Dykema, a leading national law firm, announced that the firm has achieved Mansfield 6.0 certification as well as Mansfield Certification Plus status after completing a 12-month certification process in collaboration with Diversity Lab. This marks the second consecutive year that Dykema has achieved Certification Plus status—the highest standing possible—in just the firm’s second time participating in the certification process.
Launched in 2017, the Mansfield Rule is a structured certification process designed to ensure all talent at participating law firms has a fair and equal opportunity to advance into leadership. The Rule is focused on broadening the talent pool for consideration, including those historically underrepresented in the legal profession, to facilitate transparent pathways to leadership.
To achieve certification, law firms must implement a behavioral science and data-driven approach—designed by Diversity Lab in collaboration with talent experts, data scientists, and lawyers—to help increase diversity in leadership. Focused on opening the door wider and ensuring that opportunities are inclusive, certified firms considered broad slates of qualified talent for leadership roles that included at least 30% historically underrepresented lawyers—such as women lawyers, underrepresented racial and ethnic lawyers, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities.
The increasingly difficult “Certification Plus” status signifies that a firm has gone beyond just consideration and has actually achieved greater diversity in a notable number of its current leadership roles.
“The firms honored for achieving Certification have articulated and broadened the paths to leadership,” said Alyssa Jarvis, Director of Mansfield & Strategic Innovations at Diversity Lab. “The expectations, and avenues to success, have never been clearer. And this commitment to transparency benefits everyone. I am proud to work with each of these firms.”
Dykema will continue to embrace equity in leadership opportunities continuing its participation in the Mansfield Rule certification process, joining more than 360 large and midsize firms from the U.S., UK, and Canada seeking Mansfield 7.0 certification, a process that runs from July 2023 to June 2024. The Mansfield Rule 7.0 process broadens the requirements to include consideration of underrepresented individuals for C-suite roles.
Just as it did through the 5.0 and 6.0 Certification processes, the 7.0 Certification process will be led by Dykema’s Mansfield Task Force, made up of professionals across the firm’s offices and practice groups. The task force is co-chaired by Sherrie Farrell, Dykema’s Chief Diversity Officer, and Peter Kellett, Chairman Emeritus.
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