All Lawyers Face Urgent Need for Restoration of Mentoring

I was 22 years old and a freshman in law school when I sat in a seminar on personal injury law. Before me stood a man who talked about he importance of helping the victim, the wrongly injured. I seemed to agree with what he said and I wanted to know more.

Even though I may not have realized it, I may have then begun to understand the significance of mentoring. The most critical professional imperative is the duty to pass on our knowledge to younger members in the profession.

But I find it most disturbing that as the legal system becomes increasingly complex and more competitive, the more seasoned professional appears to be taking less time and less interest in mentoring a young person.

Coach. Colleague. Cheerleader. Consultant. Catalyst. Friend. That's a mentor. The relationship established is not a mere transfer of information or advice - it is a relationship filled with nurturing, tension, inspiration, generosity, reciprocity.

Acquiring knowledge through personal exposure can be particularly costly in the legal profession. Mentoring, on the other hand, is a more cost-efficient way of learning from the collective knowledge of accomplished professionals.

Before the time of formal legal education, a person became a lawyer though apprenticeship with an experienced attorney. Less than a century ago, most aspiring lawyers would follow their elders to court, learning how the American system of laws worked.

But no longer is direct access to the legal professional commonplace. Instead of being nurtured through observation and participation, young lawyers today learn through books and baptism by fire on the job, often making common errors based on immature judgment.

A mentor allows a student to ask questions and even make mistakes without fear of embarrassment or retaliation.

As a young man, I was surprised by my own boldness when I followed that lawyer to his office. Brushing past frantic receptionists and protective secretaries, I stepped into his office, "I want to do what you do. Teach me."And he agreed.

If we are to continue the highest traditions of the profession - lessons in learning how to be a good lawyer through upholding one's duties to clients, opponents and the court - how else to teach this aspect of the law but by example? It takes an unselfish person to take time out of his or her own priorities to work with a protege.

Lawyers must make a commitment not only to the student, not only to one's self, but also the community at large to teach a young person by words and by deeds. It is perhaps through this direct contact that the highest personal and professional standards may be passed down from one generation to the next. The law is a powerful tool. Those skilled in using it properly are in a privileged position to perhaps make the world a better place to live. A mentor can assist the pupil in acquiring a proper perspective of this concept of power. A mentor offers focus.

If the legal profession is to continue to grow and prosper, rich in tradition, it must learn to be more responsive to the needs of the profession's future. It can do so by inspiring a young person to be the best he or she can be. The goal then is not to be a carbon copy of the mentor, but to be one's self.

I went on to learn at that person's side. He taught me lessons on the law, on life, on myself. But the greatest commodity was his encouragement. After 10 years, I struck out on my own to form a firm that grew to more than a dozen lawyers.

Enhancing an appreciation and understanding of the legal system in this personal way can have an enormous impact on the system. not only will others learn lessons on respect for the law, but the mentor may even find some renewed self-respect, career satisfaction and professional growth in the process as well.

And the ultimate lesson of the mentor is to teach the protege the responsibility to pass it on once again.

That lawyer who spoke to me is not just my mentor; he is now my partner, Phil Corboy.