Look for the Mentors

If I could go back in time to advise the younger me as a new lawyer, I would listen to the wisdom of children’s television host Mr. Rogers: “Look for the helpers.” In your new workplace, there are mentors you should seek out who can and will share the knowledge you will need to practice law that isn’t taught in law school.

As a new law school graduate and bar member, you are confident, and your career expectations are high. Law school taught you many things about being a lawyer: reading the law and court opinions, applying the law to new facts, and expressing your analysis in writing or oral argument. In your new job, a partner or senior associate may ask you to draft a motion, assemble the exhibits for a filing, research an issue for a legal memo, or draft a claim for a complaint. These assignments seem straightforward, but your confidence dips as you realize that you don’t have all the necessary training and knowledge to do your job. There may be rules, procedures, customs, and standards expected by your local, state, and federal courts, by your new firm, and maybe by members of the local bar for the proper way to perform your assigned task, requirements that you can only learn with experience.

How you handle this situation is one of your first tests as a lawyer. Should you ask a more senior lawyer or (gasp!) a paralegal for help? Would asking for help for what seems like a basic task reveal some inadequacy and raise questions about why you were hired? One of the worst decisions would be to hope you figure it out yourself before your deadline. It may be impossible to find answers to all your questions on your own. Without guidance, it is difficult to make progress, and your supervisor may become frustrated by a lack of work product. Trying to muddle through by yourself can be demoralizing.

Stop. Find a helper. In most firms, indeed in most bar associations, there is a culture where senior attorneys mentor young lawyers as one of their professional responsibilities. Experienced attorneys do not expect that their first-year associates will have all the wisdom and practical knowledge they need to do their work. Their expectation from your JD and bar admission is that you are trainable. So, not only is there no sin in seeking help from more experienced colleagues at work, they expect it. In fact, good mentors look at first-year associates’ requests for help as a sign of an eagerness to do the job correctly.

Where do you find the mentors if you go straight from law school to establish a solo practice? Mentors might not be built into your office, but they can be found. The first place to go is your local bar association. Local bar associations, particularly in populous areas with many members, are likely to have a mentorship program both for new lawyers and for solo and small firm lawyers of any level of experience. As you may know, the Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division of the American Bar Association has a Mentoring Group, organizing a network of lawyers with whom you can ask questions, network, and then give back later in your career by becoming a mentor for younger lawyers.

Finally, your law school may have a networking program that helps find fellow alumni in the local legal community. Often, just the shared experience of the same law school is all the connection necessary for a more senior lawyer to agree to meet and mentor a new lawyer. If you need assistance in a particular legal area, the lawyers who are active in alumni affairs often view themselves as connectors and may introduce you to a potential mentor in your subject area.

Lawyers who have been practicing only slightly longer than you can also be helpful mentors. Sometimes, associates just a few years ahead of you may be in the best position to understand your questions—you are now working through the same issues they experienced quite recently. More senior attorneys will draw on their deep experience to tell you hard-earned stories: their mistakes, their triumphs, and their insights. All of these can give you both practical knowledge and inspiration when the job becomes difficult. Even experienced paralegals, the sergeants of law firms, want to help young lawyers do their job correctly and efficiently. Availing yourself of these mentors is an important component of learning how to practice the law. With your mentors’ help, your understanding of the practice of law will grow more quickly. As a result, you will assume greater responsibility sooner and enjoy greater success.

Look for the mentors. They are an integral part of your professional development.