Miller Canfield Earns Mansfield Plus Certification for Sixth Year
Miller Canfield is pleased to announce that it has earned 2022-2023 Mansfield Plus Certification.
To achieve Mansfield Certification, firms implement a behavioral science- and data-driven approach—designed by Diversity Lab in collaboration with talent experts, data scientists, and lawyers—to help increase diversity in leadership. Certified firms must provide measurable data to demonstrate that they have considered broad slates of qualified talent for leadership roles that included at least 30% historically underrepresented lawyers—such as women lawyers, underrepresented racial and ethnic lawyers, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities. In addition, as part of the certification process, these firms have worked hard to enhance transparency related to leadership roles, advancement processes, and compensation policies. Firms that not only consider, but also achieve, 30% representation in key leadership roles, are awarded Certification Plus status.
Miller Canfield is the only Michigan law firm, and one of just 38 firms nationwide, to earn Mansfield Certification for six consecutive years, and one of only 28 firms to meet the higher standard of Mansfield Plus Certification since the program’s inception.
“We are proud to be among the U.S. firms who have committed to Mansfield since the beginning,” said Miller Canfield CEO Megan Norris. “Historically, women, people of color, people with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ+ community have had to fight an uphill battle to even be hired by larger law firms, let alone to be promoted to positions of leadership. We are thankful that Diversity Lab and our peers in firms around the country have partnered to make real, systemic change for the better as we are beginning to gain traction in building a more equitable and inclusive profession.”
Data shows that Mansfield early adopter firms—those like Miller Canfield that joined in the program’s inaugural year—are diversifying their leadership at roughly double the rate of non-Mansfield firms. They achieved these outcomes by reimagining and modernizing how they communicate their expectations for leaders throughout the firm and ensuring that everyone who meets those expectations has the opportunity to be considered for leadership.
During the 2022-2023 certification period, women and members of underrepresented groups at Miller Canfield account for:
- 40% of attorneys promoted to equity principalship
- 43% of the firm’s nomination committee
- 43% of the firm’s C-suite executive leadership
- 50% of the firm’s compensation committee
- 42% of resident directors in the firm’s U.S. offices
- 62% of the firm’s associates in the U.S.
- 71% of the firm’s 2023 summer associate class
“These Mansfield Certified firms’ efforts to expand opportunities are on the right side of history and the law,” said Caren Ulrich Stacy, CEO of Diversity Lab. “Not a single firm has backed off on their commitment to Mansfield, even in the face of unwarranted threats to organizations that remain steady in their values of inclusivity and equity. In fact, even as the certification requirements get more challenging year-over-year, more and more firms are committing to this important work.”
More than 350 midsize and large firms have committed to continuing this hard work as part of the next certification cohort in 2023-2024.