-illegal-diversity-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"Illegal diversity programs run by top-flight law firms"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmeet-the-top-flight-law-firms-running-illegal-diversity-programs%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2028863&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>\n<blockquote>\n<h2>Top Law\u200d Firms Accused\u200d of Discrimination\u200c Against White Applicants<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure><figcaption>(Dan Kitwood\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Five of\u2062 America\u2019s top law firms have\u200c come under fire for\u200d their\u200d diversity \u200cprograms that exclude white applicants or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/obama-ethics-chief-warns-on-hunter-biden-art-secrecy-perfect-mechanism-for-funneling-bribes-to-president\/\" title=\"Obama Ethics Chief Warns On Hunter Biden Art Secrecy: \u2018Perfect Mechanism For Funneling Bribes\u2019 To President\">give preferential treatment<\/a> to minorities. This controversial practice has \u2063created a target-rich environment for conservative litigants looking\u2062 to challenge affirmative action rulings by the Supreme\u2064 Court.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, Morrison\u200d &#038; \u200bFoerster and \u200cPerkins Coie faced lawsuits\u200c over \u200dtheir minority-only fellowships. \u2064However,\u200d other \u200dprestigious\u2062 law \u200dfirms\u2063 like\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wlrk.com\/files\/1LDivProg.pdf\">Wachtell Lipton<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winston.com\/a\/web\/253063\/2022-Diverse-1L-Scholars-NOV2021.pdf\">Winston &#038; Strawn<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bakermckenzie.com\/-\/media\/files\/careers\/diversity-fellowship-2017.pdf\">Baker McKenzie<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sidley.com\/-\/media\/documentation\/1l-diversity-mentorship-program-application.pdf?la=en&#038;rev=53fce9d785e74baea87ec13ac45b399a\">Sidley\u200c Austin<\/a>,\u200b and\u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/www.susmangodfrey.com\/the-susman-godfrey-prize\/#:~:text=Susman%20Godfrey%20is%20accepting%20nominations,diversity%20among%20civil%20trial%20lawyers\">Susman Godfrey<\/a> also employ racial \u2063criteria in their professional opportunities, \u200cranging from paid internships to mentoring programs\u200b to cash awards. The\u2064 outcome of \u2063these cases\u2064 could have far-reaching implications for the entire legal\u200d profession.<\/p>\n<p>Legal experts and professors argue that all these programs are susceptible to civil \u200crights\u200c lawsuits, especially\u200d after the Supreme Court&#8217;s recent \u2064decision to\u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-bans-affirmative-action-in-ruling-against-race-conscious-college-admissions\/\" title=\"Supreme Court outlaws affirmative action in college admissions based on race.\">ban affirmative action<\/a> in higher education. Kenneth Marcus, former Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights\u200d at\u2063 the \u200bEducation\u2063 Department, \u2063predicts\u2062 an \u200bincrease in legal challenges\u2064 against corporations\u2062 and law \u2062firms engaging in discriminatory practices.<\/p>\n<p>While many law firms have initiatives to \u2062increase minority representation, these firms go a step further \u2062by excluding \u200dor severely\u200c limiting opportunities for \u200cwhite applicants. For \u2064example, Wachtell Lipton offers\u200d programs that pay as\u200c much as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.top-law-schools.com\/wachtell-lipton-rosen-katz.html#:~:text=Summer%20Program,out%20to%20$3,100%20per%20week.\">$3,100 a \u2062week<\/a>. \u2062This blatant violation of \u200bcivil rights laws highlights the nonchalant attitude of legal \u2062elites \u2064towards discrimination.<\/p>\n<p>William Trachman, the \u200dgeneral\u200c counsel for Mountain States Legal \u200bFoundation, explains that \u2063challenging a firm&#8217;s diversity policy can lead to being blacklisted from major law firms. This \u200cfear of repercussions allows these firms to\u2062 continue their discriminatory practices \u200cwithout facing legal consequences.<\/p>\n<p>Wachtell Lipton, ranked as the <a href=\"https:\/\/vault.com\/company-profiles\/law\/wachtell-lipton-rosen-katz\">best firm\u200b for mergers and acquisitions<\/a> \u200d by Vault.com, and Baker McKenzie,\u2062 ranked\u2062 as the\u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.com\/law-firm-profile\/?id=20&#038;name=Baker-McKenzie\/&#038;slreturn=20230811151950\">best firm\u200d overall<\/a> by\u2064 the\u2063 National \u2062Law Journal, restrict their diversity fellowships to students from &#8220;underrepresented&#8221; groups. Sidley Austin, where Barack and Michelle Obama \u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/legacy.vault.com\/company-profiles\/law\/sidley-austin-llp\">met<\/a>, gives preference \u200bto various racial\u200c and ethnic minority groups in \u200ctheir mentorship program.\u2062 Winston &#038;\u2063 Strawn, \u200bknown for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/meet-the-top-flight-law-firms-running-illegal-diversity-programs\/\" title=\"Illegal diversity programs run by top-flight law firms\">handling high-profile \u2063antitrust cases<\/a>, offers a $50,000 &#8220;scholarship&#8221;\u200c exclusively to racial and \u2064ethnic minority summer associates.<\/p>\n<p>Legal experts\u2062 argue that these programs violate Title VII and the 1866\u2063 Civil Rights Act, which prohibit employment discrimination \u2063and contracting discrimination, respectively. While private entities can provide scholarships based on race, they cannot engage in pay\u200b discrimination\u2064 or privilege minority \u200demployees.<\/p>\n<p>Despite requests for comment, Wachtell \u200bLipton, Winston\u200d &#038; Strawn, Baker McKenzie, Sidley Austin, and Susman Godfrey \u200bdid not respond.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2063<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/preserve-your-records-vance-tells-colleges-that-jeered-affirmative-action-ruling\/\" title=\"Vance urges colleges to respect affirmative action ruling and safeguard records.\">recent affirmative action ruling<\/a> may change firms&#8217; approach \u200cto\u2063 defending race-based programs. \u2063When activist Edward Blum sued Morrison\u2063 &#038; \u200cFoerster in August, the firm quickly opened its \u200ddiversity fellowship to\u200c white applicants. This\u200d ruling \u2063is\u2064 expected to \u2063have\u2062 a chilling effect on such programs and embolden challenges against them. Even law firms like Covington &#038; Burling, which \u2064previously\u2063 supported\u200b race-based\u200d policies, are now warning clients about\u200b the legal risks\u200d associated with racial preferences.<\/p>\n<p>According to William Trachman, it will be difficult \u200dfor firms to win lawsuits challenging their programs on the merits. \u2062However, not all programs are equally vulnerable. Sidley Austin&#8217;s program, for example, does not\u2062 require participants to be employed by the firm, which could complicate\u2063 claims of employment discrimination. Nevertheless, legal \u2062experts believe that \u200ball these programs raise serious questions and that Wachtell Lipton&#8217;s diversity fellowship is clearly\u200b illegal.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They have expressly set aside a quota of first-year positions based on \u2064race,&#8221; \u2064said Dan Morenoff, the executive director of the American Civil Rights Project. &#8220;They can&#8217;t possibly defend that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Five leading US law firms, including Wachtell Lipton and Baker McKenzie, have diversity programs that either exclude white applicants or prioritize minorities. This has created an opportunity for conservative litigants to exploit, according to experts. (55 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":184,"featured_media":2028864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2028863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2028863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/184"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2028863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2028863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2028864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2028863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2028863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2028863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}