Over 70 Midsize Law Firms Achieve Mansfield Certification

By Emma Cueto

Law360 (May 23, 2023, 4:35 PM EDT) — Diversity Labs has named more than 70 law firms as Midsize Mansfield certified as part of its second cohort of midsize firms to complete the 18-month certification process, which involves tracking the number of lawyers from underrepresented groups considered for leadership positions.

In order to achieve certification, midsize firms — defined as firms with 25 to 150 attorneys — must ensure that at least 30% of people under consideration for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, formal client pitches and other roles are women, underrepresented races and ethnicities, LGBTQ+ or lawyers with disabilities.

Of the firms that achieved this benchmark, nearly half also achieved Mansfield Plus certification, which indicates that the firm not only considered the requisite number of attorneys from underrepresented groups but also achieved 30% diverse representation in the roles that Diversity Labs focuses on.

Second Class Receives Midsize Mansfield Certification

Of the more than 70 midsize firms who completed this round of Mansfield certification, over half also received Mansfield Plus certification.

• Baird Holm*
• Barton Gilman*
• Bressley Amery
• Burns White
• Cantor Colburn
• CDF Labor Law*
• Coblentz Patch
• Collins + Collins*
• Collins Einhorn*
• Cox Castle*
• Davis+Gilbert*
• Degan Blanchard*
• Dority & Manning
• Farella Braun*
• Finn Dixon
• Fitch Even*
• Foley Mansfield*
• Foster Swift*
• Genova Burns*
• Greensfelder Hemker
• Hahn Loeser
• Hall Render
• Hancock Daniel*
• Harness
• HWG*
• Hartline Barger
• Higgs Fletcher
• Hinckley Allen
• Hoagland Longo
• Hurwitz Fine*
• Irwin Fritchie*
• Jackson Kelly
• Klarquist Sparkman*
• Lerner David
• Lewis Thomason
• Lightfoot Franklin*
• Marks O’Neill
• Maslon*
• McDonnell Boehnen
• McGinnis Lochridge
• McGivney Kluger
• McGlinchey Stafford
• Meagher & Geer*
• Messner Reeves*
• Miller & Chevalier
• Nicolaides Fink*
• O’Hagan Meyer
• Parker Hudson*
• Peckar & Abramson
• Phillips Murrah*
• Phillips Nizer*
• Plunkett Cooney
• Prince Lobel
• Reichman Jorgensen*
• Roig Lawyers*
• Sands Anderson
• Saxe Doernberger
• Schwabe Williamson*
• Schwegman Lundberg
• Shuttleworth & Ingersoll*
• Skarzynski Marick
• Smith Anderson*
• Stark & Stark
• Sterne Kessler
• Swift Currie*
• Tiber Hudson*
• Waldon Adelman
• Walsworth*
• Winget Spadafora
• Wolf Greenfield*
• Wyrick Robbins

Source: Diversity Lab

“I’m incredibly impressed and proud of the midsize firms that, with fewer resources, in the midst of a pandemic, in the midst of an upcoming recession, still chose to do something really hard,” said Caren Ulrich Stacy, CEO of Diversity Labs. “And they chose to see it through.”

Diversity Labs, which first launched the Mansfield Certification program in 2017 for large firms, rolled out its program for midsize firms in 2020, launching its first pilot with only 23 firms. The midsize program currently runs on an 18-month timeline, with the first cohort graduating in May 2022.

The current midsize cohort, Diversity Labs’ second, began the program in September 2021. A third midsize cohort of over 65 firms is currently going through the program.

Ulrich Stacy and Alyssa Jarvis, senior manager of Mansfield at Diversity Lab, said that for future classes, they plan to shorten the midsize program to 12 months, which would align with the 12-month timeline for larger firms, and keep all midsize firms on the same schedule.

Both Ulrich Stacy and Jarvis said that they are very pleased with the results for midsize firms, saying that their initial expectations were steep. While the first Mansfield program for large firms looked only at gender, racial and ethnic diversity and added more categories later, the midsize firms were expected to start tracking all categories right away.

Jarvis noted that smaller firms often do not have dedicated diversity personnel, but that for many this wound up being an advantage. Because responsibility did not rest on any one leader, multiple leaders at multiple levels of seniority would often participate in check-ins, she said, a degree of engagement that seemed to help further the firms’ goals.

Michael Ferachi, the managing member of McGlinchey Stafford PLLC, which received Midsize Mansfield certification, told Law360 Pulse that the firm found the program very useful.

“We’re excited about having completed it, and we’re pleased with our efforts,” he said. “They’re incomplete … but we will continue to keep doing better.”

The firm will be participating in the next round of certification, he said, but added that tracking this type of data has become part of how the firm operates, which he expects will continue aiding its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

“It takes a lot to go through it, all of which is worthwhile,” he said.

Diversity Labs typically increases expectations with each new round of certification, although for the next midsize cohort, Jarvis and Ulrich Stacy said that the changes will mostly focus on ensuring firms are able to make the transition to a 12-month timeframe. However, Diversity Labs does plan to begin asking firms to track attorneys of Middle Eastern and North African descent and to provide additional resources and programming regarding attorneys with disabilities.

–Editing by Alanna Weissman.