In continuing its commitment to diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, Miller Nash is pleased to announce that it’s taking the next step by participating in the Mansfield Rule 4.0 Certification Program (2020-2021). The firm is currently completing its successful participation in Mansfield Rule 3.0 (2019-2020). Mansfield aims to boost the representation of diverse lawyers in leadership roles at law firms and measures whether firms have affirmatively considered at least 30 percent women, lawyers of color, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, formal client pitch opportunities, and senior lateral positions.
Despite the fact that the majority of firms participating in Mansfield certification are significantly larger and have greater staff resources to assist with the certification requirements, Miller Nash Graham & Dunn is committed to dedicating the time and effort to participate in this important process and effecting change to further diversity and inclusion within the legal profession. Our first year of participation in Mansfield 3.0 brought the following advancements, among others:
- We further strengthened our hiring practices, which led us to diversify our 4th year+ associate candidate pool to 79% women, attorneys of color, LGBTQ+, and attorneys with disabilities, and ultimately hire 83% attorneys from these historically underrepresented backgrounds.
- We elevated our leadership selection processes to include increased transparency and more inclusive practices, and by doing so, we advanced 64% attorneys from historically underrepresented groups to leadership positions from July 2019 through July 2020.
- Our participation in Mansfield 3.0 inspired us to revise our self-identification form to include expanded identification options, which led to us receive 64% participation from our employees.
- We began tracking our individual attorney participation in client pitch teams for one of our busiest practice areas, which provided us an opportunity to change the dialogue, create more inclusive processes, and to ultimately move toward our goal of diversifying law firm leadership. As a result, we considered 56% attorneys from historically underrepresented groups for client pitches in the practice area we were tracking.
“Though there is still much work to be done, our participation in the Mansfield Rule program helped us identify where to focus our efforts,” said the firm’s Director of Diversity & Inclusion Bethany Brown. “We have made tangible progress and look forward to continuing our participation in Mansfield 4.0 as one avenue through which we can continue taking action and investing our resources in efforts to promote equity and inclusion within our firm and the communities we serve.”
Participation in Mansfield 4.0 aligns with Miller Nash Graham & Dunn’s commitment to achieving true diversity and inclusion across its firm, all levels of management, each practice team, committees, and staffing of every project. In addition to participating in Mansfield 4.0, the firm continues to offer 1L Diversity Fellowships each summer, serves as a sponsor of the Multnomah Bar Association Fellows Program, hosts monthly Diversity & Inclusion Committee meetings, and offers regular diversity and inclusion training.
The firm has also recently taken additional actions to further our commitment, which include establishing an Anti-Racism Book Club, creating a flexible day of paid time off to support Racial Justice and promote antiracist learning, acknowledging and observing Juneteenth (June 19th) as an annual paid firm holiday, and creating a firm cultural calendar that provides additional educational information and resources throughout the year for a broad range of cultural holidays. The firm remains a leader in sponsoring and participating in local minority bar association activities and events, offers fee discounts to small and emerging women and minority businesses, and continues to provide up to 150 hours of billable hour credit to attorneys for diversity and inclusion and pro bono work. To learn more about the Miller Nash Graham & Dunn’s commitment to diversity, please click here.
