First Cohort of 26 Midsize Firms Announced as Mansfield Rule Certified in Inaugural Midsize Law Firm Pilot

– Midsize Mansfield Rule Has Now Grown to 140+ Participating Firms with Additional Cohorts –

SAN FRANCISCO (May 5, 2022) — Diversity Lab announced today that 26 midsize law firms (listed below) have achieved the inaugural Midsize Mansfield Rule Certification. These certified firms have completed a rigorous 18-month collaboration with Diversity Lab — beginning in September 2020 — to track, consider, measure, and achieve diversity in leadership.

Designed to expand on the early successes of the original Mansfield Rule piloted in 2017 with larger firms, the Midsize Mansfield Rule Certification measures whether law firms with approximately 25 to 150 lawyers have affirmatively considered at least 30 percent women lawyers, underrepresented racial and ethnic lawyers, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities for lateral openings, leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, and formal client pitch opportunities. While working to achieve these benchmarks, midsize firms embedded internal transparency through the establishment of leadership role descriptions and clearly defined leadership appointment and/or election processes. Knowledge sharing is also an integral pillar of Mansfield Rule participation. As part of this foundational element, the certified midsize firms shared best practices and lessons learned with each other throughout the process.

16 of the 26 Certified Midsize Mansfield firms have achieved Certification “Plus” status, which indicates that, in addition to meeting or exceeding the consideration requirements, the firms have successfully achieved 30 percent diverse representation in current leadership roles, formal client pitches, and staffing on key matters.

“We are incredibly proud of – and grateful to – the firms that stepped up to try this new version and partner with us to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces in the midsize sector,” said Kate Johnston Ryan, Chief Administrative Officer at Diversity Lab. “Despite launching the midsize iteration of the Mansfield Rule in the midst of a global pandemic, these firms were not deterred from taking on challenging systems changes to increase diversity in their firms and the profession. We thank and congratulate this truly committed group of firms and leaders.”

“One of our firm’s greatest strengths is its ability to harness the diverse backgrounds, identities, and perspectives of our team members to provide the best service for our clients,” said Jeffrey Sharp, Managing Partner at Marshall Gerstein. “We are proud to be a Certified Plus firm in the inaugural year of the Midsize Mansfield Rule and to be part of a community of law firms sharing the goal of ensuring inclusive, equitable work environments in the legal profession.”

“It is unquestionably an honor to be Certified Plus at the earliest opportunity for our firm of 70 lawyers,” said Bryan Tramont, Managing Partner of Wilkinson Barker Knauer. “We are proud of the many years that WBK has provided a unique opportunity for our diverse lawyers to thrive and lead our distinct practices, and we are pleased to be building on that foundation with the critical insights that the Mansfield process provides. Thank you to Diversity Lab for helping us develop more robust, measurable, and transparent processes to expand these important efforts.”

Similar to the original iteration of the Mansfield Rule, firms that successfully certify under the Midsize Mansfield Rule criteria will have the opportunity to send their newly promoted historically underrepresented partners to the Mansfield Rule Client Forums in 2023 to build relationships with and learn from Diversity Lab’s in-house counsel collaborators. To date, more than 80 legal departments have contributed to or hosted Client Forums, including Bloomberg L.P., Fannie Mae, Ford Motor Co., Gap Inc., Google, MassMutual, McDonald’s Corporation, Netflix, PayPal, Pfizer, Starbucks, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Transamerica, Uber Technologies Inc., ViacomCBS, and Walgreen Co.

Since these certified firms first piloted the Midsize Mansfield Rule, the initiative has grown substantially with subsequent cohorts launching in September 2021 and March 2022. As of today, the Midsize Mansfield Rule has grown to more than 140 law firms across the U.S. and Canada. See the full list here. Details on the certification outcomes of the next two cohorts will be announced after they complete the 18-month process.

2020-2022 Midsize Mansfield Rule Certified Firms

*indicates Certification Plus Status