RICHMOND, Va. (May 23, 2023) – Sands Anderson is pleased to announce that it has achieved Midsize Mansfield Certification, having completed an 18-month collaboration with Diversity Lab to track, measure, and achieve diversity in leadership.
The Midsize Mansfield Certification was launched in 2020 for firms with less than 150 lawyers. In achieving certification, Sands Anderson has considered diverse lawyers at least 30 percent of the time for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, formal client pitches, lateral lawyer hiring, and more. For the purposes of the Mansfield Rule, this includes lawyers who are women, from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, from the LGBTQ+ community and lawyers with disabilities.
Sands Anderson is the first Richmond-based midsize law firm to achieve this milestone, joining 140 other midsize law firms across the U.S.
“I am incredibly proud to announce that we have achieved Mansfield Certification,” said Firm President Margaret Hardy. “We believe that our people and our clients thrive when we provide an environment where a wide range of experiences, perspectives, and ideas are valued and applied to solve complex problems. Certification shows we are actively taking steps to cultivate that environment at Sands Anderson.”
Named after Arabella Mansfield, the first woman admitted to practice law in the United States, the Mansfield certification process aims to close the gender and diversity gap in the legal profession and improve the representation of historically underrepresented lawyers in law firm leadership.
“We are excited to show that even smaller firms can make progress towards their diversity and inclusion goals when leadership takes a data-driven approach to creating an inclusive environment,” said Faith Alejandro, Diversity & Inclusion Chair. “Over time, what might seem like incremental progress at first can transform organizations. Mansfield provided an important framework on which we are building to bring the best and brightest from our entire community to Sands Anderson.”
About Sands Anderson PC
Sands Anderson PC is a Mid-Atlantic law firm that guides clients with united support for their complete legal needs. As a consultative ally, we represent businesses, government entities, insurance companies, healthcare organizations, and individuals from our five offices located throughout Virginia and in North Carolina. We are a true team of legal professionals committed to a collaborative and inclusive workplace, as well as supporting the economic growth of the communities where we operate. For more information, visit sandsanderson.com.