Winston & Strawn and Hunton Andrews Kurth have defied the instructions of letters sent by conservative legal activist Edward Blum last week regarding the firms’ diversity fellowships, which Blum accused of being discriminatory against straight white men.

To avoid litigation, Blum instructed these law firms to indicate whether the programs would continue, whether they would continue to ask applicants about their race and what role race would play in making selections, according to the letters sent last week.