Commitment to Widening the Leadership Talent Pool Continues to Grow as Bricker Graydon Announces Mansfield Certification PLUS

Bricker Graydon is pleased to announce it has achieved Mansfield Rule 6.0 Certification Plus, underscoring the firm's unwavering and continued commitment to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. In addition to actively expanding the pool of candidates considered for leadership roles, Bricker Graydon has achieved a diverse representation within key leadership positions over the past year, with a future-focused lens through the firm’s recent merger.

“We are thrilled to celebrate our third year of achieving this status, specifically with a larger scope as our firm has grown through a merger over the past year,” said Jim Flynn, Managing Partner at Bricker Graydon. “Having a strong, diverse leadership team is a reflection of our purpose and business strategy that leverages diversity, equity, and inclusion for more informed decision-making and to better meet the needs of the clients and communities we serve.  I’m so proud of this accomplishment for us.”

The Mansfield Rule, a program of the Diversity Lab, aims to increase and sustain diversity in leadership within law firms by broadening the pool of women lawyers, LGBTQ+ lawyers, lawyers with disabilities, and underrepresented racial and/or ethnic lawyers who are considered for senior lateral attorney job openings, firm governance opportunities, equity partner promotions, and firm leadership positions. Firms must also create and publish job descriptions and appointment/election policies for leadership roles.

To achieve Mansfield 6.0 Certification Plus, Bricker Graydon collaborated with the Diversity Lab over a 12-month Certification period with built-in measurement, transparency, and accountability mechanisms. 

“We are committed to increasing the diversity of people from underrepresented groups, which means using data and metrics to support our decision-making,” said Rhonda Talford Knight, PhD, Bricker Graydon’s Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer. “Consistently achieving Mansfield Rule Certification Plus status demonstrates how we work in collaboration, as a firm, to accelerate how we impact growth, internally and externally.”

Bricker Graydon is among 240+ law firms that completed Mansfield Rule 6.0. The certification requires higher benchmarks for diversity in leadership roles and documentation of data.