WilmerHale Achieves Diversity Lab’s Mansfield 5.0 Certification Plus
- 10.19.2022
WilmerHale is pleased to announce that it has achieved Diversity Lab’s 2022 Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification Plus status. The certification reflects the firm’s commitment to increasing diversity in the legal profession, in part by considering a broad and diverse pool of candidates for significant leadership roles.
The Mansfield Rule is a rigorous, yearlong certification program that aims to increase the representation of diverse lawyers in firm leadership. The fifth iteration of the Mansfield Rule, Mansfield 5.0, requires participating firms to ensure that at least 30 percent of candidates for leadership positions and promotions on the attorney and staff side are women, attorneys of color, LGBTQ+ and/or lawyers with disabilities. Law firms must also establish processes to track and assess their talent pipeline to promote more diverse attorneys into leadership and governance roles.
The Mansfield Rule originated from the 2016 Women in Law Hackathon, hosted by Diversity Lab in conjunction with Bloomberg Law and Stanford Law School. The initiative, which is patterned after the National Football League’s Rooney Rule, is named for Arabella Mansfield, the first woman admitted to the practice of law in the United States. The firm has received the Mansfield Certification Plus status since its first iteration in 2018 when WilmerHale was one of only 26 law firms in the nation to successfully complete the one-year pilot program.
The Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification Plus status joins a growing list of recognitions WilmerHale has received for its commitment to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession. In 2022, the firm has been:
- Recognized as the 2022 Top Performer and Compass Award recipient by Leadership Council on Legal Diversity;
- Named a finalist in the Best Diversity Initiative category of the 2022 American Lawyer Industry Awards;
- Recognized as a 2022 ChIPs Honor Roll Award Recipient;
- Named to Bloomberg Law’s second annual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Framework;
- Awarded the Women in Law Empowerment Forum’s 2022 US Gold Standard Certification;
- Named a “Best Law Firm for Women” by Seramount for 15th Consecutive Year;
- Named a Top Firm by Yale Law Women;
- Honored with the National Legal Aid & Defender Association’s 2022 Beacon of Justice Award;
- Named to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s list of Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality;
- Honored with Dell Technologies’ 2021 Law Firm Diversity Award
Visit our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and WilmerHale Women pages to learn more about the firm’s commitment to diversity.
