Mentoring matters
By
Craig Holden
President, the State Bar of California
Having
guidance from mentors can make a huge difference in starting a young attorney’s
career off on the right foot. I know this from personal experience, having had
the benefit of mentors myself.
That’s
one reason I appointed a task force to explore the creation of new mentoring opportunities
for California attorneys. The task force was created in September 2014 and
chaired by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Marguerite Downing. Judge Downing
is joined by 15 attorney and non-attorney task force members with backgrounds
in mentoring, including the California Young Lawyers Association Chairwoman
Emily Aldrich.
The
task force has recommended the creation of a statewide Attorney Mentoring
Program (AMP). We’re asking for
your input on the proposal by the middle of
September. Starting as a pilot with 100 mentees, it’s envisioned that the
program would eventually grow and become mandatory for new lawyers statewide.
The program would help ease the transition from law school to legal
practice.
The
Georgia State Bar started a mandatory mentoring program in 2008, and it’s been replicated
by other states. The task force studied that program model and others in
developing its proposed program. Although ideally the program would
provide one mentor for every mentee, the task force recognizes that this may
not be possible in a state the size of California. The State Bar registers about
4,000 new lawyers every year who are spread over a large geographic area. That’s
where technology and social media can play a role, as it has with the 10-minute Mentor videos
created by the CYLA.
The
mentoring task force spent five months canvassing existing programs, developing
best practices and identifying potential funding sources. I’d like to thank
Judge Downing and the task force members for all of their hard work. I’m
excited about the prospect of a statewide mentoring program, especially since a
similar program developed by the South Carolina Bar has shown early promise in
reducing the number of lawyers who were disbarred or suspended for misconduct early
in their careers.
Notably,
the mentoring task force is part of an ongoing commitment by the State Bar to
ensure that attorneys have the tools they need to succeed. I continue to posit
that the State Bar, in fulfilling its mission, should be proactive in helping
lawyers become better lawyers. Another recent example of this proactive effort was the
Client Trust Account survey that was launched June 1 to the entire State Bar
membership. The survey was designed to raise awareness of the rules governing
trust accounting. For many years, the bar has also maintained an Ethics
Hotline to assist attorneys in meeting their ethical obligations. The number is
800-238-4427 (or 415-538-2150 for callers outside California).
I
look forward to receiving your input on the proposed
mentoring program and hope that you will also consider
devoting some of your time to mentoring the next generation of legal
professionals.