William Petersen, VP and associate GC at Verizon.

When Verizon Communications Inc. selects outside law firms, two factors weigh heavily in the decision-making process: cost and diversity.

The telecommunications behemoth has been able to move in the right direction in both areas because of a bidding process in which firms make the case for why they should win the work, says William Petersen, senior vice president and deputy general counsel in charge of litigation at Verizon.