Global law firm Goodwin announced today it has achieved Diversity Lab’s Mansfield Certification after completing the inaugural one-year Mansfield Rule pilot. The pioneering initiative aims to boost the representation of diverse lawyers in law firm leadership by broadening the pool of candidates considered for these opportunities.
The Mansfield Rule Certification measures whether law firms have affirmatively considered at least 30 percent women and attorneys of color for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, and senior lateral positions. To achieve the Mansfield Rule objectives, participating law firms had to first establish a baseline metric by which they could assess and analyze their talent pipelines. To that end, as part of the Mansfield Rule Certification process, the firms were expected to create and adopt documentation and tracking norms to measure their progress and identify areas for improvement.
“Achieving Mansfield Certification highlights Goodwin’s commitment to promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace,” said David Hashmall, Chairman of Goodwin and head of the firm’s Inclusion Advisory Committee. “Focusing on our pipeline of talent, we have implemented initiatives to address diversity-related gaps in our leadership while continuing to cultivate an environment where people of all backgrounds can excel and thrive. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Diversity Lab to help develop Mansfield Rule 2.0.”
Mansfield Rule 2.0, which will include LGBTQ+ lawyers in addition to women and attorneys of color as part of the diverse candidate pool, is the next round of certification through Diversity Lab. The certification will take into account consideration for roles in client pitch meetings and will ask the 65 participating law firms to make appointment and election processes transparent to all lawyers in their firms.
Diversity Lab creates and experiments with innovative ways to close the gender gap and boost diversity in law firms and legal departments by leveraging data, behavioral science, and design thinking. The Lab’s first pilot, the OnRamp Fellowship, is now the largest global re-entry platform matching experienced women returning to the workforce after a hiatus with more than 35 law firms, legal departments, and banks for paid Fellowships in the U.S., Australia, the UK, and Canada. Due to the overwhelming success of Diversity Lab’s 2016 Women in Law Hackathon, a series of “Diversity in Law Hackathons” are happening in 2018 in partnership with Bloomberg Law, Harvard Law School, Northwestern Law School, and University of California at Hastings School of Law.