SOUTHFIELD, Michigan – Brooks Kushman is proud to announce that it will be continuing its participation in the industry-leading Mansfield Rule for Midsize Firms program for 2023-2024. The firm is proud to have achieved Midsize Mansfield Certified Plus in the previous, inaugural cycle.
The goal of Mansfield is to boost the representation of historically underrepresented lawyers in leadership. Launched as a pilot in 2017 with 35+ inaugural U.S. large law firms and now having grown to 300+ U.S., Canada, and UK midsize and large law firms as well as 80+ legal departments, Mansfield has become the standard by which organizations track and measure that they have affirmatively considered women lawyers, underrepresented racial/ethnic lawyers, lawyers with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ lawyers for top leadership roles, senior-level lateral hiring, promotions to partner, participation in client pitch meetings, and more.
In late 2020, Diversity Lab launched a new iteration of the Mansfield Rule developed for firms with 25 to 150 lawyers in the U.S. and Canada. The Mansfield Midsize Certification process, modeled after the initial large firm version, has been fine-tuned and tailored to boost diversity in leadership for firms with fewer lawyers, smaller footprints, and leaner leadership structures. To become Mansfield Midsize Certified, firms are asked to consider at least 30% historically underrepresented lawyers for the following leadership roles, activities, and more.
Brooks Kushman recognizes the essential role that diverse perspectives and experiences bring to our workplace and our ability to serve our clients. We know that we are well-positioned to serve as change agents in our communities at large and take our role of leading by example seriously. Recognizing the need for change is essential to creating new paths. Over the last decade, Brooks Kushman’s leadership has been diligent in leading by example through transparency with community organizations, surveys, and ongoing education. We believe things will change only with deliberate action within law firms to invest in training diverse professionals for leadership roles and providing them with high-visibility opportunities to exercise leadership.
About Diversity Lab
Diversity Lab is an incubator for innovative ideas and solutions that boost diversity and inclusion in law. Experimental ideas are created through our Hackathons and piloted in collaboration with more than 250 top law firms and legal departments across the country. Diversity Lab leverages data, behavioral science, design thinking, and technology to further develop and test new ideas and research, measure the results, and share the lessons learned. For more details, visit www.diversitylab.com.
About Brooks Kushman P.C.
Founded in 1983, Brooks Kushman P.C. has built a national reputation as a premier intellectual property and technology law firm. We accomplish this with the understanding that the most effective IP solutions come from putting great minds together – our clients and our own. With offices in Michigan, California, Washington D.C., and Nevada, we forge strong relationships with corporations, small to medium-sized businesses, and leading universities across the country.
Brooks Kushman counts a number of Fortune 100 Corporations across a variety of industries among its clients. Our attorneys have a deep understanding and broad range of experience in a variety of industries and technologies, including consumer electronics, manufacturing, medical device, computer technology, aerospace, chemicals, biotechnology, and retail. We are also recognized by leading legal publications and rankings, including, Best Lawyers, Law360, Intellectual Asset Management, Managing Intellectual Property, and World Trademark Review. For more information, please visit www.BrooksKushman.com.
