F&P Receives Mansfield Plus Certification 2023-2024

Franklin & Prokopik is proud to announce that our firm has achieved Diversity Lab’s Mansfield Certification Plus for 2023-2024! The Mansfield Rule is designed to diversify leadership in law firms by increasing the representation of historically underrepresented lawyers. The “Plus” designation indicates that the firm has not only taken steps to increase inclusivity but has also made measured progress in doing so.

Starting in July 2023, F&P tracked metrics to ensure the progress of our efforts aligned with our internal DEI goals and the Mansfield program’s parameters. This helps us and Diversity Lab evaluate diversity growth and identify areas with continued opportunities for improvement. As Mansfield’s certification criteria grow increasingly challenging each year, participating firms have addressed more and more core principles of transparency, accountability, and knowledge sharing, including:

• Contributing to monthly group knowledge-sharing meetings and attending expert-led legal workshops to ensure the lawful implementation of Mansfield’s principles.
• Drafting and making advancement processes and leadership role descriptions transparent and accessible to all lawyers.
• Broadening the pool of talent considered for dozens of leadership roles and activities, with at least 30% of the lawyers considered consisting of underrepresented lawyers across 75% of opportunities.
• Engaging in individual firm check-ins to support the adoption of legal and effective processes.
• Submitting certification data, transparent processes, and a signed affirmation at the end of the certification year.

Data and studies show that firms committed and accountable to the Mansfield certification process make substantial headway in creating inclusive talent practices and diversifying their leadership positions. F&P is thrilled with our positive progress, and we remain committed to taking measurable actions to ensure that firm processes remain inclusive.

One of the founding principles of F&P was a commitment to provide unrivaled legal services for our clients. Part of that commitment requires us to have a diverse team of lawyers and staff to represent those clients, which has contributed not only to achieving the Mansfield Plus level but also to being a national leader in areas such as female attorney principal representation. In fact, there are now, for the first time in the firm’s 25-year history, more women equity principals than men in the same role.

We are proud to join the 360+ firms that have also achieved this certification, and this accomplishment builds on our ongoing DEI efforts. We have agreed to pursue Mansfield re-certification for 2024-2025, and have an active DEI Committee and DEI Taskforce working hard to achieve future goals. F&P continues to be an equal-opportunity employer and seeks to hire the most qualified candidates who can best represent our clients.