Beginning next week, law firms working on The Coca-Cola Co.’s new legal matters will have to meet stringent new diversity guidelines or face stiff penalties, including losing the Atlanta-based beverage giant’s business. 

Coca-Cola general counsel Bradley Gayton introduced the guidelines with a “heavy heart,” telling law firms in a Jan. 28 letter that diversity scorecards, summits, action plans and committees that were meant to drive meaningful change “are not working.”