Atlanta (October 18, 2022) – Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP has earned Mansfield 5.0 Plus status, which is an objective measure of the firm’s commitment to diversity. The “Plus” designation means MMM meets the basic criteria for certification and at least 30% of current leadership roles are now held by traditionally underrepresented lawyers.
Launched by Diversity Lab, the Mansfield Rule’s goal is to boost and sustain diversity in law firm leadership and the pipeline to leadership. At the program’s start, it required firms to consider at least 30% women lawyers and underrepresented racial and ethnic attorneys for leadership roles. Each year, the criteria got broader; certification now requires law firms to include LGBTQ+ lawyers and attorneys with disabilities participating in a larger number of critical activities.
MMM has earned Mansfield status each year it was available. It earned the Plus certification five out of six times.
“An early adopter of the Mansfield Rule (MR), MMM continues to learn and evolve through the certification process each year," said MMM Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Chair Dan Huynh. “As leaders in the industry, we have the opportunity to apply the knowledge and benchmarking created by MR to support the pipeline of diverse legal talent, which includes expanding our reach to talent in law school, college and even high school students.”
The program has been a significant success, Huynh added. “We are seeing marked improvement in the diversity of our attorneys at every level, including a new summer associate class that is 50% racially diverse and 83% women. We look forward to continuing our growth, using MR as our foundation,” he concluded.
The Mansfield Rule is named for Arabella Mansfield, America’s first female lawyer. The NFL’s Rooney Rule, which requires every NFL team to interview at least one minority candidate for head coach vacancies, was the initial inspiration.
Diversity Lab is an incubator for innovative ideas and solutions that boost diversity and inclusion in law. Law firms piloting the Mansfield Rule since its inception have grown the racial and ethnic diversity of their top leadership, including diversifying their Management Committees by more than 30 times the rate of non-Mansfield firms. For more information, visit www.diversitylab.com.
About Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP
Morris, Manning & Martin (www.mmmlaw.com) is an Am Law 200 law firm with national and international reach. We dedicate ourselves to the constant pursuit of our clients’ success. To provide our clients with optimal value, we combine market-leading legal services with a total understanding of their needs to maximize effectiveness, efficiency and opportunity. MMM enjoys national prominence for its real estate, corporate, litigation, technology, healthcare, intellectual property, capital markets, environmental, international trade, and insurance practices. A Mansfield 5.0 Plus certified firm, MMM has offices in Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham, Savannah and Washington, D.C.
Media Contact for MMM: Terri Thornton, (404) 932-4347, Terri@TerriThornton.com
