AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
TORT TRIALINSURANCE PRACTICE SECTION [TIPS]
REPORT TO TIPS COUNCIL
TIPS Task Force on Outreach to Law Students
REPORT ON MENTORING PROGRAM
July 20, 2011
WHEREAS, student members of TIPS are important and valuable members of TIPS,
WHEREAS, student members of TIPS benefit from mentoring relationships with experienced attorneys,
WHEREAS, TIPS attorney members are important and valuable members of TIPS,
WHEREAS, TIPS attorney members have expertise useful to the advancement of student members of TIPS,
WHEREAS, TIPS attorney members benefit from the rewards of mentoring student members of TIPS,
WHEREAS, TIPS benefits from a program that engages attorney members with student members of TIPS,
WHEREAS, the results of the first-year trial Mentoring Program suggest that it is a useful program for TIPS student and attorney members who actively participated while costing TIPS relatively little;
RESOLVED, TIPS will continue the Mentoring Program for student Vice Chairs for two years and if the program continues to be successful, the Task Force may seek Council approval to continue the Program for student Vice Chairs indefinitely and/or seek to expandmentee eligibility to all TIPS student members.
AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
TORT TRIAL INSURANCE PRACTICE SECTION [TIPS]
REPORT TO THE TIPS COUNCIL
TIPS Task Force on Outreach to Law Students
MENTORING PROGRAM REPORT
I.Introduction
At the 2010 ABA Annual Meeting the TIPS Task Force on Outreach to Law Students [Task Force] successfully sought Council approval of a TIPS student mentoring program for Student Vice-Chairs for a one-year trial period. The program was instituted this past year and based on the results of the first year the Task Force seeks Council approval to continue the program for another two years after which the Task Force again will report on the success of the program and based on the results, seek Council approval either to continue the program or to terminate it.
Mentoring programs for law students encourage and facilitate their professional development and provide unique opportunities for law students to develop a one-on-one relationship with an experienced lawyer. Moreover, the experienced lawyer is rewarded by the opportunity to engage with young, energized, and passionate law students and to contribute to the education of future lawyers. In addition to providing these personal rewards to TIPS members, adding this opportunity is designed to increase student membership in TIPS, enhance retention of student members upon their transition to practitioner members, and increase both student and practitioner member involvement in the Section.
II.TIPS Mentor Program
A.Description of program
Joan Schaffner, Task Force Co-Chair Elect, and Linda Wiley, Task Force TIPS Administrator, are the TIPS Mentor Program Co-Chairs. All TIPS attorney members with a minimum of 5 years of legal experience beyond graduation from law school qualify as a mentor. All TIPS law student vice chairs of the general committee qualify as mentees. The Program Co-Chairs solicited TIPS General Committee Chairs to help identify suitable mentors from their Committees and then paired selected mentors with the law student Vice Chair mentees from the same Committee. Attempts were made to seek mentors in the same geographic location as the mentee to facilitate in-person communication. Participating mentors/mentees completed a mentor/mentee form (mentor/mentee forms attached). Mentors/mentees were provided a copy of the general guidelines for the program summarizing the minimum expectations of the Program and listing a variety of activities in which they may engage and asked to comply with the guidelines(see guidelines below). Mostpairings were assigned in the fall of 2010 (September-October) and all conclude at the 2011 ABA Annual Meeting, renewable for a second term.
The guidelines for the Program are:
Minimum Expectations of Mentors and Mentees
-Communicate regularly (e.g. via e-mail and/or telephone bi-monthly)
-Engage in at least two of the suggested activities listed below.
Suggested Activities
Mentors may:
-Discuss their area of practice and share their opinions about their field of law or work environment
-Introduce mentee to colleagues who are working in fields outside of their areas of expertise
-Invite mentees to visit their office
-Invite mentees to bar association and networking events.
-Invite menteesto observe court proceedings, a deposition, a closing, etc.
-Offer guidance to mentees with course selection
-Critique mentee’s resume
-Conduct a mock job interview with mentee
The Mentor Program primarily was self-enforcing. The Program Co-Chairs contacted the mentors/mentees twice throughout the year. In July, the Program Co-Chairs created a survey to solicit input from the mentors/mentees. The survey was sent to all mentors/mentees (survey attached). The results are summarized below.
