Many young legal professionals know plenty about the law but almost nothing about getting their careers up and running. To start on the right foot, they may need a mentor who can help them set professional goals, steer them toward career-boosting assignments and give them access to influential people and networks. These pairings can take many different forms, but all benefit both the adviser and the protégé.
Mentoring in the age of remote working
It was once common for mentors to drop by their mentees' office for a quick chat, take them out for coffee or gather all their protégés together for a group lunch. This kind of rapport-building legal mentorship is priceless, but it can be challenging to maintain when in-person interactions are limited or professionals spend less time in the office.
Rather than abandoning their mentees, the best mentors have worked out how to maintain these relationships from a distance. Virtual meetings have replaced physical ones, and "my door is always open" has become "call me anytime." Mentoring in a socially distanced world may even have some advantages. For example, it wasn't always feasible or affordable to take mentees to a hearing or deposition in another state. Now, with many proceedings still being held online, it's never been easier for a law firm mentor to expose entry-level lawyers to the sharp end of the litigation process.
