Press Release

June 28, 2021 (San Francisco, CA) – Hanson Bridgett LLP, a preeminent law firm for all of California, is pleased to announce its participation in the Mansfield Rule 5.0 certification process. The firm signed on last year for the Diversity Lab's Mansfield Rule diversity in law leadership initiative. After diligently approaching the Mansfield Rule's 4.0  certification for the first time this past year, the firm will continue its participation in the Mansfield Rule 5.0 certification process this upcoming year, which includes newly raised standards that must be met.

Hanson Bridgett has long considered diversity and inclusion as a core value of the firm and has remained dedicated to establishing a workforce that reflects the needs and interests of our clients, attorneys, staff, and community members. Since embarking on the firm-wide project last July, the firm has set up systems, established a position for a full-time Chief Diversity Equity and Inclusion Officer, held mandatory bias and anti-racism trainings, and identified ways to incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion standards in our hiring and retention goals and policies and promoting these essential social values in the legal community and beyond. This July, Hanson Bridgett will learn how the firm performed the past year in working toward the Mansfield certification for the first time.

According to a press release issued by Diversity Lab, the new Mansfield Rule 5.0 certification process will challenge law firms to continuously push the boundaries necessary to boost diversity in law firm leadership. To achieve the latest iteration of the Mansfield Rule certification, firms will be required to achieve the following criteria:

• Track their candidate pools in a disaggregated manner, prompting them to measure the impact of the Mansfield Rule by each underrepresented group. Firms must also include an option for Middle Eastern/North African identity, a demographic often overlooked by current self-identification options;
• Consider at least 30% underrepresented lawyers for nominations to Chambers USA to increase the external visibility of underrepresented lawyers with clients and in the marketplace more broadly; and
• Consider 30% underrepresented individuals when hiring and promoting C-level or other senior-level professional staff roles.

"It is essential to our law firm's mission to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, not as a side project, but a full-time initiative firm-wide with dedicated resources, people, and time. To make meaningful progress in a field which has historically been predominantly straight, white, and male, we must continually seek and adhere to opportunities from external sources to hold us accountable to that mission and continually measure our progress in this space," said Jennifer Martinez, Hanson Bridgett's Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer. "We are proud to be leaders in this space, but there is much more to be done to move the needle."

Named for Arabella Mansfield, the first woman admitted to the practice of law in the United States; the Mansfield Rule measures whether law firms have affirmatively considered at least 30% women, attorneys of color, LGBTQ+ and lawyers with disabilities for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, formal client pitch opportunities, and senior lateral positions. Firms are audited bi-annually and annually certified as they follow, comply, and achieve the Rules' requirements. This past year, law firm participation in the Mansfield Rule certification process grew by 85 percent. 

Firms that meet the criteria for any of the versions of the Mansfield Rule certification are invited to send recently promoted partners of diverse, underrepresented backgrounds to attend Client Forums and meet with influential leaders in the legal landscape.