Potomac Law will be participating in the Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification process launching July 15, 2021. In line with the firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, the goal of the Mansfield Rule is to boost the representation of historically underrepresented lawyers in law firm leadership. Now entering its fifth year, the Mansfield Rule has become the standard by which law firms track and measure that they have affirmatively considered at least thirty percent 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.
“We are excited to join the list of law firms participating in the Mansfield Rule 5.0 certification process for 2021,” said firm Founder and Managing Partner Benjamin Lieber. “This certification is an important part of our firm-wide diversity and inclusion efforts, and we believe that a diverse workforce with a wide variety of perspectives will best serve our clients, who differ by industry, geography and culture.”
Similar to previous years, this iteration of the Mansfield Rule includes new challenges to continuously push the boundaries necessary to boost diversity in law firm leadership. New for Mansfield 5.0, firms are required to:
- Track their candidate pools in a disaggregated manner, prompting them to measure the impact of the Mansfield Rule by each underrepresented group. Firms must also include an option for Middle Eastern/North African identity, a demographic often overlooked by current self-identification options;
- Consider at least 30% underrepresented lawyers for nominations to Chambers USA to increase the external visibility of underrepresented lawyers with clients and in the marketplace more broadly; and
- Consider 30% underrepresented individuals when hiring and promoting C-level or other senior-level professional staff roles.
The Mansfield Rule is named after Arabella Mansfield, the first woman admitted to the practice of law in the United States, and it is inspired by the “Rooney Rule,” a mandate that requires every NFL team to interview at least one minority candidate for head coach vacancies.
Click here to learn more about Potomac Law’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
