For this inaugural article in GPSolo eReport’s new column, “The Mind of a Mentor,” I was asked to discuss the best advice that I received from a mentor. I have had many mentors during my 20-plus years as an attorney, and it was a daunting task to select one piece of advice. While in law school, I worked as a paralegal/law clerk in the General Counsel’s Office of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, where I was encouraged by attorney Shiela D. Collins to attend bar association meetings. At one of the bar meetings I attended, I met Sallie E. Williams, president of the J. Franklyn Bourne Bar Association (JFB), who invited me to attend a JFB meeting. JFB is a minority bar association comprised of attorneys from two Maryland suburbs, Prince George’s County and Montgomery County. Growing up, I had never seen or met an attorney, and I am not sure if I even knew what a judge was or did. The legal profession was never presented to me as an option. The JFB meetings introduced me to a host of black attorneys and black judges.
After graduation, I continued to work and study for the bar exam. I took the bar exam and did not pass! The day the results were announced, our office had paid for me to attend a bar association meeting at the federal courthouse. I had to attend. Magistrate Judge Charles B. Day approached me and encouraged me. Judge Toni E. Clarke also encouraged me, and she asked me to come to her chambers the next week. When I arrived, Judge Clarke had a schedule for me to write my mock exam questions and return them to her. She would then mark the essays up and return them to me. Thanks to her tutoring, I passed the bar exam on my second attempt.
After being admitted to the bar, I recall Judge Larnzell Martin would always encourage me to write articles for the newsletter. Judge Herman C. Dawson encouraged me to make an appointment to meet in his chambers, introduce myself, and discuss my practice area. All these things were completely out of my comfort zone. Attorneys such as Arthur Horne and Harry S. Johnson and judges such as Wendy A. Cartwright and Cathy Hollenberg Serrette helped me sharpen my legal skills and gain confidence as a new lawyer. To have all of this occur at the beginning of my career as an attorney, I believe Providence placed me in such a supportive environment.
At one JFB meeting, Magistrate Judge Charles B. Day explained a new Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA) program called “The Leadership Academy.” Sallie E. Williams encouraged new lawyers to apply. I applied. My bar association participation expanded; I would become a leader in my local, county, and state bar associations.
As I noted above, I have had multiple mentors. What was their single most important piece of advice? I believe it was encouraging me to go to bar association meetings.
As a practicing attorney building a solo practice, I became a member of various bar sections. I was elected chair of various bar sections, which required me to write articles for newsletters. I also wrote articles for local newspapers concerning issues that affected my client base, such as wheelchair-accessible taxis. MSBA President Cornelius D. Helfrich appointed me chair of the Special Committee on Minorities in the Profession, which culminated in the publication of a 2005 Minority Report. In 2011, attorney Jason A. Frank suggested that I be the editor of a multi-author book, Practical Approaches to Maryland Guardianships, based on a seminar that I had organized. In 2017, the late Judge William D. Missouri appointed me co-chair of his Program Committee for the American Bar Association Senior Lawyers Division (SLD). That appointment and my subsequent work led to me being elected chair of the SLD for the 2024–2025 bar year. I have also authored the ABA book Life Is Filled with Swift Transitions: A Guide to Helping Your Clients Manage Catastrophic Health Incidents (2024).
Over the years, I have had a very diverse group of attorneys and judges serve as mentors. Each individual reached out to me. They were not all part of a formal mentoring program; rather, they were individuals who wanted to help me become a better attorney. These mentors impacted my professional life so dramatically because they took it upon themselves to talk to me, give me advice, and suggest paths and opportunities that I otherwise might never have explored. As a mentee, my successful mentoring relationships made me feel as if I were being welcomed as a colleague. I am grateful for each person who reached out to me.
