Old Lady Lawyer: Mentoring -- Should There Be An App For That?
Should there be an app for mentoring? Would that get more young lawyers to buy into the concept?
Sometimes coming up with column ideas is easy, as in just reading, looking around, and seeing what’s out there, in the “we’re not making this up” mode.
Other times, vacuuming, paying bills, grocery shopping, reading advance sheets, and other chores hold way more interest for me than figuring out what to write about. Fortunately, my readers/writers always come to my rescue.
My columns on age discrimination in the legal profession have sparked discussion. Yay! Even though the discussion has been in the form of emails, it’s refreshing to see that some dinosaur lawyers are indeed concerned about the future of the profession and how they can help the next generation along. Notice I said “some.” Not all are.
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Exhibit 1: a friend in Biglaw asked one of her partners, Mr. Z., to help bring along a young lawyer, Mr. A, whom she thinks has real talent and promise, but needs help in business development. Since Mr. A. is working on developing a practice in the area that Mr. Z. has been in for decades, she thought that it would be a good fit and asked Mr. Z. to mentor Mr. A. No such luck. Mr. Z. has made absolutely no effort to help Mr. A. whatsoever. Nada, zip, zilch.
So, here are my questions: when Mr. Z. leaves the firm, whether through retirement, disability, layoff, or the inevitable dirt nap, what does Mr. Z. think is going to happen to his clients? Are they going to stay with the firm out of some loyalty to the memory of Mr. Z.? Really? There’s little, if any, loyalty between client and law firm any more, so it’s entirely possible that unless Mr. Z. starts to introduce younger lawyers in the firm to his clients, while helping them to develop their own books of business, Mr. Z.’s clients will be out the door, taking their business with them. Other firms will drool at the opportunity then presented.
Of course, the problem is an economic one. If Mr. Z. spends time mentoring Mr. A., he can’t crank out as much billable time, and so the dominos of consequences, none pretty, start to fall. There’s has to be some way to figure this out, so that the “eat what you kill mentality” doesn’t preclude the development of talent for the next generation of lawyers.
One lawyer wrote me to say that his state bar association does have a mentoring program that seeks to pair senior lawyers with young lawyers, but in the several years he’s been on the panel, he’s never been contacted. What’s with that? He asks whether it’s the method of communication that’s a problem. He wonders whether younger lawyers find mentors through blogs, through their own networks, or maybe they don’t seek it at all. Perhaps he says, it’s because “they don’t know what they don’t know.”
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One thing that mentors offer is their years of experience. I can remember freaking out about something (and I’ve had many freak-outs in my forty years) when I was a new lawyer that nowadays, wouldn’t even give me a second thought, let alone a first. That kind of experience isn’t taught in law school, especially by academics who often have never been inside a courtroom, let alone had to manage difficult clients or convince a jury, out of its mind with boredom, that the client should win.
Who do newbie lawyers turn to for advice? For counsel? For guidance on what form to use, how to draft a complaint, write a demurrer, let alone prepare a summary judgment motion?
The ABA has compiled a list of state bar mentoring programs.
California is not listed as having a mentoring program. So, I went to the State Bar of California website. We have a Mentoring Task Force and a Preliminary Report with lots of recommendations.
However, given all the other issues the State Bar is wrestling with right now, it would not surprise me if this is at the bottom of the overflowing in-box. Funding for such a program, based on the more pressing fiscal issues, is not a high priority. However, the preliminary report did point out that different forms of mentoring, other than face to face, such as e-mentoring (email?) “…tech platforms and social media could be made available.” Given the dreadful traffic here and in other parts of the country, the antiquated idea of meeting for coffee, lunch, or whatever may just not be feasible or desirable any more.
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Do we really need formal mentoring programs? Do we need to institutionalize mentoring in our profession? Do we not take care of our own? Don’t answer that.
How about a Tinder-like app for lawyer mentoring? It could post profiles of young lawyers looking for mentors and what they’re looking for, and then dinosaur lawyers, once they learn how to swipe left and swipe right, could be matched with a young lawyer looking for mentorship. It wouldn’t have to be limited to intra-state. With FaceTime, Skype, email, and social media, lawyers could be matched up on a nationwide basis. If it’s a substantive law question, then I understand the need for an in-state mentor, but many of the mentoring issues that arise are not legal questions, but ethical questions, judgment calls, client relations issues, and those transcend state lines.
What do you think? Should there be an app for mentoring? Would that get more young lawyers to buy into the concept? Would more dinosaurs buy in? Just like Tinder or any other match-up app, success depends on the quality of the mentor/mentee relationship. Is there anything lost by trying? So, all you geeky lawyers (that phrase is not pejorative in this context), get going, whether in the context of a legal hackathon or not, and design an app. The lawyer mentoring world needs it.
Jill Switzer is closing in on 40 (not a typo) years as a active member of the State Bar of California. Yes, folks, California, that state west of the Sierra Nevada, which everyone likes to diss. She’s had a diverse legal career, including stints as a deputy district attorney, a solo practice, and several senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which gives her the opportunity to see old lawyers, young lawyers, and those in-between interact — it’s not always pretty. You can reach her by email at oldladylawyer@gmail.com.
