A federal judge on Thursday ordered the University of Michigan to pay $672,000 in legal fees and costs to attorneys for students who sued the school over its use of affirmative action in undergraduate admissions policies. The university had maintained it wasn’t responsible for the legal bills. U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Duggan disagreed, but ruled that the $2.1 million originally sought by the attorneys was excessive. In June 2003, the Supreme Court upheld a general affirmative action policy at the University of Michigan law school but struck down the university’s undergraduate formula as too rigid because it awarded admission points based on race.
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