Sands Anderson PC Adopts the Midsize Mansfield Rule to Enhance Diversity

RICHMOND, Va. (September 15, 2021) – Sands Anderson PC today announced it is joining the second cohort of firms participating in the Midsize Mansfield Rule by the Diversity Lab. Named after Arabella Mansfield, the first woman admitted to practice law in the United States, the Mansfield certification process aims to increase the number of lawyers from historically underrepresented categories for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, and all attorney positions. This includes lawyers who are women, from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, from the LGBTQ+ community, and lawyers with disabilities.

The Midsize Mansfield certification process lasts 18 months. While modeled after the version for larger firms, the program has been fine-tuned to boost diversity in leadership for firms with smaller lawyer populations, single office locations, and leaner firm leadership structures.

“The intentional and thoughtful work encouraged by the Mansfield Rule is an expansion of the approach we have already embraced for our diversity and inclusion initiatives,” said Margaret F. Hardy, President of Sands Anderson. “Because ideas generated from people with a variety of perspectives and experiences tend to produce better results, we know that participation in the Mansfield Rule will improve our ability to best meet our clients’ evolving needs.“

The Mansfield Rule was one of the winning ideas from the 2016 Women in Law Hackathon hosted by Diversity Lab in collaboration with Bloomberg Law and Stanford Law School.

“We know that the diverse backgrounds of our attorneys and staff enrich our perspectives and deepen the services we provide to our clients,” said Faith A. Alejandro, Diversity & Inclusion Chair. “To those ends, we anticipate that participation in the Mansfield Rule will help us recruit and retain a mosaic of people who contribute their strengths to our collaborative, close-knit team.”