Cooley Reaffirms Commitment to Diversity With Mansfield Rule

“We’ve been very focused on ramping up our efforts to promote an environment that celebrates differences both at Cooley and across the legal profession,” said Amie Santos, Cooley’s director of diversity and inclusion. “We’re fully committed to constantly examining new and more effective ways to advance our diverse lawyers and staff – it’s excellent that so many have joined us in these endeavors.” The 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. “As a result of the Mansfield Rule, all of the 41 Mansfield Certified firms are now tracking their candidates’ pipelines for every single path that leads to leadership,” said Lisa Kirby, director of research & knowledge sharing at Diversity Lab, in a news release. “And a significant number of firms have increased the diversity of these pipelines, which is a positive step towards diversifying their next generation of leaders.” Cooley will continue participation in the Mansfield Rule program with the launch of Mansfield 2.0, which broadens the obligations of participating firms and expands to include LGBTQ+ lawyers. Cooley often partners with others to enhance diversity in legal and across various industry sectors. Cooley recently  paired up with British nonprofit Diversity VC to help bring the initiative to the US in a continued effort to strengthen diversity in the venture capital community. In 2017, Cooley helped  launch the Women Forward in Technology Scholarship program to foster more diversity in the tech community. Cooley is consistently recognized for these efforts, having been named a  best workplace for women by both Fortune and  Working Mother magazine. Additionally, Fortune distinguished Cooley as the #1 law firm on its 50 Best Workplaces for Diversity list and the Human Rights Campaign has awarded Cooley a  perfect score on its Corporate Equality Index for three consecutive years, designating the firm as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality. About Cooley LLP Clients partner with Cooley on transformative deals, complex IP and regulatory matters, and high-stakes litigation, where innovation meets the law. Cooley has 900+ lawyers across 13 offices in the United States, China and Europe.