The primary cost of the Program was the time required by the Program Co-Chairs to administer the program. Administrative efforts included:
-Recruitment and selection of mentors/mentees
-Pairing mentors and mentees
-Contacting the participants to monitor success of the Program
-Creating the mentor survey
-Evaluating the Program
The amount of time devoted to these tasks by the TIPS administrator was approximately 20 person-hours. Technical support to post the survey on-line required 4 person-hours. The Task Force believes that the benefits of the Program, including increased student membership and enhanced retention of student members upon their transition to professional members, offset the costs incurred.
B.MentorProgram Survey Results & Lessons Learned
Seventeen[1](17) mentor/mentee pairs (thirty-four (34) individuals) participated in the Mentor Program. Six (6) pairs involved mentors and mentees in the same geographic location.[2] Of the remaining fifteen (15) committees: four (4) interested student vice-chairs were not paired with a mentor due to the inability to secure a mentor; six (6) student vice-chairs did not submit a mentee form; one (1) Committee shared a student vice-chair mentored by another Committee; and four (4) Committees lacked a student vice-chair.
The Survey
Nineteen (19) individuals—eleven (11) mentors and eight (8) mentees[3]—completed the Mentor Program Survey. The following summarizes a few key parameters of the 15 responses received.
First Contact: Sixteen (16) first made contact with their mentor/mentee within the week they were paired;and two (2) first made contact within 2 weeks.[4]
Overall Satisfaction: 1(high)2345 (low)
33814
Common Interests: In addition to the law, participants noted the following commonalities with their mentor/mentee pair that enhanced their relationship: Both women, both vegans, same home state, common interests in sports and public service, and having worked together previously.
Communications: All pairs but one pair communicated multiple times via e-mail, most communicated several times via phone and several pairs met in person. The in-person meetings were at a TIPS meeting, over lunch or dinner, at the mentor’s office, and/or at an NHL hockey game while at the ABA Mid-Year meeting.
Topics: The following topics were among those discussed:
TopicNumber responses
ABA/TIPS13
Law Practice generally12
Law School course selection6
Resume tips7
Job opportunities9
Substantive law issue6
Other (including committee business)11
Lessons Learned
Pairing Criteria: The two primary factors considered in pairing the mentors/mentees were (1) general committee assignment and (2) geographic location. Eight(8) of the eleven (11) mentors believed that, as between the two criteria, geographic proximity was more important than committee assignment in order to better facilitate communication. One (1) mentee commented that committee assignment may not necessarily reflect a student’s future substantive law interest and that such interest was more important than committee assignment to the mentee. Finally, one (1) student not paired with a mentor explained that focusing on the committee places student vice chairs of smaller committees at a disadvantage. Based on this input, the Program Co-Chairs will endeavor to identify mentors based on geographic location first and secondarily on committee assignment, while also taking into account the mentee’s substantive area of interest to the degree possible.
Overall Success: The most successful pairs appeared to be those who met in person, either because they were located in the same city or both attended a TIPS meeting. Seventeen (17) respondents indicated that they would attend a TIPS meeting to participate in a mentor program coordinated event. Moreover, several comments suggested that the mentor program host a meet and greet at the Fall TIPS meeting to introduce the mentor/mentee pairs. Nine (9) respondents indicated that it would be helpful for the program co-chairs to have more regular contact with the mentors/mentees and one mentor commented that more program structure might be helpful. In light of this input, the Program co-chairs plan to have a bit more contact with the participants, arrange for an informal “meet and greet” at the TIPS Fall meeting in order to facilitate introductions, and perhaps schedule a second event at the TIPS Spring meeting to further enhance the mentor/mentee relationship and promote attendance at TIPS meetings. Of the nineteen (19) respondents only one (1) indicated they would not participate again as a mentor/mentee.
