DLA Piper receives Mansfield 4.0 Certified Plus status and commits to Mansfield 5.0 efforts

DLA Piper is pleased to announce that the firm has achieved Mansfield 4.0 Certified Plus status for 2021 as a result of its implementation of the Mansfield Rule 4.0, an initiative through which participating law firms consider at least 30 percent diverse lawyers for top leadership roles, senior-level lateral hiring, equity partnership promotions and participation in client pitch meetings.

 Certified Plus recognition was awarded to firms that, in addition to considering candidate pools made up of at least 30 percent underrepresented lawyers, have also achieved actual representation of at least 30 percent women, lawyers of color, LGBTQ+ lawyers and lawyers with disabilities in many of the Mansfield Rule categories.

DLA Piper has also committed to participating in Mansfield 5.0, the fifth iteration of the rule. More than 160 large law firms have signed on to participate in Mansfield 5.0, according to a Diversity Lab report. This year’s expansion of the Mansfield Rule adds a category for hiring and promotion of C-level professional staff roles, in recognition of the important role that business professionals play in leading law firms, and also requires firms to consider at least 30 percent underrepresented lawyers for nominations to Chambers.

“DLA Piper has participated in the Mansfield certification process since its inception because we recognize the critical importance of creating a more diverse and inclusive legal profession,” said Jackie Park, DLA Piper’s co-US managing partner. “I am proud of DLA Piper’s sustained commitment to these efforts and the positive and quantifiable results we have been able to achieve.”

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 has participated in every iteration of the initiative, beginning with the inaugural version that 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.