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Can blogging and other social media fill a part of the mentoring gap for young lawyers?

Times have changed since I was a young lawyer honing my skills. Jobs in law firms, especially large law, for new law grads are not nearly as plentiful as when I graduated 30 years go.

The result is many new grads getting out and doing whatever they can. I’ve heard of many waiting tables and even working at Walmart at night to make ends meet while at the same hanging their shingle out during the day to get some legal work.

Not only can that be demoralizing to a recent grad, but it can be dangerous for the clients they do get.

Where does a recent law grad learn how to practice law in a real and meaningful way — in a way that’s providing effective legal representation? Not in law school. Not even via internships during law school.

In the old days (geez, am I really 55?), we learned how to be a lawyer by joining a good law firm. It could be large or small firm. We asked questions of our mentors — whether we called a partner a mentor or not.

We got feedback on transactional docs we drafted and briefs and pleadings we crafted. We sat in on depositions and trials, hopefully getting thrown a bone by being allowed to take a witness while our mentor sat at counsel table in court or along side us in a conference room.

We had a wealth of forms, guides, and secondary authority at our disposal. Our law firm libraries were filled with books by publishers long ago gobbled up by LexisNexis and Thomson-West. If we couldn’t find it in a book, go ask one of the partners’ secretaries — they were the ones doing more legal practice work than we were anyway.

We got introduced to local business people, civic groups, and members of the local bar. We had a network we could reach out to.

Who didn’t ask more senior lawyers questions about how to do this or that while waiting for your motion hearing at the courthouse? Heck, I asked the clerk of courts and her team lots of questions — they had the good stuff. Bailiff’s knew the inside ropes at the courthouse too. And you could always catch judges in their chambers if you headed over to the courthouse before 8:30.

At the firms that appreciated us, or once we made a few bucks, we had access to great CLE programs at leading bar and state/national legal associations.

Think a recent grad working at Walmart has the budget to pay high high-end CLE registration fees and a travel budget for air and hotel to get the good info and network with tier one lawyers?

Social media, including blogging, is an odd duck for recent bar admittees. The young lawyers who participate in blogging and other social media get kicked in the teeth by many senior lawyers for trying to get out and have a reputation before they know how to practice law.

The young lawyers who blog, network on LinkedIn, and who use Twitter to connect are accused of marketing themselves to the public’s peril.

I’m not sure we should blame a recent grad who cannot get a job in law firm from reaching out to connect with more senior lawyers.

  • Do law firms who don’t hire lawyers bring lawyers in to mentor them? Nope.
  • Do state bars and national legal associations give free CLE access and fly kids to conferences a thousand miles away? I am not aware of any that do.
  • Does LexisNexis and Thomson West give unlimited access to all secondary resources and forms to part-time lawyers/part-time restaurant servers? Call ‘em and ask.

Take a step back.

  • What’s so bad about young lawyers reading blogs by senior lawyers and law professors around the country and engaging the senior lawyers via posts on the young lawyer’s blog?
  • What’s so bad about having these senior lawyers who are blogging then engaging the younger lawyers who are blogging? Maybe they connect on LinkedIn and meet in person? Maybe the young lawyer starts to call and email the senior lawyers they met blogging with questions/concerns on matters they are working on? I always helped younger lawyers when I practiced, whether in my firm or not, and the more senior lawyers helped me even after I had practiced for the better part of 20 years.
  • What’s so bad about a young lawyer sharing on Twitter the news and info relating to a niche that the young lawyer sees in their RSS reader and on Twitter? Maybe a few senior lawyers begin to follow them which results in them exchanging emails, connecting on LinkedIn, talking on the phone, and meeting in person? Maybe a mentorship relationship ensues?

Recent law grads who aren’t afraid of connecting with senior lawyers, meeting people, and asking questions to seek guidance and counsel should be lauded. They are getting mentorship –it’s just not the way we did it. I am not sure for many law grads they have the same opportunity — though many don’t take the initiative needed to get the skills they need.

Mind you I am not talking about young law bloggers pushing crap to get high search engine performance. I’m not including gaming Google as a skill you need to provide effective representation.

For those lawyers, blogging is putting a gun in a child’s hand. Clients who find those lawyers and don’t see through the charade may be in jeopardy.

I am also not talking about lawyers that go out and get lots of Twitter followers or LinkedIn connections as a means of demonstrating their influence.

We had clowns like that who practiced law in my town long before anyone dreamed of the Internet and social media. They just put on show to try to impress people in other ways. They failed.

