Houston, TX (October 10, 2023)

McDowell Hetherington is proud to announce that the firm has achieved Mansfield Certification!

Mansfield Certification, awarded by Diversity Labs, measures the structural changes and steps we have taken over the past year to ensure our paths to leadership – including lateral hiring, client pitch teams, promotions, appointments, and more – are open and transparent to all qualified lawyers.

Advancement processes and leadership role descriptions at the firm are now written, transparent, and accessible. This transparency is part of a larger effort we’re undertaking taken through Mansfield to broaden the slate of talent considered for opportunities. We’ve undergone this effort alongside other top-tier firms and with the support of our clients as well as the legal departments that are also participating in Mansfield. Like them, we remain dedicated to opening the door wider to all qualified lawyers.

Why This Matters to Our Firm & Clients
Mansfield’s processes seek to ensure equal opportunity and access to leadership roles. The focus is on opening the door wider, and ensuring that opportunities for advancement are inclusive for everyone. Mansfield takes a behavioral science approach that embeds accountability, transparency, and knowledge sharing into our talent practices. We know that with diverse leadership comes more inclusive and equitable decisions that reflect the needs of our entire workforce for the benefit of our talent and clients.

What We Do in Practice
What does this mean for our firm? Whenever our leaders make decisions about who to appoint or elect to leadership roles, we consider a broad pipeline of talent, including lawyers who are historically underrepresented in law. The same inclusive decision-making process occurs when we build client pitch teams.

This process does not exclude anyone; it ensures that the talent pipeline includes additional qualified talent. The Mansfield framework helps us take an inclusive, structured, and data-driven approach to leadership advancement—and ensure the approach is consistent across offices and practices. This intentionality benefits everyone.

McDowell Hetherington is excited to have reached this significant milestone again. We will continue to build teams that reflect the diversity of our clients and communities while providing exceptional service.