(Justmeans.com / CSR News) - DuPont recently joined forces with Accenture, American Airlines, Comcast, Exelon, General Mills, GlaxoSmithKline, Microsoft, Prudential and other companies to announce a collaborative effort to spend $30 million with minority- and women-owned (MWBE) law firms in 2010, and create the Inclusion Initiative to challenge other companies to follow their lead.

Tom Sager

“The need for the Inclusion Initiative could not be clearer," said Tom Sager, senior vice president and general counsel. “A study commissioned a few years ago by DuPont Legal found a marked drop since the late 1980s in the number of successful minority-owned law firms serving corporate America. The mission of the Inclusion Initiative is to put more MWBE law firms on a path towards growth and prosperity, and to provide greater opportunities for diverse lawyers.”

Inclusion Initiative companies will work closely with the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF) to identify best practices for major corporations to maximize relationships with high quality minority- and women-owned law firms throughout the U.S.

“The companies of the Inclusion Initiative and their general counsels are proven leaders on the issue of diversity in the legal profession," said Richard Amador, Inclusion Initiative task force chair for NAMWOLF.  "Their collaboration will provide a successful model demonstrating that law department leadership, tracking and support for utilizing highly qualified MWBE firms can reap significant benefits for both the companies and the MWBE firms.”