Robins Kaplan Signs Mansfield Rule to Boost Diversity in Leadership

Robins Kaplan LLP is pleased to announce that the firm has signed onto the fourth and latest iteration of the Mansfield Rule, powered by Diversity Lab, for the 2020-2021 certification cycle. This is the second year that the firm has participated in this important initiative.

The firm joins 116 firms across the nation aiming to increase diversity in law firms by considering at least 30 percent women, lawyers with disabilities, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and lawyers of color for significant leadership roles. Mansfield 4.0 adds a new category for a “Certification Plus” designation asking that 30% of the lawyers staffed on matters resulting from formal pitch meetings be from historically underrepresented groups.

The Mansfield Rule was launched in 2017 by Diversity Lab in collaboration with Bloomberg Law and Stanford Law School. It was named for Arabella Mansfield, the first woman admitted to the practice of law in the United States. The initiative 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 partner at the law firm Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. The Rooney Rule requires every NFL team to interview at least one person of color for head coach vacancies. In the years following its implementation, the league doubled the number of head coaches of color who were hired. Robins Kaplan adopted a Rooney Rule for lateral associate positions in 2016 and in the following year, the firm increased its hiring of attorneys of color by 30 percent and LGBTQ attorneys by 13 percent.

“Participating in this important initiative has allowed us to build upon the foundation of diversity and inclusion that has been guiding the firm for many years,” said Chandra Kilgriff, Robins Kaplan’s Chief Talent and Diversity Officer. “We recognize the unique ability that we as a law firm have to challenge the structure that has perpetuated workplace inequality and enact meaningful and lasting change for our firm and as a part of the greater legal community.”

You can find more information on the Mansfield Rule here.