"Microsoft, which had one of the longest-running outside counsel diversity programs in Biglaw history dating to 2008, has ended the initiative. That program tied bonuses to diversity metrics on teams working Microsoft matters, as well as firmwide efforts to diversify partner ranks."
"Meta, the Facebook parent, which since 2017 had required at least a third of lawyers on its matters to be women or ethnic minorities, announced in January 2025 it was dropping diversity requirements for outside suppliers entirely."
"Coca-Cola GC Bradley Gayton's landmark policy demanding firms staff at least 30% of new matters with diverse attorneys, with at least half that billable time going to Black lawyers, on pain of fee reductions or removal from the roster altogether, lasted approximately three months."
Corporate America is abandoning diversity commitments to law firms, reversing previous progress in the legal profession. Microsoft has ended its long-standing diversity program, which previously tied bonuses to diversity metrics. Meta has also dropped its diversity requirements for outside suppliers. These changes reflect a broader trend of corporations walking away from initiatives that aimed to increase diversity within legal teams. Coca-Cola's aggressive diversity mandate was short-lived, lasting only three months before the general counsel left the position.
Read at Above the Law
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