US law firm alters diversity fellowship criteria after lawsuit

A major U.S. law firm has changed the criteria for a fellowship aimed at promoting diversity in the legal profession after the conservative activist behind the successful U.S. Supreme Court challenge to the consideration of race in college admissions accused it of discriminating against white applicants. San Francisco-founded Morrison & Foerster has removed language specifying that the fellowship is only open to Black, Hispanic, Native American or LGBT applicants, according to a flyer for the program on its website. Data for the PDF flyer shows it was created on Aug. 30, a week after a group founded by affirmative action foe Edward Blum filed lawsuits against it and another large law firm alleging their diversity fellowships unlawfully excluded certain people based on their race.