Crowdsourcing Mentorship: Creating a New Culture of Mentoring in the Legal Profession, 0520 COBJ, Vol. 49, No. 5 Pg. 18

AuthorBY J. RYANN PEYTON
PositionVol. 49, 5 [Page 18]

49 Colo.Law. 18

Crowdsourcing Mentorship: Creating a New Culture of Mentoring in the Legal Profession

Vol. 49, No. 5 [Page 18]

Colorado Lawyer

May, 2020

MENTORING MATTERS

BY J. RYANN PEYTON

There's no such thing as a self-made lawyer. All of us are where we are today because other people helped us along the way. But while mentorship is essential to every lawyer's success, lawyers don't form long-term professional relationships the way we used to. Such relationships are still immensely valuable, but they're not always realistic in the modern law practice. As a result, lawyers must look beyond traditional mentorships and take a more individualized approach to mentoring that harnesses the power of the community.

What's Hindering Mentorship?

New lawyers starting their own practices and those looking for work have a huge need for mentorship. But traditional legal mentorships aren't as prevalent as they used to be. One reason is that today's lawyers often don't stay at the same place for very long. Another is that the emphasis on billable hours makes it hard for lawyers to dedicate non-billable time to mentoring. Lawyers need a convenient way to learn from and connect with veteran lawyers that doesn't demand a substantial investment of time from the mentor.

Recognizing this need, almost every major law firm, corporate legal department, and government law office (including most smaller and midsize legal employers) has created some type of formal mentoring initiative. But many of these initiatives lack the resources necessary to match hundreds or thousands of lawyers with mentoring partners and help these new relationships thrive. Thus, many of these formal mentoring programs provide only a limited benefit to the mentee.

To help fill the gap, many bar associations and nonprofit legal assistance organizations have developed formal mentorship programs to supplement legal employer mentoring pro-grams. Most of these programs have focused the mentorship in the area of professional responsibility and ethics. But most new lawyers (especially those starting their own practices) rank their needs for mentorship as follows (from most to least important):

1. general business development

2. law practice development

3. substantive legal issues

4. local procedural processes

5. civil procedure

6. professional responsibility.1

Overall, formal mentorship programs have not been very successful because they lack the nimbleness...

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