Edward Blum Might Not Be Done Suing Law Firms Over Their Diversity Programming After All

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Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.

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If we learn of a law firm that has a policy similar to the ones we sued and they have not changed it, and a plaintiff wants to apply for that position who is disqualified because of their race, we will file a lawsuit against that law firm.

— Conservative legal activist Edward Blum of the American Alliance for Equal Rights, in comments given to the American Lawyer on his recent spate of lawsuits filed against Biglaw firms over their diversity fellowships. All law firms that were sued revised their DEI fellowships to remove race as a factor, leading to the lawsuits being dropped. “If that [using “racial preferences”] is forbidden in higher education then I think most law firms have recognized that other entities outside of higher education that use racial classifications and preferences to achieve diversity are suspect,” Blum said. “That’s the whole ball of energy behind what has happened with the law firms.”

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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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American Alliance for Equal Rights, Biglaw, DEI, Diversity, Diversity Equity And Inclusion, Edward Blum, Quote of the Day