Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP is pleased to announce that the firm has achieved Mansfield Rule Certification Plus after completing the 12-month Mansfield Rule 4.0 certification program. The Mansfield Rule Certification Plus, conferred by Diversity Lab, indicates that Sheppard Mullin affirmatively considered at least 30 percent women, lawyers of color, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and attorneys with disabilities for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, formal client pitch opportunities, and senior lateral positions. Notably, this is the fourth consecutive year the firm has achieved the Certification Plus designation.
“Ensuring that we vigorously focus on increasing diversity within our leadership ranks and on our legal teams is a core strategic goal for Sheppard Mullin,” said Chairman Guy Halgren. “Supporting and celebrating diversity is not only a good thing to do – it’s the right thing to do. We are proud to have once again achieved Mansfield Rule Certification Plus and look forward to our continued partnership with Diversity Lab to improve diversity in the legal profession.”
Rena Andoh, Chair of Sheppard Mullin’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee and New York partner, added, “Mansfield Rule Certification Plus continues to be a key credential that our clients look for and value, and so we are thrilled that we continue to meet this threshold.”
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. The Mansfield Rule Certification has evolved over time to include attorneys with disabilities, in addition to women, lawyers of color and LGBTQ+ attorneys. Sheppard Mullin is also one of the firms nationwide participating in Mansfield 5.0 through September 2022. 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;
- Include an option for Middle Eastern/North African identity, a demographic often overlooked by current self-identification options;
- Consider at least 30 percent 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 percent underrepresented individuals when hiring and promoting C-level or other senior-level professional staff roles.
Sheppard Mullin’s commitment to diversity and inclusion has been often recognized. Recent achievements include:
- Named among Seramount-Working Mother Magazine’s 2021 Best Law Firms for Women
- Named among Yale Law Women’s 2020 Top Ten Firms for Gender Equality and Top Ten Firms for Family Friendliness
- Ranked #32 on The American Lawyer’s 2021 Diversity Scorecard
- Earned 100% rating by the Human Rights Campaign’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index
- Ranked #7 on Law360’s 2021 Diversity Snapshot in the large firm (601+ attorneys) category.
Background on the Mansfield Rule
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.