The Art of Mentorship: Shaping the Next Generation of Lawyers

I was recently in a meeting with a new client who had been referred by an ex-partner who has now retired.  The partner came along to the initial meeting to say hello.  Despite being terrified that he was going to arrive with copies of my initial emails to the client covered in red pen corrections like he did in the old days, what really struck me during that meeting was how much I remembered learning from him.

I’ve been really lucky throughout my career to work with people who have been incredibly generous with their time and sharing their expertise with me.  That’s shaped most of the things which I do professionally.  From how to interact with clients, how to act in Court and sometimes even knowing what not to do.  It’s all been informed by those around me.

That contrasts with another Solicitor I once worked with who liked to pepper his correspondence with Latin.  When I asked him about this he explained that when he was a trainee he’d been told that if you put Latin in your letters, people don’t understand it so are more likely simply do whatever you’re asking of them.  Advice like that has no place in modern law in Scotland.  It’s a great example of how the way more senior solicitors act and train those around them does have a real impact be it a negative or positive one.  Now I’m at a stage where I’m actively training the next generation of lawyers, I’m really conscious of the fact that training does matter and people do actually listen to what they’re being told.

One of the real difficulties with training people is the time it takes.  It takes both time for knowledge and good practice to be learned by those being trained and it also takes time to provide that training in the first place.  If you’re busy preparing for a Proof the last thing you want to do is stop and have to explain why you’re doing what you’re doing.  However, in the long term, if you don’t take the time to explain these things in real world scenarios, no one will ever learn and you won’t have someone on hand to help you.  Done properly, training works both ways.  The person being trained gains the benefit of your experience and you gain the benefit of being able to rely on them.  Training someone properly frees up your time in the long term and also manages risk since you know they know what they’re doing.

One thing which I do find strange, is when people pick up on your own phraseology.  We all have certain phrases and words which we tend to use and although it shows that they’ve actually been paying attention, it is strange when you see an email written by someone else which sounds like it was written by you.

A real issue at present is training new litigators.  Back in the (good?) old days, you could sit in the civil court for a morning and get real experience of how cases were conducted.  Other solicitors were also generally very good at helping out those who weren’t as experienced as them.  Whilst WebEx has many advantages and it still does allow trainees to hear plenty of advocacy, it’s still quite a lonely existence sitting in a room on your own watching the screen and there’s little opportunity for feedback.

One good habit, which I’ve brazenly stolen from a colleague, is to finish any calls with other team members by asking if everything else is alright.  It’s just a small thing but it builds in the opportunity for more junior members of the team to ask any questions they have or to let us know if they’re having problems with anything.

Ultimately, if you don’t invest the time and patience into training those around you, you won’t reap the benefits of this in the future.  That said, if you do still like using Latin in your letters, it’s probably a good idea not to pass that “wisdom” on to the next generation!