Day Pitney LLP is pleased to announce that the firm has achieved Mansfield Certification from Diversity Lab after completing the inaugural one-year Mansfield Rule pilot.

The Mansfield Rule Certification measures whether law firms have affirmatively considered at least 30 percent women and attorneys of color for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, and senior lateral positions. 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 opportunities.

In addition, Day Pitney received Mansfield Certification "Plus" status, which indicates that the firm has successfully reached at least 30 percent women and minority lawyer representation in a notable number of their current leadership roles and committees.

"We are very proud of this achievement, which is the result of the concentrated and persistent efforts of our entire team over time," said Day Pitney partner Benjamin Haglund, Chair of the firm's Diversity and Inclusion Committee. "Retaining and promoting diverse attorneys within our firm is of critical importance, and we are deeply committed to an upward trajectory. By doing this, we are a stronger, more productive firm that is able to provide clients the top-flight legal and strategic advice that comes from truly diverse thought."

To achieve the Mansfield Rule objectives, Day Pitney was required to first establish a baseline metric by which the firm could assess and analyze its talent pipelines. This included the creation and adoption of documentation and tracking norms to measure progress and identify areas for improvement. These baseline measurements allowed Day Pitney to compare its past, current, and future pipelines to benchmark the representation of diverse lawyers considered for, and ultimately advanced into, leadership positions.

Day Pitney will also be participating in the 2.0 iteration of the Mansfield Rule, which runs from July 2018 to July 2019 and will include LGBTQ+ lawyers as well as women and attorneys of color. Also new, in addition to leadership role appointments and lateral hiring, Mansfield 2.0 will also measure consideration for roles in client pitch meetings and will ask participating law firms to make appointment and election processes transparent to all lawyers in their firms.