As part of WilmerHale’s commitment to consider a broad and diverse pool of candidates for significant leadership roles and expand the firm’s continued commitment to diversity and inclusion, WilmerHale is pleased to announce its achievement of Diversity Lab’s Mansfield Rule 4.0 Certification Plus for 2021.
The goal of Mansfield Rule is to increase the representation of diverse lawyers in firm leadership through creating and widening opportunities for our attorneys. To be considered for certification, law firms must establish processes to track and assess their talent pipeline to promote more diverse attorneys into leadership and governance roles.
Participation in the Mansfield Rule initiative includes a commitment by WilmerHale to consider at least 30 percent women, attorneys of color, LGBTQ+ and lawyers with disabilities or governance and leadership positions, equity partner promotions, senior lateral roles, and formal client pitch opportunities.
Mansfield Rule 4.0 adds a new category for the Certification Plus designation that asks firms to ensure at least 40 percent of the attorneys staffed on matters resulting from formal pitch meetings during the certification period were historically underrepresented attorneys.
In 2020, WilmerHale achieved Mansfield Rule 3.0 Certification Plus Status for achieving key diversity goals. Mansfield Rule 4.0 Certification Plus status is one of the latest recognitions WilmerHale has received for its commitment to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion. In the past year, the firm has been recognized:
- As one of the top 10 large US law firms with the most racial and ethnic diversity among lawyers in Law360’s 2021 Diversity Snapshot;
- A “Best Law Firm for Women” by Seramount/Working Mother for the 14th consecutive year;
- A recipient of the 2021 Law Firm/Legal Department Inclusiveness Work Award by The Center for Legal Inclusiveness (CLI);
- A 2021 Top Firm for Gender Equity & Family Friendliness by Yale Law Women (YLW);
- A recipient of the 2020 PracticePro Diversity Leadership Award
The Mansfield Rule originated from the 2016 Women in Law Hackathon, hosted by Diversity Lab in conjunction with Bloomberg Law and Stanford Law School. It is named after Arabella Mansfield, the first woman admitted to the practice of law in the United States.