DLA Piper issued the following announcement on Sept. 04.
DLA Piper is pleased to announce that the firm has achieved Mansfield 2.0 Certified Plus status for 2019 as a result of its implementation of the Mansfield Rule, an initiative through which participating law firms consider at least 30 percent diverse lawyers for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions and lateral positions. In its second year, the program expanded to include LGBTQ+ lawyers along with women and attorneys of color.
Certified Plus recognition was awarded to firms that, in addition to considering candidate pools made up of at least 30 percent diverse lawyers, have also achieved actual representation of at least 30 percent women, lawyers of color and LGBTQ+ lawyers in key leadership roles, partner promotions and lateral hires. Out of 64 firms that received Mansfield 2.0 Certified status, DLA Piper is among 51 that earned the Certified Plus title.
"We know the tremendous impact that implementation of the Mansfield Rule can have on inclusive hiring and promotion across the legal industry, and it is both our duty and benefit to participate in this important initiative focused on excellence," said Fenimore Fisher, DLA Piper's chief diversity and inclusion officer. "We are proud to have achieved Certified Plus status for the second year, and we look forward to continuing to serve our clients and our lawyers by establishing a pipeline strengthened by diversity and inclusion."
Named after Arabella Mansfield, the first woman admitted to practice law in the United States, the Mansfield Rule was one of the winning ideas from the 2016 Women in Law Hackathon competition hosted by Diversity Lab, in collaboration with Bloomberg Law and Stanford Law School. DLA Piper was one of 44 law firms to partner with Diversity Lab and participate in the inaugural version of the initiative, which launched in mid-2017. The Mansfield Rule was inspired by the NFL's highly successful 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.
Law firms that have achieved Certified or Certified Plus status, including DLA Piper, will have the opportunity to send their newly promoted diverse partners to one of four client forums to build relationships with and learn from influential in-house counsel.
DLA Piper will participate in the next round of certification, Mansfield 3.0, which will further expand the initiative to include lawyers with disabilities.
Original source can be found here.