August 27th, 2020
SPRINGFIELD, Mass., August 27, 2020 – Diversity Lab announced today that 19 pioneering legal departments, listed below, have achieved Mansfield Certification after completing the year-long Mansfield Rule: Legal Department Edition (MRLD) inaugural 2019-2020 certification program. Due to the overwhelming interest in and success of the pilot, 54 legal departments – more than double the number from the initial pilot – have signed on for MRLD 2.0, which runs from July 2020 through June 2022.
The MRLD is modeled after the Mansfield Rule for law firms launched in 2017, which has resulted in tremendous positive outcomes in the hiring and advancement of diverse leaders within law firms. MRLD measures whether legal departments have affirmatively considered at least 50 percent women, racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities for leadership, high-visibility opportunities, and secondment or intern programs within the law department, and for leadership roles when hiring new outside counsel. The MRLD requires legal departments to implement tracking and processes that prompt them to consider a broader pool of candidates when hiring and promoting lawyers for internal and outside counsel roles.
Inaugural Pilot 2019-2020 – MRLD Certified Legal Departments
The 13 legal departments indicated above with an asterisk earned Mansfield Rule Certification Plus status. “Plus” status indicates that, in addition to meeting or exceeding the pipeline consideration requirements for Certification, these legal departments have successfully reached at least 50 percent representation of lawyers from historically underrepresented backgrounds in many of their current leadership roles. “The Jacksonville Jaguars take pride in our commitment to creating a diverse workplace culture,” said Megha Parekh, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of the Jacksonville Jaguars. “Participating in the Mansfield Rule: Legal Department Edition pilot gave us a look in the mirror at our own internal hiring and advancement procedures for not only our legal team, but all roles at the Jaguars. We’re now in a better position to reduce unconscious bias and truly diversify our team. The pilot was an important step in our mission to change the landscape within the world of sports and entertainment.“
As part of the 2.0 version, Diversity Lab extended the certification period to two years to allow for additional hiring and other activities needed to successfully implement the Mansfield Rule in a legal department setting. And, although the tracking of candidate pools for all activities has always been required, the 2.0 version also calls for legal departments to track candidate pools on a disaggregated basis by population (i.e., women, racial and ethnic minorities, lawyers with disabilities, and LGBTQ+) to help them identify specific gaps in their recruitment and advancement processes.
“The reality we saw in the pilot was that legal departments are fairly successful at hiring and advancing heterosexual, white women,” said Leila Hock, Director of Legal Department Partnerships and Inclusion Initiatives at Diversity Lab. “And while the legal profession absolutely must continue the progress we’ve made with that population, we still particularly struggle with the retention and advancement of other historically underrepresented populations, especially racial and ethnic minorities. By requiring legal departments to track the granular makeup of their candidate populations, we hope to shine a light on any blind spots.”
Of the legal departments participating in the MRLD pilot, 80% experienced an increase in formal discussions among the legal department's leadership regarding broadening the current or future pool of candidates for lawyer positions within the legal department. And before joining MRLD, only 15% of the participating legal departments were tracking the diversity of the outside counsel candidates considered for first or second chair positions; now, all of the participating legal departments are doing so. The success of the MRLD pilot has spurred even more legal departments to commit to the certification process for MRLD 2.0, increasing the total participation to 54 legal departments.
MRLD 2.0 Legal Departments:
“Today, more than ever, intentional, tangible actions matter” said Joel Unruch, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Accenture. “While we have been committed to inclusion and diversity both inside and outside Accenture for years, committing to becoming Mansfield Certified will help us do even more – drive the right conversations, take the right actions, and hold ourselves accountable in a different way. I’m confident that this will make a difference and excited for Accenture to join the other Mansfield participants on this journey.”
“Participating in the MRLD pilot program was a game changer for us. We saw the success of the behavioral changes it inspired across our corporate legal department and look forward to continuing to build on that success. We know that it takes continual attention to build a more inclusive legal department and advance the representation of underrepresented minorities in the law, and we look forward to working with the new legal departments that signed on this year to continue to grow as a legal profession,” commented Laura Meagher, General Counsel of VF Corporation.
About Diversity Lab
Diversity Lab is an incubator for innovative ideas and solutions that boost diversity and inclusion in law. Experimental ideas – such as the OnRamp Fellowship and the Mansfield Rule – are created through our Hackathons and piloted in collaboration with more than 100 top law firms and legal departments across the country. Diversity Lab leverages data, behavioral science, design thinking, and technology to further develop and test new ideas and research, measure the results, and share the lessons learned. For more information, visit www.diversitylab.com.