The University of Texas has hired outside counsel to defend its affirmative action admissions policy before the Supreme Court this fall, pushing aside state Attorney General Greg Abbott, according to a report in the
Austin American-Statesman.
University officials said they were satisfied with the work Abbott and his office had done up to this point on the case, which was brought in 2008 by two white students who complained that they were denied admission because of their race.
But university president Bill Powers sought permission from Abbott to bring in an expert in Supreme Court litigation who had argued similar cases in the past, and the attorney general agreed.
According to the American-Statesman, Gregory Garre, with the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Latham & Watkins, will be lead counsel on the case, which is scheduled for argument this fall, with a decision expected in the spring or summer of 2013.
The newspaper said Garre, a former U.S. solicitor general, has argued more than 30 cases before the high court.
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