Morrison Foerster Changes DEI Fellowship Criteria Amid Lawsuit

Morrison Foerster has changed the eligibility criteria for its DEI fellowship on the heels of a lawsuit targeting the program.

The Keith Wetmore Fellowship for Excellence, Diversity, and Inclusion previously called for 1L students “who are members of historically underrepresented groups in the legal industry,” according to a past iteration of the fellowship posting on MoFo’s site, according to the archival Wayback Machine website. Now the program recognizes students “with a demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.” The firm first began the program in 2012.

The lawsuit by the American Alliance for Equal Rights—a group created by anti-affirmative-action crusader Edward Blum—was filed against Morrison Foerster and Perkins Coie on August 22, and asserts these programs are unlawful. The firm’s language adjustments went up this month. The change was first reported in the Free Beacon.

“Morrison has been racially discriminated against future lawyers for more than a decade,” the lawsuit alleged.

Morrison Foerster did not respond to request for comment.

Perkins Coie’s eligibility requirements still point to historically underrepresented students. That firm has vowed to fight the lawsuit vigorously and doubled down on its DEI commitments in a public post on its site.

“As we consider [the] Supreme Court decision limiting the consideration of race in university admissions, we re-affirm our commitment to building a more diverse and inclusive workplace and legal profession,” Perkin Coie’s diversity page says.

The cases are 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.