Legal News

A Good Day for Women and Minority-Owned Law Firms

By Ashby Jones

On Monday, the American Lawyer ran a story on diversity at law firms — namely that the recession had hurt it.

This development didn’t appear to sit well with a group of big companies, which on Thursday announced they would collectively spend $30 million to hire minority and women-owned law firms as outside counsel. Click here for the NLJ story.

It’s not exactly immediately clear how the money will be spent. Under the initiative, according to the NLJ, each participating company will set aside more money for existing internal efforts designed to drive work to minority- and women-owned law firms. The total amount set aside for such programs comes to $30 million so far.

DuPont general counsel Thomas Sager said this initiative would help ensure “that the economic downturn does not disproportionately affect minority- and women-owned law firms.”

Other companies that have joined the initiative include Accenture, American Airlines, General Mills, GlaxoSmithKline, Microsoft and Prudential Financial.

And what’s in it for the companies? Anything more than the warm fuzzies that accompany an altruistic move? Of course. According to the NLJ, Sager said that hiring minority- and women-owned firms, whose billable rates don’t always match up with the white male-owned top BigLaw shops, might yield cost savings. “This makes moral sense, and it makes business sense. Many of these firms are noted for their creativity, resourcefulness and cost-effectiveness,” he said.

Photo: iStockPhoto

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on March 05, 2010 (boomark / email).