NEWS

WIRES

OTHER

Organization Representing Minority and Women Owned Law Firms Praises $30 Million Corporate Commitment

The companies - including Accenture, American Airlines, Comcast, DuPont, Exelon, General Mills, GlaxoSmithKline, Microsoft and Prudential - announced a joint commitment to spend $30 million with MWBE law firms in 2010.

"These are some of the best known and most respected companies in the world," said Richard Amador, Inclusion Initiative task force chair for NAMWOLF and a founding partner of Sanchez & Amador, Los Angeles. "Their participation in the Inclusion Initiative promises to help MWBE law firms establish relationships with major corporate law departments and demonstrate that they offer the high quality, creative and cost effective legal services these companies are looking for, particularly in this tough economy."

NAMWOLF Managing Director Yolanda Coly said the organization will devote its resources to helping the corporations participating in the Inclusion Initiative meet their goals. "We're thrilled to have this opportunity to do what we do best," said Coly. "That is bringing together corporate law departments with minority and women owned firms to share best practices, discuss common concerns, and discover opportunities to work together."

Companies participating in the launch of the Inclusion Initiative said they hope the effort will serve as a role model for other corporate legal departments. "We invite other companies to expand their use of minority and women owned law firms and find out what we already know," said Rick Richardson, Vice President, US Legal Operations, GlaxoSmithKline. "That is that some of the best and brightest in the legal profession right now are working in these law firms."

NAMWOLF is comprised of certified MWBE law firms and dedicated to increasing the utilization of MWBE law firms by corporate legal departments. www.namwolf.org.

SOURCE NAMWOLF