Affirmative Action’s Demise Threatens Big Law Diversity Pipeline

The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on affirmative action in college admissions poses another challenge to efforts to improve diversity at Big Law firms.

The high court on Thursday struck down race-based admissions policies at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina. The decision threatens to narrow the recruiting pipeline for major law firms, which traditionally stick to rigid standards and recruit from only a small number of elite law schools.

The ruling “could negatively impact the number of students from underrepresented groups who are able to attend law schools,” said Dennis Quinio, diversity chief for global law firm Allen ...