USA: In house lawyers from Fortune 1000 companies pledge to consider diversity of external law firms
"Can Two Dozen GCs Bring Diversity to Law Firms?", 8 Sep 2016
...Dacier and 23 top lawyers from other Fortune 1000 companies — including McDonalds, CBS Corporation, Verizon, TIAA-CREF — have signed a letter pledging to uphold an ABA Resolution that seeks to [address the lack of progress on diversity at law firms]...Resolution 113 calls on clients to direct a greater percentage of the legal services they purchase to diverse attorneys. It flows from the work of the ABA’s Diversity & Inclusion 360 Commission, which was created by immediate past ABA President Paulette Brown during her 2015-2016 tenure to advance diversity...It asks law firms about their demographic profile across equity partners, non-equity partners and all other levels, and looks at leadership positions and committee compositions. The letter also states that GCs who sign onto the letter must agree to make diversity a strong factor in their hiring and firing decision of outside counsel. Roellig said the ABA will publish the names of GCs who sign on its website...