Orrick Pilots Legal Version of Rooney Rule

Orrick is one of 30 law firms that will pilot the Mansfield Rule. Modeled after the NFL’s successful Rooney Rule and named for Arabella Mansfield, the first woman admitted to practice in the United States, the Mansfield Rule challenges firms to ensure a diverse candidate pool.

The Mansfield Rule measures whether law firms have affirmatively considered women and attorneys of color — at least 30 percent of the candidate pool — for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, and lateral positions. Law firms that successfully pilot the Mansfield Rule over the next year will be designated “Mansfield Certified” and have the opportunity to send their recently promoted diverse partners to a two-day Client Forum in late 2018 to build relationships with and learn from influential in-house counsel.

"Systemic problems require systemic solutions,” said Orrick Chairman Mitch Zuklie. “Many firms and in-house teams are making incremental progress on improving diversity and inclusion — Orrick is among them. What's so promising about the Mansfield Rule is seeing law firms and outside counsel come together and collectively hold ourselves to a higher standard."

The Mansfield Rule was one of the ideas generated at the Women in Law Hackathon, hosted by Diversity Lab in collaboration with Bloomberg Law and Stanford Law School.