Finding Mentors

Finding mentors in your law career will be particularly important. As you’ve probably noticed by now, there’s a fair amount of mystery and tradition involved in becoming a lawyer, and a mentor can help you make sense of the process. You will likely encounter a series of mentors and mentorship programs, both formal and informal, during your law career. Sometimes, law schools have mentorship programs that pair alumni with current students. Often, law firms or other legal services organizations have mentorship programs that pair more experienced attorneys with newer ones. Some mentoring relationships are brief, but others may end up being long-term relationships — some mentors are present for one’s entire career. There are likely to be mentors who are assigned to you at some point; other mentors you might seek out or select, and sometimes, mentor relationships happen organically and feel more like a supportive friendship.

Mentors can be supportive when you find yourself challenged, and they can answer questions of many kinds, both substantive (“How do I file this motion?”) and those specific to the workplace (“Was it just me, or was that meeting this morning really weird?”). Mentors can also help you set goals for your career development and give you advice about how to find work or projects that will help you advance your career. You can have more than one mentor at a time, and sometimes, different mentors focus on different things. Remember that most mentor relationships exist for a period of time and then come to an end, and some don’t work out. There’s nothing wrong with that. If you’re part of a mentoring relationship that is not working out or comes to its natural end, it usually means it’s time to start looking for a new mentor!

Mentoring is a two-way street, however, and the work does not all fall on the mentor. As a mentee, you should bring yourself and your questions to the relationship, be fully present when you are with a mentor, make time for meetups and help plan them, and be supportive of your mentor in the same ways they are supportive of you. One of the most well-respected writers and advisors about mentoring in the legal profession is Ida Abbott, and her book The Lawyer’s Guide to Mentoring is one of the most widely read and consulted resources on mentoring in the legal profession.