Reinhart, Quarles earn Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification for diversity efforts

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Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren and Quarles & Brady have both received Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification.

Administered by Diversity Lab, the Mansfield Rule is a national initiative to close the gender and diversity gap in the legal profession. Reinhart and Quarles are two of more than 160 large law firms to participate in the process, which launched on July 15, 2021.

“We are proud of receiving this certification and are committed to our ongoing efforts in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion at Reinhart,” said Reinhart CEO Al Orr in a news release. “Mansfield is but one of our initiatives to advance diversity, equity and inclusion at our firm.”

Now concluding 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.

“It takes a lot of work for firms to make even incremental changes to long standing systems, and it is an absolute honor for the Diversity Lab team to see what these firms have achieved over the course of the year-long certification cycle,” said Kavita Ramakrishnan, Diversity Lab’s senior director of Mansfield Rule and knowledge sharing, in a news release. “The firms enthusiastically engaged with Mansfield’s rigorous challenges while sharing learnings with each other to ensure a collective ‘win.’ Every Certified and Certified Plus firm should take great pride in this hard-earned accomplishment!”

Both Quarles and Reinhart have begun their efforts to achieve Mansfield Rule 6.0 certification. The newest version of the certification, aimed at diversifying leadership, is the toughest yet. With input from an advisory group of diversity leaders since its launch five years ago, the parameters have expanded in scope and increased in rigor. This certification period runs from July 2022 to July 2023.

The 6.0 version requires law firms to consider at least 30 percent historically underrepresented lawyers from all four groups when appointing leaders and promoting equity partnerships. Firms must also consider 30 percent underrepresented talent for C-suite roles. Through monthly knowledge-sharing forums, firms share lessons learned. In addition, they must create and publish job descriptions for leadership roles and continue to meet routine check-in, data-collection and reporting milestones.