The Cook Group Legal Litigation Attorneys

The Cook Group Partners With DiversityLab Mansfield Rule Project

The Cook Group, a female and minority owned law firm, is proud to announce its partnership with Diversity Lab to pilot a new iteration of the Mansfield Rule developed for firms with fewer than 100 lawyers in the U.S. The Midsize Mansfield Rule certification process, modeled after the original version, has been fine-tuned to boost diversity in leadership for firms with smaller lawyer populations, single office locations, and leaner firm leadership structures. The certification period for the Midsize version is 18 months (September 15, 2020 to March 15, 2022) to provide ample time for the participating firms to take action on the required hiring, promotion, and leadership transition activities.

The goal of the Mansfield Rule is to boost the representation of diverse lawyers in law firm leadership by broadening the pool of candidates considered for these roles and opportunities.  The Mansfield Rule certification measures whether law firms have affirmatively considered women, attorneys of color, LGBTQ+ attorneys, and attorneys with disabilities – at least 30 percent of the candidate pool – for recruitment, governance roles, equity partner promotions, and inclusion in formal pitches to clients. Similar to the large law firm version, firms that successfully complete the Midsize Mansfield Rule criteria will be designated as “Mansfield Certified” and will have the opportunity to send their diverse partners to the Mansfield Rule Client Forums in late 2022 to build relationships with and learn from Diversity Lab’s in-house counsel collaborators. To date, more than 80 legal departments have contributed to or hosted Client Forums, including Barclays, Facebook, Fannie Mae, Ford Motor Company, Google, McKesson Corp, MetLife, Pfizer, PNC Bank, Uber, and US Bank.