Womble Attorneys Attend Mansfield Rule Client Forum

New York - Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP was honored to attend Diversity Lab’s New York Client Forum in November for Mansfield Certified and Certified Plus Firm Participants and Legal Department Leaders. Jane Jeffries Jones, Sarah Motley Stone and Theresa Sprain attended the forum on Nov. 12, which was part of the organization’s Mansfield Rule program and an event limited to those firms that have achieved Mansfield Certification after completing the Mansfield Rule 2.0 twelve-month certification program. The Mansfield Rule 2.0 Certification focused on improving the number of women, minority and LGBTQ+ attorneys in law firm leadership positions; registration opened in April for legal departments to pilot the Mansfield Rule: Legal Department Edition.

The forum included presentations from numerous leading in-house attorneys including Naomi Waltman, Executive Vice President & Associate General Counsel of CBS, Brandy Smith, AVP, Chief Compliance Officer & Counsel with Lincoln Financial Group, and Sneha Desai, Deputy General Counsel at BASF. Mike O’Connor, General Counsel with MassMutual, delivered the key note address. The participating legal departments support the work of the Mansfield Rule program and shared insights into in-house lawyers’ priorities and their D&I initiatives for a diverse leadership pipeline.

Womble Bond Dickinson is a Mansfield Certified law firm. You can learn more about the Mansfield Rule and Womble Bond Dickinson’s participation here. 

Jane Jeffries Jones has represented over 200 companies in executive compensation and corporate matters during her more than 25 years practicing law. She is a partner in the firm’s Corporate and Securities Practice Group and represents many of the firm’s public securities team (PCAT) public company clients. Jane also has significant experience advising private equity firms, startup companies and other domestic and global companies with respect to executive compensation matters.

Theresa Sprain represents clients in employment litigation in federal and state courts as well as in arbitration and before government agencies. She also routinely provides strategic employment advice regarding corporate transactions, including analysis of agreements, due diligence and preparation of executive agreements. Theresa is a member of the Firm’s Technology Sector, and has worked across the spectrum of manufacturing, private investment funds, FinTech, healthcare, life sciences and retail clients, ranging in size from local businesses to national corporations.

Sarah Motley Stone advises corporations, individuals and public entities involved in complex business disputes and class actions and with regulatory compliance. Sarah has been recognized as a Rising Star by North Carolina Super Lawyers and named to North Carolina Legal Elite. She also serves on the firm’s Innovation Board and is the partner liaison for its Transatlantic Lawyer’s Network.