Harvard Loses Court Fight Over Affirmative Action Legal Fees (1)

Harvard University is on the hook for up to $15 million in legal fees from unsuccessfully defending its use of affirmative action in admissions, after the First Circuit ruled that the university didn’t formally notify its insurer on time that the practice was being challenged in court.

Harvard had argued that insurer Zurich American Insurance Company should have been aware of the dispute from widespread news coverage. But the First Circuit called the argument “little more than gaslighting” in a decision handed down Wednesday.

The university has already run up a tab of more than $27 million for the lawyers ...