Butler Snow is proud to announce it has renewed its participation in the year-long Mansfield Rule certification process. Facilitated by Diversity Lab, participation reinforces the firm’s commitment to increasing and sustaining a diverse and inclusive workforce at the firm and in the legal profession.
The newest version of the Mansfield certification – aimed at diversifying leadership – is the toughest yet. The parameters have expanded in scope while also increasing in rigor with input from an advisory group of diversity leaders since its launch five years ago.
“At Butler Snow, we strive to be a champion of diversity and inclusivity. We embrace diversity of talent, culture and thought for its own merit and know that it is a key driver of innovation and creativity,” said Christopher R. Maddux, Chair of Butler Snow. “Our continued participation in Mansfield Rule 6.0 is essential to our commitment to increasing and sustaining a diverse and inclusive team.”
When Diversity Lab first launched the pilot certification with 40+ large firms in 2017, the primary requirement was to consider at least 30% women lawyers and underrepresented racial and ethnic lawyers for leadership roles. Versions 2.0 through 5.0 were steadily broadened each year to include LGBTQ+ lawyers and lawyers with disabilities as well as critical pipeline activities (e.g., pitch teams, senior-level lateral hiring), transparent leadership role descriptions, and more. The 6.0 version requires law firms to consider at least 30% historically underrepresented lawyers from all four groups when appointing to leadership roles and promoting into the equity partnership, among a dozen other activities that focus on the path to leadership. Firms must also consider 30% underrepresented talent for C-suite roles.
Firms are asked to share lessons learned with each other through monthly knowledge-sharing forums. They must create and publish job descriptions for leadership roles. They must continue to meet routine check-in, data collection, and reporting milestones. And to ensure Mansfield’s long-term results, there is an increasingly difficult “Certification Plus” category that evaluates whether firms have achieved diversity in leadership, not just considered it. To attain this higher level of certification, firms’ advancement and compensation processes must now be transparent internally.