Hunton Andrews Kurth Participates in Mansfield Rule™ 6.0 Certification Process

Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP is participating in the Mansfield Rule™ 6.0 certification process, which measures law firms’ efforts to increase diversity in their leadership positions. The firm is among 180+ major law firms in the United States and Canada participating in the process, which runs from July 2022 to July 2023.

“The stringent requirements of the Mansfield Rule certification align well with Hunton Andrews Kurth’s diversity and inclusion practices and the firm’s mission to build and leverage a diverse, inclusive professional community,” said partner Shemin V. Proctor, who co-chairs the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, alongside partners A. Todd Brown and Emily Burkhardt Vicente.

The Mansfield Rule 6.0 certification has expanded parameters, making it the most rigorous yet. This new version requires law firms to consider at least 30% women, lawyers of color, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities for leadership and governance roles, equity partnerships, formal client pitch opportunities and senior lateral positions. Firms must also consider 30% underrepresented talent for C-suite roles.

In addition to these diverse considerations, firms are asked to share lessons learned with each other through monthly knowledge sharing forums; they must create and publish job descriptions for leadership roles; and they must continue to meet routine check-in, data-collection, and reporting milestones. And to ensure Mansfield’s long-term results, there is an increasingly difficult “Certification Plus” category that evaluates whether firms have achieved diversity in leadership, not just considered it. To attain this higher level of certification, firms’ advancement and compensation processes must now be transparent internally.

Hunton Andrews Kurth has achieved Mansfield Rule Certification Plus status since 2020, reflecting that the firm has both considered and achieved 30% representation of historically underrepresented lawyers in many of the Mansfield Rule’s categories.

Named for Arabella Mansfield, who in 1869 became the first woman to be admitted to practice law in the United States, the Mansfield Rule aims to increase the representation of diverse lawyers in law firm leadership by broadening the pool of candidates considered for these opportunities. The program is administered by Diversity Lab, an incubator for innovative ideas and solutions that boost diversity and inclusion in law firms and legal departments.