Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP issued the following announcement on June 28.
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner will be part of the inaugural launch of Mansfield Rule Certification in the UK. BCLP was one of the “early adopters” piloting the Mansfield Rule in the US since its 2017 inception. The firm now joins 10 other leading law firms to pilot the program in the UK, with the next certification round beginning July 15.
“We are pleased to help lead this important initiative in the UK,” said Justine Thompson, head of Inclusion & Diversity (EMEA & Asia). “We’ve long worked to promote the Mansfield ideals in our US offices and are ready to bring this initiative to our UK colleagues. It mirrors many of our established inclusion and diversity goals and we are proud to be in at the start.”
The goal of the annual Mansfield Rule Certification program 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 30% women, lawyers from under represented racial or 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.
The Mansfield Rule is named after Arabella Mansfield, the first woman admitted to practice law in the United States.
Natalia Marulanda, Mansfield Rule manager with Diversity Lab, which tracks Mansfield Certification, said organizers have fielded many requests to launch a UK version of the Mansfield Rule.
“BCLP in the US has worked hard each year to earn Mansfield Rule Certification Plus status, in not only considering but achieving the 30% representation of historically underrepresented lawyers,” noted Tommy Shi, director of Inclusion & Diversity (US). “We are glad to be part of this group of trailblazing firms also bringing this level of I&D accountability to the UK.”
Original source can be found here.