Jackson Walker proudly announces our achievement of Mansfield Rule Certification status. Our firm is one of more than 240 law firms that successfully completed Diversity Lab’s Mansfield Rule 2022-2023 Certification Program, which ran from July 2022 to July 2023. Launched by Diversity Lab in 2017, the Mansfield Rule was designed to improve diversity within law firm and legal department leadership.
Mansfield Certification measures the structural changes and steps our firm has taken over the past year to ensure our paths to leadership – including lateral hiring, client pitch teams, promotions, appointments, and more – are open and transparent to all qualified lawyers. This high level of transparency is part of a larger effort we’re undertaking through Mansfield to broaden the slate of talent considered for opportunities.
“It’s evident that diverse leadership not only fosters inclusivity and belonging but also leads to equitable decision-making, ensuring our entire firm’s needs are met to the benefit of both our talented team and valued clients,” said Suzan Kedron, who chairs the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee. “By achieving Mansfield Certification, we continue our path dedicated to fostering equal opportunity and broadening access to leadership positions.”
“By achieving Mansfield Certification, we continue our path dedicated to fostering equal opportunity and broadening access to leadership positions.”
Why This Matters to Jackson Walker and Our Clients
Mansfield’s processes seek to ensure equal opportunity and access to leadership roles. The focus is on opening the door wider, and ensuring that opportunities for advancement are inclusive for everyone. Mansfield takes a behavioral science approach that embeds accountability, transparency, and knowledge sharing into our talent practices. We know that with diverse leadership comes more inclusive and equitable decisions that reflect the needs of our entire workforce for the benefit of our talent and clients.
What We Do in Practice
What does this mean for Jackson Walker? Whenever our leaders make decisions about who to appoint or elect to leadership roles, such as our Management Committee, we consider a broad pipeline of talent, including lawyers who are historically underrepresented in law. The same inclusive decision-making process occurs when we build client pitch teams.
This process does not exclude anyone; it ensures that the talent pipeline includes additional qualified talent. The Mansfield framework helps us take an inclusive, structured, and data-driven approach to leadership advancement—and ensure the approach is consistent across offices and practice groups. This intentionality benefits everyone.
As demonstrated in a recent American Lawyer article, having an equitable advancement process helps diversify leadership at firms that continue to follow Mansfield’s principles long-term.
For more information about the Mansfield process, view the Diversity Lab website. Also, to explore the Firm’s commitment to creating a more inclusive environment for all, visit our Diversity & Inclusion page or view our recent Diversity & Inclusion Newsletter.
