Coca-Cola has rolled out new diversity guidelines for outside legal counsel, including requiring law firms to employ “diverse attorneys” to provide at least 30 percent of billed time, of which at least half must be by African American attorneys.
Bradley Gayton, general counsel for Coca-Cola, introduced the guidelines with a “heavy heart,” telling law firms in a Jan. 28 letter that diversity measures taken by the company—such as scorecards, summits, committees, and action plans—aren’t working, and “we have a crisis on our hands.”
