With more Tennessee attorneys – especially new lawyers – deciding to “hang out” their own shingle and begin a solo or small firm practice, the TBA has developed the Solo in a Box Toolkit. Each issue of E-DICT this year will spotlight one of the toolkit’s 12 sections. This month we look at mentoring opportunities.

In the Mentoring section, the Solo in a Box Toolkit addresses the importance of finding trustworthy counsel when beginning the practice of law. When asked to comment about the benefits of mentoring, TBA members provided the following advice:

• If you don’t have a mentor, get one!
• Don’t be afraid to ask the best lawyer in your area to mentor you. Once upon a time, someone did it for them.
• The single greatest thing that helped me learn when I was a new lawyer was to be assigned a great mentor who let me tag along with her everywhere.
• It is critical to have an experienced attorney to call. It is really one of the most important resources a new attorney can have.
• If you do not have a mentor, your life will be 100 percent harder. Starting out is hard enough. Get a mentor to help ease that pain.
• I did not have a mentor. It would have made life much easier if I did!
• Being mentored by an experienced attorney is essential. Reading rules and laws is still important, but if that is all you do, you won’t know any more about the practice of law than the day you graduated from law school. Experienced attorneys can tell you how things actually work.

TBA Mentoring Program — To help young lawyers make the mentoring connection, the TBA launched a formal mentoring program last year with the aim of fostering mutually beneficial relationships between participating attorneys, reducing the isolation experienced by some beginning attorneys, improving the quality of legal services received by clients and placing a renewed emphasis on the importance of professionalism. The program pairs mentees with mentors for one year, though the parties are free to continue the relationship beyond the official timeframe if mutually agreeable.

To participate in the TBA’s program, mentees must be within the first three years of legal practice, be members of the Tennessee Bar Association and not work for the same employer as their mentor. They also must agree to meet face to face with their mentor at least once a month and participate in two monthly phone calls. Mentees and mentors will develop a mentoring plan at the beginning of the program and file evaluation reports half way through the program and again at the conclusion of the program.

Suggested curriculum is provided but mentees are encouraged to work with their mentors to design a program that meets their unique needs.

The next class of mentees will begin this August. Applications are due July 1. See a timeline for the next two programs: the 2015 Summer Program and the 2016 Winter Program. If you have questions about the TBA mentoring program contact Christy Gibson, (615) 383-7421.

Local Mentoring Programs — The TBA also has created a list of other mentoring programs offered by various bar associations and legal groups in the state. Find a program near you.

Up Next: Resources for Solos