Dykema Gossett PLLC issued the following announcement on July 8.
Dykema, a leading national law firm, announced today that it will join more than 160 large law firms from the U.S. and Canada in participating in Diversity Lab’s Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification process launching July 15, 2021. Dykema is among 48 other new firms, which represents a 90% growth rate for the certification process.
“Law firms face many challenges today, and among the most pressing is addressing the underrepresentation in leadership positions of women lawyers and attorneys from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds,” said Len Wolfe, Dykema’s Chairman & CEO. “Participation in the Mansfield Rule Certification Process will enhance Dykema’s ability to address two significant elements of representation, promoting diverse leadership from within and creating a pipeline of potential leaders from diverse backgrounds across the firm.”
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 30 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.
According to Diversity Lab, recent data shows that the Mansfield Rule is succeeding. The “early adopter” firms piloting the Mansfield Rule since its 2017 inception have increased the racial and ethnic diversity of their management committees at a rate 30 times that of non-Mansfield Rule firms.
“I’ve long observed the success of the Mansfield Rule Certification Process, and I’m thrilled that Dykema has been selected to join the fifth year of this program,” said Sherrie L. Farrell, Chair of Dykema’s Diversity and Inclusion Board. “Over the years, multiple studies have proven the effectiveness of diverse teams in delivering the best of service to business clients. Dykema has been committed to increasing the number of our DE&I initiatives across the firm to not only further enrich our work environment but to foster diverse teams to offer a more sophisticated response to our clients’ business needs.”
Peter Kellett, Dykema’s Chairman Emeritus, and Farrell will co-chair a firm-wide Mansfield Rule task force made up of professionals across the firm’s offices and practice groups. Dykema’s Mansfield Rule task force will be responsible for helping the firm achieve Mansfield Rule Certification in 2022.
Original source can be found here.