Winston Achieves Mansfield Certification Plus Status for Second Year in a Row

For the second consecutive year, Winston & Strawn has achieved Mansfield Certification, a select designation given to law firms that affirmatively consider at least 30 percent women, LGBTQ+, and attorneys of color for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, and senior lateral positions.

Winston has also earned ‘Certification Plus’ status, which indicates that, in addition to meeting or exceeding the pipeline consideration requirements for Certification, it successfully reached at least 30 percent women and minority lawyer representation in a notable number of current leadership roles and committees.

Modeled after the NFL’s “Rooney Rule,” the Mansfield Rule measures whether law firms have affirmatively considered women and attorneys of color for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, and lateral positions. Named for Arabella Mansfield, the first woman admitted to practice law in the United States, the Mansfield Rule was one of the winning ideas from the 2016 Women in Law Hackathon in which Winston was an active participant.

Winston was one of the leading law firms that joined Diversity Lab in piloting the inaugural version of the Mansfield Rule and was an active participant in The Mansfield Rule Certification 1.0 program in 2018. Our firm has already signed on to participate in Mansfield Rule 3.0, which will include lawyers with disabilities as well as women, lawyers of color, and LGBTQ+ lawyers as part of the diverse candidate pool.

Learn more about Winston’s diversity and inclusion initiatives.