Lessons Learned: Reflections from a Retiring Lawyer

LESSONS LEARNED: REFLECTIONS FROM A RETIRING LAWYER By: John Eldridge

MENTOR

Every young lawyer needs a mentor, for beginning the practice of law without a mentor is disastrous. Mentors provide that needed transition from law school to being a young lawyer. Mentors serve to answer those questions that come up so often. They are a source of information and wisdom that provide direction at just the right time.

A recent report in DICTA about the results of the KBA’s 2021 Economics and Law Practice Management Survey indicated that 88% of the respondents had had a mentor, and 60% indicated the mentor was extremely impactful in their career. That is good, but what about all those lawyers who have not had a mentor? Who answered their questions and pointed out a way forward? Probably no one, and that means mistakes were no doubt made, maybe even malpractice was committed.

That same Survey indicated that most attorneys who have had mentors got them as a member of a firm. That makes sense. There is always an answer to that neophyte’s question in the next office or down the hall. My mentoring was so strong that as the years went by, I would always gauge my efforts on a case by what I had learned was the way to work a case.

The KBA recognized the importance of mentors by creating the “Mentor of the Moment” program that fosters a lawyer with a question being able to call a seasoned attorney to get some direction. Whenever I would get a call from a young lawyer as a part of the “Mentor of the Moment,” I knew that this young lawyer was indeed troubled and I took time to help.

There are two aspects to the practice of law that must come in order to be an effective lawyer; competence and confidence. Ideally, becoming a competent lawyer and a confident one occur at the same time. For me, it took about five years for me to feel competent and ten years to feel confident.

But both competence and confidence are enhanced by having a mentor. In my practice, I had a succession of law clerks and then some lawyers starting their practice with me or in our office. Regardless, the experience was always the same. During the first few months I would get at least one question a day, then as time went by, the questions lessened as competence and confidence increased.

The questions could be as simple as “How do you get to see your client in lock-up?” to “How does Judge X do a minor’s settlement ?” The more difficult questions involved dealing with opposing counsel. “Should I put “X’ in a pleading, or wait and ask it on cross-examination?” or “What advice should I give my client about how to answer those sticky questions coming up in a deposition?”

I have noticed that good lawyers will always take time to serve as a mentor. When you have practiced law for many years, you know things. You know the in’s and out’s of the courthouse, the judges’ likes and dislikes, and who you can trust and who you need to be wary of within the Bar.

Having a mentor as a young lawyer is invaluable. If you had a mentor and he/she was a good one, be grateful. If you do not have one, find one!