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Paxton weighs in on lawsuit aiming to overturn state bar diversity laws

SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECORD

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Paxton weighs in on lawsuit aiming to overturn state bar diversity laws

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AUSTIN – A federal court suit challenging the legality of the state of Texas’ attempts to diversify its State Bar governing board now has the official support of local Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Filed by white Austin family law attorney Greg Gegenheimer in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, the suit argues that the state’s practice of reserving four of 46 positions on its board for minorities and women is unconstitutional and should be tossed from the state’s law annals.

Gegenheimer contends at one point he was interested in pursuing a then soon-to-be-vacant minority director position, but was informed he was not eligible because he is a white male and board members were only considering a female African-American, Hispanic-American, Native American or Asian-Americans for the post. 

The suit further asserts that the current system readily allows for such discrimination against white men, violations of both the U.S. Constitution and federal anti-discrimination statutes.

In his “friend of the court” brief, Paxton argued before U.S. District Judge Robert Pittman that the suit has merit because the state bar has erred in the way it has gone about striving to achieve greater diversity. He now seeks an immediate injunction barring the agency from continuing the practice.

“Diversity is a worthy goal,” he wrote. “An organization is strengthened when it can marshal a coalition of diverse thought, experiences and backgrounds. But discrimination in the pursuit of diversity does a disservice to all involved.”

Instead, Paxton suggests that state bar members should simply trust that its membership will do the right thing in terms of selecting the most-qualified candidates to represent their interests.

He cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin case, where although upholding the school’s race-conscious admissions program, jurists noted that the government “is not permitted to define diversity as some specified percentage of a particular group merely because of its race or ethnic origin” as established examples of the court’s position on such issues.

Regardless of the decision legally rendered in this instance, Dallas attorney and state bar President Frank Stevenson insists increasing diversity as part of the overall profession should always be the goal.

 “Whatever the outcome of the constitutional challenge to the statute, increasing diversity in the legal profession is a key part of the state bar’s mission and vitally important to the state bar and its leadership,” he told the Southeast Texas Record. “In our increasingly diverse state, all Texans deserve a legal profession that reflects and represents their interests.”

The state bar has yet to formally file a response on the motion of the preliminary injunction now being sought, but Stevenson seems certain about the board’s responsibilities.

“The state bar appoints four minority directors to its 46-member board as required by Texas Government Code Section 81.020, which was enacted by the Texas Legislature in 1991 and has provided seats for minority and women attorneys on the state bar board since that time,” he added.

Setting policy for the state bar, the board of directors is composed of 30 board members elected by lawyers in geographic districts. Six public members are appointed by the Texas Supreme Court and confirmed by the state senate, while the four minority directors are appointed by the bar’s elected president and confirmed by the board of directors.

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