DALLAS - A stipulation of dismissal was entered yesterday in a lawsuit brought against Perkins Coie over the law firm’s “diversity fellowships” – a program that has since been replaced.
The American Alliance for Equal Rights filed the lawsuit Aug. 22 in the U.S. District Court for Northern Texas, Dallas Division, claiming that racial exclusions injure its members.
According to the stipulation of dismissal, in September 2023 the firm’s executive committee voted to replace the then-existing diversity fellowship programs with a single, new Diversity & Inclusion Fellowship Program.
“Membership in a group historically underrepresented in the legal profession is not required under the new program,” the dismissal states. “Defendant has no intention of reverting to a summer associate fellowship program that requires an applicant to be a member of a historically underrepresented group.
“The new program does not ask or require applicants to identify their race when applying.”
The complaint alleged that Perkins Coie has been racially discriminating against future lawyers for decades by excluding certain applicants for their “diversity fellowships” based on skin color.
The plaintiff sought to enjoin the firm from considering race as a factor when selecting fellows.
Case No. 3:23-cv-01877-L