Mentoring Suggestions For Young Lawyers

Developing the Next Generation of Rainmakers Mentoring Suggestions for Young Lawyers Well, sadly it happened. Something I ate did not agree with me and I was up all Tuesday night. I did not have my A game for our four hours of class Wednesday. and I slept most of the afternoon. Thankfully, I feel better this morning. How are my classes going? I enjoy them, but I still struggle to remember words when I am under pressure in a conversation. I’ll have to work on that when I get back home. On Wednesday I was asked what was in my room.  I wanted to include mi maleta (my suitcase). I have no idea what I said, but it wasn’t maleta. Let’s get to business. Are you a young lawyer looking for a mentor? In my book “Prepare to Win” I wrote a chapter titled: “The Importance of Role Models and Mentoring.” I have written extensively on mentoring because I feel I owe a great deal to the mentors I had in my career beginning with my father. I also enjoy helping young lawyers. I frequently receive email questions about mentoring from lawyers and professional development professionals. Here is an example of an email with questions about mentoring: “Cordell, I recently thought about your article where a partner mentored you early in your career and how this partner met with you early in the morning to teach you about the practice of law. What advice do you offer to today’s young attorneys about forging similar relationships? How can a young attorney turn a grumpy old partner, who is only concerned about his billable hours, into a mentor?” Those are great questions. My first thought was: “Gosh, I hope none of the associates who worked for me thought I as a grumpy old partner.” My second thought was that the older the partner, the more likely he or she will be to take the time to listen and provide advice. The greater challenge is getting a grumpy young partner to take time away from billable hours. I am not sure a young attorney can ever turn a partner who is only concerned about billable hours, into a mentor. Here are my suggestions for young lawyers: Speaking of mentoring, you may know I wrote an e-book you can download here: Strategy for Your Career and Your Life.  In it I discuss my own strategy and strategies used by other lawyers. I also include a workbook for you to use to develop your own strategy. If you think the book is helpful pass the link on to your friends and colleagues. I practiced law for 37 years developing a national construction law practice representing some of the top highway and transportation construction contractors in the US.