Small Law Firms

Why Today's Seasoned Lawyers Shouldn't Mentor Newbies

It's possible you're not as wise as you think you are.

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Earlier this month, ATL Columnist Jill Switzer took seasoned lawyers to task for their failure to mentor the next generation. But Switzer’s criticism presupposes that an experienced lawyers’ mentorship carries great value. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. Over the past decade, technologic, economic and social forces have so transformed the legal profession that the worldview and wisdom of Boomer and GenX lawyers hold little relevance.

Now, I realize that every generation suffers from delusions of exceptionalism, believing themselves so utterly distinct from their elders as to render any advice meaningless. But today’s generational divide is different. Here’s an example. Back in law school, one of the most distinguished and accomplished professors took the time to ask third-years about future employment. For those students who hadn’t yet found jobs, the professor urged them to use the same tactics that he had as a young Turk 40 years prior: knock on the doors of every local law firm, ask to meet with the hiring partner and present a resume. “Yeah right” I thought to myself — that technique might have worked in the 1940’s but what law partner is going to take the time out of his busy day to chat with a young lawyer?” Yet years later, I realized in hindsight that the professor’s seemingly old-fashioned approach probably would have been effective even in the boomtime of the late 1980s because it would highlight a new law grad’s initiative at a time when most law students did little more to find employment than show up in a suit for on-campus interviews or respond to help wanted ads. Today, however, there’s no way that same approach would ever work — since with virtual firms and remote offices and telecommuting, a new grad would find few office doors to knock on and even fewer lawyers inside to meet.

Other advice that today’s older mentors might dispense is equally outdated because of changing times. Consider these other examples:

  • Unbundled Services — Many seasoned solo and small firm lawyers advise younger colleagues to turn down unbundled legal services work, explaining that clients who won’t pay full-fare are tire-kickers who will always haggle over price. The advice isn’t surprising coming from an era where lawyers starting a firm had the luxury of being selective. Many of those older lawyers didn’t carry the same level of debt as today’s new grads and without competition from DIY legal services, they had plenty of clients who had no choice but to pay full fare. Not only is older lawyers’ advice on turning away paying lower paying work irrelevant in today’s economy but it’s downright harmful because it prevents new lawyers from gaining an edge by developing innovative ways to make money from unbundled services.
  • The Value of Bar Associations — Most veteran lawyers recommend that new lawyers join their state and local bar association to network and find business. What a waste. Yet back in the day, that’s what lawyers did. Newbies joined bar associations and volunteered for thankless jobs at the bottom of the totem pole so that a decade later they might reach a position of leadership and a small referral here and there. Again, a mentor’s advice to join a bar association isn’t just irrelevant but dangerous because in today’s fast-changing world, ten years is a long, LONG time to wait for notoriety and business. New lawyers are better off spending the time they would otherwise devote to transcribing bar committee reports on starting a blog on a new practice area that didn’t exist 15 years ago or making connections on LinkedIn or joining a Facebook or Slack group — pastimes that older lawyers view as frivolous or a waste of time.
  • Women & Discrimination — As an older female lawyer who lived the whole work-life balance thing, you’d think that at a minimum, I could mentor younger female lawyers on how to do the same thing. But the truth is, having parented during those Neanderthal times, any advice that I could give would be offbase in today’s thankfully more relaxed world. Back when I was a young mom running a practice, I never told anyone at any time if I was working from home or needed to leave a meeting early to pick up kids. Meanwhile, I put up with comments from male attorneys who remarked how nice it was that my husband allowed me to “dabble” in the practice of law or who attributed my input at a meeting to a guy, I ignored the stupidity because I didn’t want to make a scene. But if I were to counsel today’s young women to “put up and shut up” as I did, I would turn back the clock from all of the progress of the #metoo movement. On the other hand, I wouldn’t know how to advise a young woman — particularly one who runs a law firm — to raise concerns about sexual harassment because I’ve never done it myself.

Our world has changed so much during the past decade that many of us lawyers 45 and older have little to offer in the way of mentorship for the next generation.  So instead of criticizing older lawyers for not trying to mentor newbies, maybe we ought to applaud them for sparing the next generation from outdated and poor advice.

Carolyn ElefantCarolyn Elefant has been blogging about solo and small firm practice at MyShingle.comsince 2002 and operated her firm, the Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant PLLC, even longer than that. She’s also authored a bunch of books on topics like starting a law practice, social media, and 21st century lawyer representation agreements (affiliate links). If you’re really that interested in learning more about Carolyn, just Google her. The Internet never lies, right? You can contact Carolyn by email at elefant@myshingle.comor follow her on Twitter at @carolynelefant.

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