A dozen companies, including Microsoft, Prudential and DuPont, pledged on Thursday to spend $30 million this year on law firms owned by women and minorities. The coalition of companies has also created an “Inclusive Initiative” that challenges other companies to follow suit.

DuPont General Counsel Thomas Sager explained in a press release that the number of successful minority owned law firms serving corporate America has seen “a marked drop” since the late 1980’s.

“The mission of the Inclusive Initiative is to put more (women- and minority-owned) law firms on the path towards growth and prosperity and to provide greater opportunities to diverse lawyers.” Sager said.

  

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The initiative is slated to 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 in the U.S.

Other companies that have already joined the initiative includes Accenture, American Airlines, Comcast, Exelon, General Mills, Prudential and GlaxoSmithKline.