Gibbons Achieves 2023-2024 Mansfield Certification and Remains Committed to DEI

Gibbons P.C. is pleased to announce it has achieved 2023-2024 Mansfield Certification, an important national recognition of the firm’s demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The firm previously achieved 2022-2023 Mansfield Certification and has reaffirmed its commitment to certification for 2024-2025.

The focus of the Mansfield Certification process is to broaden the slate of talent considered for leadership and advancement, including lawyers who have been historically underrepresented in the legal profession, consistent with principles of equal employment opportunity. Through this process, Diversity Lab, the entity that awards Mansfield Certification, has measured the steps participating firms have taken over the past year to ensure all of their talent have fair and equal opportunities to advance into leadership.

“Over 360 law firms earned Mansfield Certification for the 2023–24 period, marking a 13% increase from the nearly 320 firms certified the previous year. This accomplishment, along with their public celebration of it, underscores these firms’ steadfast dedication to promoting inclusive and equitable workplaces. Additionally, the majority of these firms, along with 19 others, are already pursuing certification for 2024–25,” noted Diversity Lab in a press release. Diversity Lab points out that data shows firms that stay committed and accountable to the Mansfield Certification process year-over-year are making substantial progress in DEI among their leadership.

To achieve certification, Gibbons’s Mansfield Working Group – led by Kristin D. Sostowski, a Director in Gibbons’s Employment & Labor Law Group and past President of the National Association of Women Lawyers, with invaluable collaboration from attorneys and administrators from throughout the firm – implemented and maintained pathways to leadership that are open and transparent to all qualified lawyers. Such pathways include lateral hiring, participation on client pitch teams, leadership appointments, award nominations, and more.

As a benefit of the firm’s Mansfield Certification, over the past year, numerous Gibbons Directors from across the firm’s practice groups participated in external programs for Mansfield-certified firms, including Diversity Lab’s 2024 Client Forums and soon-to-be launched Diverse Leadership Directory. These opportunities are intended to raise the visibility of partners from Mansfield-certified law firms and connect them with in-house counsel from Fortune 1000 companies seeking to retain a diverse slate of outside counsel. Also, in March 2023, Christine A. Amalfe, Employment & Labor Law Chair, and Ms. Sostowski, along with speakers from Diversity Lab and other Mansfield-certified firms, presented a New Jersey Institute of Continuing Legal Education program regarding Mansfield Certification that focused on the current landscape of DEI initiatives in the legal profession and how the Mansfield program addresses hurdles in achieving equity.

“Ensuring that Gibbons is a place where everyone can thrive and advance is always our goal,” remarked Peter J. Torcicollo, Managing Director. “We are excited to continue to be part of the Mansfield community and look forward to further elevating our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”