In my previous post, I discussed the importance of a good summer associate mentoring relationship – if we get this right, the summer is much easier for us and for the summer associates. 

Without further ado, we are pleased to announce that our summer associate mentors have been fully assigned.  Each mentor will be reaching out to his/her mentee in advance of the summer to become acquainted.  

In future posts, I expect that you’ll hear from the summer class about their mentor relationships.

Keep reading to learn more about the mentor program and mentor selection process. . .

When Marshall and I set out to assign mentors, here’s what we look at:

  • Have they been through our summer program or a summer program similiar to ours – Can they empathize?
  • Will they give their time and effort to their mentee?
  • Are they model attorneys? 
  • Have they been practicing for more than two years?  Do they have enough experience to give the prudent advice needed to navigate private practice and our firm?
  • Have they served as a mentor before?  Are we giving opportunities to our associates to grow and develop into mentors by serving as a summer associate mentor?
  • Do they have commonality with an incoming summer associate?  Law school, previous work experience, sports teams, undergrad, etc.?

Once the perfect mentor has been identified for each summer associate, we communicate our expectations for their role and time commitment.  So, what do we expect? 

  1. Meet at least once a week, with the best practice of establishing a regular time and place.  Use the meeting to discuss workload, variety of and interest in assignments, tag along opportunities, feedback and resolving any issues or questions.
  2. Provide advice – technical and professional.
  3. Review the summer associate’s work file every other week.
  4. Provide input on effective methods of dealing with various attorneys in the office.
  5. Reinforce professional responsibility and client confidentiality.
  6. Acquaint the summer associate with the firm’s practices, policies and procedures.
  7. Communicate with me or Marshall about the summer associate’s progress, expressed interests, level of satisfaction with feedback and the summer in general.
  8. Provide opportunities for your mentee to tag along with you to client conferences or discussion within the firm.
  9. Encourage open dialogue.
  10. Introduce your mentee to other attorneys in the office.

We are confident that this year’s group of mentors will do everything they can to make our summer associates feel at home while they are with us.