Overview
(September 3, 2019, Washington, DC) — Steptoe & Johnson LLP is pleased to announce that it has achieved Mansfield certification after completing the Mansfield Rule 2.0 twelve-month certification program. The Mansfield Rule Certification 2.0 measures whether law firms have affirmatively considered at least 30% women, lawyers of color, and LGBTQ+ lawyers for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, formal client pitch opportunities, and senior lateral positions. The goal of the Mansfield Rule is to boost the representation of diverse lawyers in law firm leadership by broadening the pool of candidates considered for these opportunities.
As part of the 2.0 version, Diversity Lab, an incubator for innovative ideas and solutions that boost diversity and inclusion in law, expanded the Mansfield Rule to include representation of LGBTQ+ lawyers, in addition to women and racial/ethnic minorities, as part of the candidate population and to also track the participation of historically underrepresented lawyers in formal pitch meetings.
To achieve the Mansfield Rule objectives, the participating law firms established processes to document and analyze their talent pipelines. The overall results from Mansfield 2.0 reveal that firms are continuing to make progress on the Rule’s goal of diversifying law firm leadership by expanding their pipelines, increasing transparency, and participating in candid knowledge sharing.
"We believe now is the time to explore new opportunities for diversity and inclusion," said Steptoe Chair Phil West. "As we look forward to a year filled with expansion and innovation, we welcome and celebrate the diverse culture of Steptoe that makes our firm successful."
Steptoe also achieved Mansfield Certification Plus status. "Plus" status indicates that, in addition to meeting or exceeding the pipeline consideration requirements for certification, the firms have successfully reached at least 30% diverse lawyer representation in a notable number of their current leadership roles and committees.
The Mansfield Rule is named for Arabella Mansfield, the first woman admitted to the practice of law in the United States 150 years ago. It was a winning idea from the 2016 Women in Law Hackathon hosted by Diversity Lab in collaboration with Bloomberg Law and Stanford Law School. It was inspired by the NFL's Rooney Rule, created by the late Dan Rooney in 2003 and now supported by his son, Art Rooney II, President of the Pittsburgh Steelers and a name partner in law firm Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. The Rooney Rule requires every NFL team to interview at least one minority candidate for head coach vacancies. In the years following its implementation, the number of minorities hired to fill head coach roles doubled.
About Steptoe
In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.