PRESIDENT'S Column

PRESIDENT'S COLUMN

By PETER GEE, MBA 2021 President

None of us get where we are on our own. We get here

with the support of parents, spouses, and friends.

Today, I want to acknowledge another category that is critical in our personal and professional development: mentors.

Whatever type of practice we have, there are people who took us under their wing, showed us the ropes and helped us find our footing and our voice as lawyers. For me, I was blessed to have Judge George Brown take an interest in my development.

Many years ago I was asked to join The Leo Bearman, Sr. American Inn of Court which was led that year by Honorable Robert Childers. At that time, the Inn of Court had a formal mentor program and I applied to have a mentor assigned. I did not appreciate it in the moment, but it turned out to be one of the more consequential decisions of my career, and I was assigned Judge George Brown as my mentor.

It is hard to put into words just how much of an impact Judge Brown has had on my life. Judge Brown was key in shaping my view about the importance of participation in our broader legal community and taught me that it is critical that we accept the call to service of that community. Judge Brown also taught me that the impact of our participation is not only about the “big picture” but that the small, individual interactions we have can have dramatic impacts on those individuals. Though many years have passed, I can proudly say that Judge Brown is still my mentor to this day. More than that, Judge Brown is a friend. I know that if I find myself in need of guidance, or just someone to talk through a challenging issue, Judge Brown will be there for me.

Thank you, Judge George Brown, for being my mentor and my friend.

What I would like to ask of each of you is that you take a moment this month on whatever social media platform you favor and share a picture and a few words about your mentor in the legal community. Let’s take a breath from the chaos of our daily lives to acknowledge and thank those professional mentors. I would encourage you to use the hashtag #MBAMentors so that others can find your post and we can all engage together in this activity.

I know we don’t like to admit it, but some of us are no longer the young, green attorney in need of mentorship, and perhaps this is an opportunity to “pay it forward” as well. Make yourself available to the attorneys in your orbit – take them to lunch, talk to them about life, share with them the wisdom gained through years of trials and errors (pun entirely intended). We are stronger when we can learn from each other’s successes and failures. If we get enough engagement in the #MBAMentors, perhaps this will be a jumping off point for the MBA to build a more formalized mentor network to benefit the lawyers that are coming behind us.

I look forward to seeing the #MBAMentors picturesand stories filling my Facebook feed soon! �

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