Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College et al.

The U.S. District Court judge ruled in favor of Harvard on all counts.

Retained by WilmerHale

Defense counsel retained Cornerstone Research in a high-profile trial addressing Harvard College’s use of race in its undergraduate admissions process. Cornerstone Research supported David Card of the University of California, Berkeley, as Harvard’s testifying economic expert. Professor Card filed two rounds of reports and testified at a bench trial, presenting the federal district court with extensive statistical analyses of Harvard’s admissions process.

The judge cited Professor Card’s testimony and analyses extensively in her opinion, aligning with Professor Card on nearly all points of methodological disagreement between the economic experts.

After a three-week trial, the U.S. district court judge ruled in favor of Harvard on all counts. She cited Professor Card’s testimony and analyses extensively in her opinion, aligning with Professor Card on nearly all points of methodological disagreement between the economic experts.

In November 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed a district court’s ruling that Harvard’s admissions program did not violate Title VI. In the district court trial, Harvard relied on the testimony of David Card of the University of California, Berkeley, and his testimony was cited in the appellate court’s ruling.

For more information on this case, contact Bryan Ricchetti or Sara Champion.