To help reduce legal bills by obtaining discounts and alternative fee arrangements, more and more in-house legal departments are developing preferred providers lists, streamlining the number of law firms that handle their legal matters (sometimes hundreds of law firms) to fewer firms (typically a core group of 50 or fewer). The firms that make it onto these coveted lists are usually those that have been tried and tested, and have a longstanding relationship with the corporation's executives.

I do agree that there are benefits to preferred providers lists. However, there is great concern that these lists act as a barrier of access to minority- and women-owned law firms.

When I am out in the marketplace talking to diverse outside counsel vendors, one resounding complaint that I hear is that they are not given a chance to do legal work for corporations. When they approach in-house counsel for the opportunity to handle new legal matters, they often receive the following response: "Sorry, we cannot give you the work because we have an already established preferred providers list."

For those corporations with a providers list, I ask, "What does your list look like? Does it include diverse relationship partners at majority firms? Does it encompass minority- and women-owned law firms? Do at least 5 percent of the law firms on the list represent diverse outside counsel ?" If the answer is no to any of these questions, I challenge you to go back to the drawing board and freshen up your list.

Don't let the adage that there are no diverse lawyers out there to handle your unique legal matters serve as a barrier to updating your list. I guarantee if you are open to forging new relationships, you will find plenty of qualified diverse vendors who you can trust and who will provide you with quality service, professionalism and expertise.