Reinhart attains Mansfield Rule 6.0 Certification for 2023; Continues Commitment to DEI

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Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. (Reinhart) has again this year  — for the second year — achieved Mansfield Rule Certification, an achievement confirming the firm’s commitment to a diverse leadership team, recruiting and retaining top talent from underrepresented groups, and ensuring the equitable allocation of new business opportunities, firm officials said.

The Mansfield Rule Certification, administered by Diversity Lab, is a leading international initiative to eliminate the gender and diversity gap in the legal profession. Reinhart was among the 106 mid-size U.S. law firms to achieve this honor for 2023, firm officials  noted.

“We are committed to a diverse legal profession, starting from within by supporting an equitable and inclusive workplace, which is why our alignment with the principles of Mansfield makes so much sense,” says Reinhart CEO Al Orr.

“Encouraging diverse perspectives is essential to our clients’ success, and participation in the Mansfield Rule strengthens our ability to provide the very best counsel and service to address the full range of their evolving needs,” Orr added.

The Mansfield Rule, which has been running for six years, has become the science-backed and data-driven benchmark for law firms to ensure that they have actively considered candidates from diverse backgrounds for leadership positions, promotions to equity partnership and client pitch meetings. Qualification for certification requires that more than 30 percent of the attorneys considered for these roles and opportunities are women attorneys, attorneys from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, attorneys with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ attorneys. Reinhart considers these and other attributes for such roles and opportunities, firm officials noted.

“Diversity, equity, and inclusion are fundamental values that we uphold at Reinhart, “says Jessica Hutson Polakowski, Reinhart board member and co-chair of the firm’s DEI Committee.

“We are dedicated to advancing a professional culture that fosters the success of lawyers from diverse backgrounds, and we believe that meaningful progress in this regard can only be achieved through collective efforts to build inclusive communities,” Hutson Polakowski added.

ABOUT DIVERSITY LAB

Diversity Lab is an incubator for innovative ideas and solutions that boost diversity and inclusion in law. Experimental ideas are piloted in collaboration with more than 250 top law firms and legal departments across the country. Diversity Lab leverages data, behavioral science, design thinking, and technology to further develop and test new ideas and research, measure the results, and share the lessons learned, firm officials noted.