Bryan Cave issued the following announcement on Aug. 20.
The international law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner has been named a Mansfield Certified Plus firm for 2018, as tracked and measured by Diversity Lab. The firm helped pilot the program in 2017 by pledging to follow the “Mansfield Rule” in considering candidates for firm leadership and governance roles.
The Mansfield Rule requires that women lawyers and lawyers of color represent at least 30 percent of the candidate pool for significant law firm leadership roles, including all senior leadership and governance positions, equity partner promotions and lateral hiring. The Mansfield Rule is named after Arabella Mansfield, the first woman admitted to practice law in the United States. The Mansfield Rule was inspired by the NFL’s “Rooney Rule,” named for former Pittsburgh Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney, which requires every NFL team to interview at least one minority candidate for head coach vacancies.
Diversity Lab announced that 41 law firms earned Mansfield Certification after completing the inaugural one-year Mansfield Rule pilot. Of those firms earning certification, 27 went above and beyond the baseline expectations to be named Certified Plus firms.
“Plus status indicates that, in addition to meeting or exceeding the pipeline consideration requirements for certification, these firms have successfully reached at least 30 percent women and minority lawyer representation in a notable number of their current leadership roles and committees,” Diversity Lab noted in a release.
Diversity Lab also announced that it has launched the 2.0 iteration of the Mansfield Rule, which runs from July 2018 to July 2019 with 65 participating law firms. New for this version, Mansfield 2.0 will include LGBTQ+ lawyers as well as women and attorneys of color as part of the diverse candidate pool. Also new, in addition to leadership role appointments and lateral hiring, Mansfield 2.0 will measure consideration for roles in client pitch meetings and will ask participating law firms to make appointment and election processes transparent to all lawyers in their firms. BCLP has committed to following Mansfield again in 2019.
“We are excited to be part of this important program, and we are pleased and proud to be Certified Plus in our first year,” said Chief Diversity Officer Lisa Martin. “Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner represents the combination of two firms that have historically embraced diversity and inclusion as a priority. We remain committed to bringing diversity and inclusiveness into every aspect of our work and culture.”
Original source can be found here.