On October 2, 2024, Diversity Lab announced that Wilson Sonsini has, for the sixth consecutive year, achieved Mansfield Certification Plus after participating in the 2023-2024 Mansfield Rule Certification process for large law firms. Over 360 law firms achieved Mansfield Certification for the 2023-24 period, marking a 13 percent increase from the previous year.
The Mansfield Rule amplifies firm’s commitment to DEI by calling for law firms to track and measure that they have affirmatively considered at least 30 percent historically underrepresented attorneys including women, lawyers from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, lawyers with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ lawyers for top leadership roles.
The Mansfield Rule, named after Arabella Mansfield, the first woman admitted to practice law in the United States, was one of the winning ideas from the 2016 Women in Law Hackathon, a pitch competition created by the Diversity Lab in collaboration with Stanford Law School and Bloomberg Law. The Rule aims to boost diversity in leadership by broadening the pool of talent through “consideration goals”—not quotas—for leadership roles. As of 2023, there are over 360 U.S., Canadian, and UK law firms, and more than 75 legal departments participating in the certification process.
As explained on the Mansfield Rule website, “The Mansfield Rule is a structured certification process designed to ensure all talent at participating law firms and legal departments have a fair and equal opportunity to advance into leadership. Mansfield is focused on broadening the talent pool for consideration, including those historically underrepresented in the legal profession, to facilitate transparent leadership pathways.”
Wilson Sonsini is currently participating in the 2024-2025 Mansfield Certification process. A complete list of participating law firms for the 2024-2025 cohort can be found here.