Since the SFFA decision, there has been an uptick in threatened litigation aimed at organizations with diversity initiatives. As a result, both Perkins Coie and Morrison & Foerster have been making strides to prepare their ranks against such potential lawsuits.
The firms are readying themselves against the legal attacks by Edward Blum on their diversity fellowships. Bloomberg Law reported that Perkins Coie has been enhancing its legal team by hiring attorneys from Jenner & Block and attorney Jared Eisenberg from Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann, a complex-litigation boutique based in Dallas. Meanwhile, Morrison & Foerster has retained representation from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, which joins forces with attorneys from Gelber Schachter & Greenberg, a Miami-founded boutique firm.
It’s encouraging to see MoFo and Gibson Dunn taking a more proactive stance towards these issues. Despite a shift to less direct language on their diversity initiatives, it is worth acknowledging their efforts. The litigation of these diversity initiatives in law firms will surely continue to be of great interest as it unfolds.
The cases that this situation revolves around include American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Morrison & Foerster, S.D. Fla., No. 1:23-cv-23189, 8/22/23; and American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Perkins Coie, N.D. Tex., No. 3:23-cv-01877, 8/22/23; and American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Fearless Fund Management, LLC et al, No. 1:23-cv-03424 (N.D. Ga. 8/2/23.
This coverage follows several shifts in these firms’ stances on diversity issues, such as Morrison Foerster revamping its diversity fellowship criteria amidst lawsuits and Gibson Dunn being the second big law firm to retreat from threatened affirmative action suits.