What do you guys think? Can blogging and other social media fill a little of the mentoring gap for young lawyers?

  • http://blog.simplejustice.us shg

    Your strawman argument is nonsense and beneath you. By asking, “what’s so bad,” you’re playing to the fools, and you’re smarter than that.
    There is nothing “bad” about using the blogosphere to learn, but not being bad doesn’t demonstrate that it’s adequate. It’s not, no more than reading blogs about surgery enables one to do a heart transplant.
    And don’t ignore the changing dynamic, where young lawyers don’t seek mentorship from more senior lawyers, but equality if not superiority of opinion. A young lawyer is just as likely to “inform” an experience lawyer of his “opinion” as seek advice. They don’t seek mentorship, but validation and approval. Don’t encourage this.

  • Nate Russell

    Thanks for this post, Kevin, which I take as a call to action for senior lawyers to engage in mentorship, not as a condonation of bad habits or bad attitudes among the young. I could be wrong, but I don’t think you are addressing young lawyers in your post.
    Micro-blogs and LinkedIn are obviously not sufficient to teach effective advocacy, but social media extends the reach of communities and relationships, including mentorship, and that’s something worth exploring.
    If a young, hungry grad cannot find the opportunities in his own backyard (partly because senior practitioners no longer mentor as much), then what other options are available?
    Encourage those senior counsel with a sense of duty to their profession and the young to engage in mentorships by whatever means! Social media is great for sharing and identifying others with a shared interest. Of course, there are two sides to that coin, and we are all aware of the tedious and narcissistic side of social media. If serious-minded, principled folks engaged more online, however, they would discover a tremendous tool to share meaningful ideas, build community, amplify their influence with integrity, and help others.
    Thanks for the positive message, Kevin.

  • http://fredquenzer.com Fred Quenzer

    Great post; and great question. I started my blog in order to hone my writing skills and keep connected with colleagues. However, social media is definitely a great way to reach out and connect with more experienced professionals. After your post, I can also see how blogging could create a dialog that could lead to mentoring.
    I worked in information technology for over fifteen years before switching careers. Granted technology was part of my daily job, but I always found it to be a great way to connect with peers and experts alike. I would always use forums and social media as a way to mine the collective wisdom from those that had more experience in a project or area of technology than I did. Likewise, I was always happy to reciprocate when others asked me for my experience. Being part of the “community” helped facilitate the information exchange between experts and novices.
    As for the danger, I am not sure I view it as that serious. Most people using the web for research will likely view multiple blogs on a subject to inform themselves. In addition, newly “minted” lawyers are likely to carry less weight in what they say than more senior attorneys. Unless they misrepresent their experience, I think the likely chance of harm is minimal. The positives of being able to network and practice their writing and analysis seems to far outweigh the potential dangers.

  • http://www.rdpusa.com/ Executive Coach

    Like Fred, I believe this post was addressed more towards the senior lawyers than it was to the new grad student.
    Mentoring is a vital part of our history and it should be part of our future. In the past, people received mentoring by joining a firm and gaining skill through superiors in the company. Since this is no longer an option, young grad students have to find another way to seek mentoring.
    Today’s grad students are finding they can get the same mentoring via social media outlets like LinkedIn, Twitter, FaceBook, and blogging. While some people may look down on it because it was not the way it has been done, it is the way it is being done now.
    Times have changed and people do not stay at the same company for 50 years and retire. Lawyers do not get hired straight from grad school to a law firm. Everyone has to learn and seeking out a mentor by whatever means necessary is a good idea.

  • http://community.martindale.com/legal-groups/Lawyer_Tech_2/applied_discovery/b/applied_discovery-blog/archive/2011/04/25/weekly-e-discovery-snapshot-04-22-2011-http-bit-ly-dm8aed.aspx Applied Discovery

    Weekly E-Discovery Snapshot 04/22/2011 http://bit.ly/dM8aEd

    Weekly E-Discovery Snapshot Published: 04/22/2011 This week, two sets of best practices are on our minds

  • http://www.bankruptcymastery.com Cathy Moran

    In my field (bankruptcy) there is such a huge need for mentors that I concluded I could not make a difference one on one. The issues for most newbies were similar and absent a vehicle specifically designed to speak to them, they were still going to practice, and to endanger the public. Mentoring en mass or on line may not be ideal, but it’s better than holding out for a world of selflessness among the experienced that doesn’t seem to exist in today’s practice.