PHILADELPHIA, September 13, 2021—Duane Morris LLP has attained Mansfield 4.0 Certification Plus status. The goal of the Mansfield Rule is to boost the representation of historically underrepresented lawyers in law firm leadership. Achieving “Plus” status indicates that, in addition to meeting or exceeding the baseline requirements, the firm has successfully reached at least 30 percent diverse lawyer representation in a notable number of current leadership roles.
The firm announced its participation in the Mansfield 4.0 Certification process in 2020. Duane Morris is currently participating in the Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification process, which launched in July 2021.
“This is a great accomplishment for our firm, and we’ve had many colleagues working long and hard to bring about this result,” said Matthew A. Taylor, CEO and Chairman of Duane Morris. “Duane Morris has a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion and our number of diverse colleagues in partner and leadership roles continues to increase. We remain focused on attracting and retaining marquee talent of diverse backgrounds.”
“We are proud of our certification, since Mansfield recognition resonates powerfully internally and externally with our clients and recruits,” added Joseph K. West, Duane Morris Partner and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. “Through our multifaceted efforts, we continue to develop and mentor diverse talent at Duane Morris as well as deliver value-added knowledge, services and support to clients seeking to strengthen their own organizations.”
Now entering its fifth year, the Mansfield Rule has become the standard by which law firms track and measure that they have affirmatively considered at least 30 percent women, lawyers from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, lawyers with disabilities and LGBTQ+ lawyers for top leadership roles, senior-level lateral hiring, promotions into the equity partnership and participation in client pitch meetings. Since the Mansfield Rule’s launch four years ago, Diversity Lab has worked with participating law firms to annually measure the outcomes and iterate the program based on those outcomes to ensure they are moving toward the goal of diversifying firm leadership as inclusively and with as much impact as possible.
About Duane Morris
Duane Morris LLP provides innovative solutions to today’s multifaceted legal and business challenges through the collegial and collaborative culture of its more than 800 attorneys in offices across the United States and internationally. The firm represents a broad array of clients, spanning all major practices and industries. Duane Morris has been recognized by BTI Consulting as both a Client Service leader and a Most Recommended Law Firm.