'Dear Sisters, Dear Daughters' - A New Mentorship Publication from the Multicultural Women Attorney Network

The ABA's Multicultural Women Attorney Network has published an exciting and unique new work to address the limited mentoring opportunities between multicultural women. Entitled 'Dear Sisters, Dear Daughters: Words of Wisdom from Multicultural Women Attorneys Who've Been There and Done That,' this publication is a compilation of letters from multicultural women attorneys who graduated from law school more than a decade ago.

These letters are directed at young women lawyers and law students, offering advice of a variety of topics including building a practice, raising children as a professional woman, overcoming stereotypes, building bridges with women of color, and directing one's own career. The diversity of topics covered is matched by the degree of diversity amongst the contributors themselves - some are still practicing, some are retired; some are mothers, some are not; some are members of the judiciary, some are academics. All are inspirational figures for women in the law.

Mablean Pehriam, Judge on Divorce Court for Fox Television, commented on this publication: "Every woman benefit from reading these letters. They speak of both our struggles and triumphs...As you read these pages, I hope that you too will be inspired, as I was to continue the struggle for justice and equality, using the law as a tool for change."

For more information on 'Dear Sisters, Dear Daughters: Words of Wisdom from Multicultural Women Attorneys Who've Been There and Done That.' visit:

http://www.abanet.org/minorities/mwan/dsdd.html

How Men and Women Can Work Together at Law Firms [Clippings]

Jennifer Bluestein, director of professional development for the Chicago office of Baker & McKenzie, observes that most training to remedy gender inequalities at firms is geared toward women. Presentations teach female associates how to climb upward. Bluestein argues that male partners also need to learn how to reach downward. There are three ways that senior men can offer a hand up:

Managing partners, practice group chairs and senior partners can help women have the same chance of succeeding as the men do. First, women need mentors, just as men do. Second, women need flexibility and career choices, just as men do. Third, women need to be involved in building client relationships as part of succession-planning, just as men do. These three necessities are important for all attorneys; however, when these needs go unmet for women, it has a more negative impact.

In the body of the article, Bluestein explains obstacles and solutions to improve women's access to mentoring, flexibility, client development and succession planning. It's worth a read. It's worth an email to your firm's senior partners--or, if that's too direct, to your firm's professional development director.

Does your firm offer in-house career counseling?

Recently I wrote about lawyer development, urging firms to invest as much in the success of their existing attorneys as they do in hooking new hires. Here's one way: some firms are retaining in-house career counselors for associates. Niraj Chokshi reports that a few firms are staffing these formal, permanent positions.

The position, say firm development managers, offers associates a neutral and confidential third party to go to with questions: How do I stay on track to make partner? How do I better build my practice? How can I switch practices? How do I get out of here?

There are a couple of business reasons for in-house career counseling...

[More after the jump]

Should we pay lawyers to mentor their successors?

Woke up this morning to an article claiming that "Senior Partners Press Firms to Pay Them to Train Their Successors." Details in the article suggest that this is mainly an issue of client retention (about the time it takes to smoothly hand over ongoing work). If it is an issue at all, that is--the report cites not a single specific firm or partner as evidence of the trend. Setting that aside, the headline got me thinking: should we pay lawyers to mentor their successors? Do any employers do this already? To what could such compensation be pegged?

[More after the jump]

Mentoring & Judging

I got started thinking about mentoring during one of the panels at the Ms. JD conference this weekend. I can't help but wonder why I've always seemed to have a hard time finding a mentor and holding onto her. Whenever I've been somebody's mentor it didn't pan out as I'd imagined either. In fact, the most successful mentor/mentee relationships that I've ever had have been with men. However, I recognize that finding a woman mentor is extremely important and that, someday, being a productive mentor to another woman will also crucial.