(The Center Square) – The State Bar of Wisconsin will remove diversity, equity and inclusion language from its programs in a shift that is expected to reshape how the organization structures trainings and educational requirements in the future.
In the federal lawsuit settlement with Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, the Bar also agreed to change its definition of diversity by no longer considering race, religion, sex or “other characteristics” when determining eligibility for its programs, according to WILL.
WILL Deputy Counsel Dan Lennington said the result is that DEI has been effectively removed from all Bar programming in an announcement.
“For now, DEI is dead at the State Bar of Wisconsin,” Lennington said. “Race discrimination should play no role in the regulation or training of Wisconsin’s lawyers, and it no longer does. We will continue to monitor the Bar closely and challenge race-based programs wherever we find them.”
In December 2023, WILL filed a federal lawsuit against the Bar for promoting DEI practices, specifically its “Diversity Clerkship Program,” which offered internship opportunities based primarily on race.
The plaintiff, Daniel Suhr, a trial and appellate attorney in Wisconsin, objected to mandatory bar dues, which all practicing lawyers with a Wisconsin license are required to pay, being used for race-based programming.
While the lawsuit was partially settled in April 2024, the Bar had only changed their definition of “diversity” while keeping the program mostly intact. This settlement, according to WILL, finally resolves the entire lawsuit.
In the settlement, the Bar agreed to the following:
The Bar will not alter its definition of “diversity” to include “any consideration of race, ethnicity, color or national origin.”The Bar will remove DEI language from its Leadership Development Summit.The Bar will remove DEI language from its Leadership Academy program.The Bar will not consider race, ethnicity, or other immutable characteristics when considering applicants for the Leadership Development Summit or Leadership Academy.The Bar will be more transparent on how it spends mandatory dues, publishing an annual charge or chargeable activities.
During the lawsuit, WILL said Bar leaders were found to have used race-based DEI policies throughout several programs and application processes.
According to WILL, even when a Bar leader’s essay nominating an attorney for the Leadership Summit did not overtly mention race or sex, a chart compiled by the Bar included a column clearly identifying many nominees’ “ethnicity/gender/age.”
The changes to the Bar policies are expected to be made effective immediately.
The Bar did not immediately respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.
