At MoFo, we recognize the value of having a diverse team and an inclusive environment. That's why we're honored to be a part of the inaugural class of major law firms recognized by Diversity Lab as having achieved "Mansfield Certification." The certification measures whether a firm has considered at least 30 percent women and attorneys of color for leadership and governance roles. MoFo has also achieved "Mansfield Certification Plus" status, which indicates that, in addition to the above requirement, we have successfully reached at least 30 percent women and minority lawyer representation in a notable number of current leadership roles and committees.
The concept of the Mansfield Rule was born from a winning pitch at Diversity Lab's inaugural Women in Law Hackathon held in 2016, which MoFo participated in. The rule was named after Arabella Mansfield, the first woman admitted to practice law in the United States. It is a modified version of the NFL's "Rooney Rule," which requires every NFL team to interview at least one minority candidate for head coach positions.
In addition to the certification, MoFo has been granted the opportunity to send diverse and women partners promoted in 2016 and 2017 to a client forum this fall. Partners in attendance will have the opportunity to hear from in-house counsel on topics such as why clients hire outside counsel, what makes for a good pitch, and how to get additional work from a client and effectively cross sell colleagues. So far, more than 70 legal departments have signed on to participate, including Salesforce, Target, SurveyMonkey, GAP, 3M and Google. Alexis Amezcua, Julie Park, Fredo Silva, and Elizabeth Sluder are among the MoFo partners confirmed to attend.
MoFo was one of the 44 leading law firms that joined Diversity Lab in piloting the inaugural version of the Mansfield Rule in the summer of 2017 through mid-2018. That number has increased to 65 firms for version 2.0, running from July 2018 to July 2019. The newest version of the initiative – which MoFo is also participating in – expands the rule to include LGBTQ+ lawyers in addition to women and attorneys of color. Mansfield Rule 2.0 will also measure consideration for roles in client pitch meetings and will ask participating law firms to make appointment and election processes transparent to all lawyers in their firms.
Learn more about the Mansfield Rule here.
Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.
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