Underscoring WilmerHale’s continued commitment to diversity and inclusion, the firm achieved Mansfield Certification Plus status for 2020. The firm is also one of 67 law firms in the nation to receive Diversity Lab’s highest designation for exceeding the requirements for certification, making it the third consecutive year WilmerHale has earned this status.
The Mansfield Rule’s goal is to boost the representation of diverse lawyers in law firm leadership by broadening the pool of candidates considered for such opportunities. To be certified, firms must establish processes to track and assess their talent pipeline to promote more diverse lawyers into leadership and governance roles, including equity partner promotions, formal client pitch opportunities and senior lateral positions.
For firms to achieve “plus” status, at least 30 percent of their key leadership and committee positions must be held by lawyers who are women, people of color or LGBTQ+.
The Mansfield Certification, overseen by Diversity Lab, is an initiative patterned after the National Football League’s Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview diverse candidates for head coaching and front-office vacancies. It is named for Arabella Mansfield, the first woman admitted to the practice of law in the United States. The initiative is in its third year, hence “Mansfield 3.0 Certification,” and WilmerHale is one of the 117 firms participating in Mansfield 4.0.
Mansfield Certification Plus is the latest recognition WilmerHale has received for its commitment to diversity and inclusion. In the past year, the firm has been recognized:
- As one of the “Best Law Firms for Women” by Working Mother for the 13th consecutive year;
- For earning a 100 percent rating in the Corporate Equality Index for the 12th consecutive year based on the annual Human Rights Campaign Foundation survey to identify the best places to work for LGBT equality;
- A “Top Firms for Working Mothers & Family Planning” by Yale Law Women, an organization which seeks to advance the status of women and traditionally underrepresented gender identities at Yale Law School and in the legal profession at large;
- One of the “Top 100th Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts” for the seventh year in a row; and
- A top firm in the newly-expanded 2019 Inclusion Blueprint survey, a collaborative project between Diversity Lab and ChIPs, which provides a new standard for measuring law firm inclusion and diversity at the leadership and practice group levels