K&L Gates Earns Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification Plus Status

Seattle - Global law firm K&L Gates LLP has achieved Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification Plus status in Diversity Lab’s latest iteration of its innovative program. This certification recognizes leading law firms that “have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and are making meaningful progress on diversifying law firm leadership.”

To earn Mansfield Rule certification, Diversity Lab measured through a rigorous 12-month program whether law firms have affirmatively considered at least 30% women, underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, formal client pitch opportunities, and senior lateral positions. The goal of the Mansfield Rule is to boost the representation of historically underrepresented lawyers in law firm leadership by broadening the pool of candidates considered for these opportunities.

K&L Gates Global Managing Partner Jim Segerdahl remarked: “We are proud of our long-term commitment to offering a truly inclusive and diverse workplace, and we are honored to be recognized as a Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certified Plus firm for our continuing contributions to enhancing the diversity of our law firm and its leadership.”

Diversity Lab is an incubator for ideas and solutions that boost diversity and inclusion in law. Experimental ideas are created through Hackathons and piloted in collaboration with more than 150 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.

In addition to its Mansfield Rule initiative, K&L Gates participates in Diversity Lab’s Move the Needle (MTN) Fund Diversity Dividends Collective, which focuses on the diversity of legal departments’ outside counsel teams, as part of the firm’s ongoing commitment to support its clients’ diversity and inclusion goals. The firm also sponsors and participates in a number of other diversity-related programs. Internally, these include the firm’s Conversations About Race speaker series focusing on the lingering effects of inequality and systemic racism in society; an equal justice pro bono effort to provide pro bono assistance in areas of particular need, such as voting rights, criminal justice reform, and the rights of indigenous peoples; a leadership program to help the firm’s women partners advance; an expanding K&L Gates: The Power of Partnership program with clients that offers first-year law school students the unique opportunity to experience legal work in both firm and in-house client settings; a firmwide mentoring program for diverse attorneys; and a Pathway to Success business training program with Ms. JD to aid the firm’s women associates in building their careers.

Among external organizations the firm supports are the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL), the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA), the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA), the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), the National Bar Association (NBA), the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association, Diversity Council Australia, and Equality Campaign Australia.

This month, K&L Gates also was named by LCLD as both a Top Performer and a Compass Award winner for 2022. These distinctions are given to organizations that are most active in and supportive of LCLD’s mission and programs, such as the LCLD Leaders at the Front pledge and the Fellows and Pathfinder programs, and recognize the firm’s strong commitment to building more diverse organizations and a more inclusive legal profession. K&L Gates is among 90 LCLD law firm members, out of more than 250 total, to receive both recognitions in 2022.

To read more about K&L Gates’ commitment and approach to diversity and inclusion, including its long-standing Diversity & Inclusion and Women in the Profession Committees, please visit the firm’s website.