Reference no: EM132709067

Question: The Matthews and Springsteen law firm has 41 attorneys, 39 Caucasian men, one African man, and one Caucasian woman. Matthews and Springsteen is losing clients to the Getwitha Thymes law firm, its top competitor. Managing Partner, Dave Matthews reviews the bios on the website for Getwitha Thymes and discovers (based on headshots) that Getwitha Thymes has a diverse group of attorneys. Matthews decides that his firm needs to mirror the racial and gender composition of Getwitha Thymes. In the next 12 months, Matthews hires 20 attorneys fresh out of law school, 12 African-American men, an Asian woman and a Hispanic woman.

Matthews and Springsteen has a 10 year "partnership track," meaning that attorneys who have been practicing law for 10 or more years are eligible to be considered for partner. Partners have greater job security and make significantly more money than associate attorneys. Matthews and Springsteen accepts a maximum of two attorneys into the partnership each year. Rudy Giuliani has been with the Matthews firm for 10 years. Giuliani has large and loyal clients, and he was recently rated by Super Lawyers magazine as the top trial attorney in Pennsylvania. By all accounts, Giuliani is worthy of inclusion into the partnership.

Because Getwitha Thymes has a diverse group of partners, Matthews decides to shorten the partnership for diverse attorneys. Convinced that diverse partners would enable Matthews and Springsteen to retain clients; the firm named two new partners from the recent group of hires, Denzel Washington, an African-American, and Lucy Liu, an Asian-American. Giuliani was not given partnership.

1. Identify the issues in the fact pattern.

1. Identify the rules or test the courts' use to analyze these issues.

2. Reference an applicable case, using a complete case citation.

3. Give the conclusion the Court would reach based on the facts presented.