Perkins Coie, a more than 1,200-lawyer firm founded in Seattle, on Friday said it had expanded the applicant pool for its diversity fellowship program to all law students, not just members of "historically underrepresented" groups.
It did so after a group founded by affirmative action foe Edward Blum filed lawsuits against it and another large law firm, Morrison & Foerster, alleging their diversity fellowships unlawfully excluded certain people based on their race.
The paid fellowships were designed in part to help support the recruitment of people of color, which major law firms have struggled for years to add to their partnership ranks.
In the lawsuit against Perkins Coie, Blum's American Alliance for Equal Rights took aim at a diversity fellowship the firm created in 1991 to support law students from groups "historically underrepresented in the legal profession."
Those accepted can receive stipends of $15,000 and paid positions as summer associates, a position that at major law firms can lead to full-time jobs.
Persons:
Edward Blum, Perkins, Perkins Coie, Morrison, Foerster, Blum, Fellows, Nate Raymond, Alexia Garamfalvi, Peter Graff
Organizations:
U.S, Supreme, Harvard University, University of North, Harvard, Saturday, American Alliance for Equal Rights, Thomson
Locations:
University of North Carolina, Washington , U.S, Seattle, Dallas , Texas, Boston