Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has received Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification, after completing a 12-month certification process through Diversity Lab. The firm also achieved Mansfield Certification Plus status for the fifth consecutive year. Plus status is granted to firms that, in addition to meeting or exceeding the baseline certification requirements, successfully reached at least 30% underrepresented lawyer representation in a significant number of current leadership roles.
“Having been a proponent of the Mansfield Rule since its inception in 2016, we are extremely proud that Littler has earned certification from Diversity Lab for the fifth time,” said Erin Webber, Littler’s managing director and president, and Paul Bateman, Chief Inclusion, Equity & Diversity Officer, in a joint statement. “As a firm committed to promoting inclusion, equity and diversity across the legal industry, this recognition underscores the importance of providing meaningful and impactful programs that provide opportunities for our diverse attorneys to hone the skills needed to advance.”
The goal of the Mansfield Rule is to boost the representation of historically underrepresented lawyers in law firm leadership. Now entering its sixth year, the Mansfield Rule has become the standard by which law firms track and measure that they have affirmatively considered at least 30% women, lawyers from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, lawyers with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ lawyers for top leadership roles, senior-level lateral hiring, promotions into the equity partnership, and participation in client pitch meetings.
The Mansfield Rule was one of the winning ideas from the 2016 Women in Law Hackathon hosted by Diversity Lab in collaboration with Bloomberg Law and Stanford Law School. Littler Shareholder Nina Markey (Philadelphia) was part of the team that pitched the initial concept and Littler was one of nearly 50 firms to pilot the inaugural version of the Mansfield Rule.
“It takes a lot of work for firms to make even incremental changes to longstanding systems, and it is an absolute honor for the Diversity Lab team to see what these firms have achieved over the course of the year-long certification cycle,” said Kavita Ramakrishnan, Diversity Lab’s Mansfield Rule and Knowledge Sharing Senior Director. “The firms enthusiastically engaged with Mansfield’s rigorous challenges while sharing learnings with each other to ensure a collective “win.” Every Certified and Certified Plus firm should take great pride in this hard-earned accomplishment!”
Littler has numerous inclusion, equity and diversity programs and initiatives – such as the SOAR Program, the Career Advocacy Program and Breaking Through – that are designed to retain, promote and encourage the professional growth and advancement of diverse attorneys. The firm continues to set the standard for inclusion, equity and diversity in the industry as it earns recognition for its policies, practices and programs.
A comprehensive overview of Littler’s ongoing programming and initiatives as well as a full list of the firm’s accolades can be found at Littler.com/inclusion-diversity.
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