PDO collaborates with the Women Lawyers of Utah, the Utah Minority Bar Association, and the Young Lawyers Division of the Utah State Bar to stage an Attorney-Student Mentoring Program. Through it, students are assigned individual attorney mentors from leading Utah law firms, corporations and public agencies. To participate, fill out this surveyand return it to Jaclyn Howell (Jaclyn.howell@law.utah.edu) as soon as possible, but not later than August 27 (the end of the first week of school). Attorneys from the steering committee of the program will use the surveys to pair attorneys with students.
If you’re wondering how big the time commitment is for the program, it largely depends on the attorney/student preference. The mentor/mentee pairs meet at least one time but more often if they choose, and also may communicate more via email and phone calls. The program begins in August with an evening social (see below), and in the spring there may be a social or a service project to bring students and attorneys together. Last spring students volunteered with members of the S.J. Quinney Young Alumni Organization for a morning service project at the Head Start facility in Rose Park.
On Thursday, August 19, plan to attend the Attorney-Student Mentor Program Kickoff Social, from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at Gracie’s in Salt Lake City (http://www.graciesslc.com/). At the social, you will meet attorneys who will serve as mentors this year in an informal atmosphere. The Student Bar Association’s weekly “Bar Review” will follow immediately.
Here is what one student recently said about her participation in the Attorney-Student Mentoring Program:
I was paired with a young attorney who graduated from the University of Utah in 2004. She is a solo practitioner who is doing family law. During fall semester, we met for dinner, and I asked her a lot of questions about law school and her career. She was extremely honest and gave me some good advice. A few weeks later, my classmates and I started hunting for summer jobs. I remembered my mentor attorney saying that she was very busy, so I wrote to ask if I could work for her. She was very excited, and hired me. I started working with her part time. It has been a wonderful learning opportunity. I have been able to do different things while working for her: draft documents, research, attend hearings, and meet with clients, among others. I would highly recommend signing up for the mentoring program. There are a lot of attorneys in the area that are willing to help law students in any way they can. Plus, you might even get a job out of it! Good luck in your studies!