Plaintiff is challenging the West Virginia State Bar's bylaws, which reserve one seat on the Board of Governors for an African American member, alleging that the policy violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The West Virginia State Bar is an agency of the state supreme court, responsible for regulating and overseeing the practice of law throughout the state. Its governing body, the Board of Governors, consists of 26 members who manage the agency.

Defendants are asking the court to dismiss the case, arguing that Plaintiff lacks standing. They contend that Plaintiff has not provided any facts showing that its members expressed a genuine interest in applying for the reserved board seat or took any steps to apply for a seat. Therefore, Defendants maintain that Plaintiff's members have not suffered any actual harm from the race-conscious selection criteria. Additionally, Defendants argue that they are not the appropriate parties to change the bylaws. They assert that the challenged bylaws were established by the state supreme court, not the Board of Governors, and therefore, the case against them should be dismissed.