C.Moving Forward
The mentor program was a new and unique Program for the Section that required coordination among the Task Force, the general committees, and the Law Student Board. The program, while not a resounding success, was rated by74% of the respondents as falling between 1 and 3 in overall satisfaction and thus worthy of continuation. Moreover, although four (4) individuals rated the overall success of the program at a 5 (lowest) only one (1) indicated they would not participate again. Given the survey results and comments and the minimal cost to TIPS of continuing the program, the Task Force proposes that the Council approve the Program for an additional two-year period to allow the program to develop and adjust to the needs of TIPS and the participants. At the 2013 ABA Annual Meeting the Task Force will present a report of the program and based upon the results of the program seek approval of Council either to continue the Program with law student Vice Chairs, expand mentee eligibility to all TIPS student members, or terminate the program.
APPENDIX
TIPS MENTOR PROGRAM
MENTOR APPLICATION
Please complete in Word and return to
Joan Schaffner at and
Linda Wiley at
Name:______
Email:______
Phone:______
Position:______
City, State:______
PERSONAL (Optional)
Race/Ethnicity: _____ Sex:Male____ Female___ GLBT? Yes___ No___
EDUCATION
Law School/Year of Graduation: ______
Undergraduate Institution/Major: ______
Other Educational Institutions/Degrees: ______
LEGAL
Type of organization:
Solo ____ Firm____ In-House Corp. ____ Non-Profit ____ Government ____
TIPS Committee: ______
Memberships in Legal Associations/Organizations:
______
NONLEGAL
Memberships in Associations/Organizations:
______
Activities/Interests:
______
TIPS MENTOR PROGRAM
MENTEE APPLICATION
Please complete in Word and return to
Joan Schaffner at and
Linda Wiley at
Name:______
Email:______
Phone:______
Level in LawSchool:______
CurrentCity, State:______
City, State Upon Graduation:______
PERSONAL (Optional)
Race/Ethnicity: _____ Sex: Male____ Female___ GLBT? Yes___ No___
EDUCATION
Law School/Year of Graduation: ______
Undergraduate Institution/Major: ______
Other Educational Institutions/Degrees: ______
LEGAL
Type of organization:
Solo ____ Firm____ In-House Corp. ____ Non-Profit ____ Government ____
TIPS Committee: ______
Other ______
NONLEGAL
Memberships in Associations/Organizations: ______
______
Activities/Interests:______
TIPS Outreach to Student Task Force
Mentoring Survey (2011)
Thank you for participating in the mentoring program this year. In order to evaluate and report to TIPS Council on the success of the program this year and to develop ideas for improvement for the coming year, we request that you complete this short survey. Thank you!
Identification
Name: ______
TIPS General Committee: ______
Are You a Mentor? __Yes __ No
Are You a Mentee?__Yes __ No
General Information
Approximately when (e.g. mid September, late October, etc) did you receive notification of your pairing? ______
How soon after you received notification of your pairing did you first communicate with your partner?
Within: __1 week__2 weeks__3 weeks__After 3 weeks__Never
Please rate your overall satisfaction with the program on a scale from 1 (highest) to 5 (lowest):
__ 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5
Were you located geographically close to your partner? __YES__NO
If not, do you believe this significantly affected your experience?__YES__NO
Did you share an interest in legal practice areas with your partner?__YES__NO
If not, do you believe this significantly affected your experience?__YES__NO
Did you share other interests that significantly affected your experience?__YES__NO
If so, please describe: ______
Would you participate again as a mentor/mentee?__YES__NO
Activities
How many times and, in what format, did you communicate with your mentor partner?
E-mail:__0__1__2-3__4-6__More than 6
Phone: __0__1__2-3__4-6__More than 6
In person:__0__1__2-3__4-6__More than 6
What was the nature of your communications—what topics did you discuss? (Check all that apply.)
__The ABA and/or TIPS generally
__Nature of the practice of law and areas of practice
__Law school course selection
__Resume Tips
__Job Opportunities
__Substantive law issues
__Other (describe):______
If you met in person, where did you meet? (Check all that apply.)
__ABA/TIPS Meeting
__Mentee’s Law School
__Mentor’s Office
__Other (describe):______
If you met in person for a particular event or purpose, other than just to chat, please indicate the name of the event below and describe.
__ABA/TIPS Program: ______
__Local Bar Event: ______
__Legal practice setting (e.g. deposition, trial, closing): ______
__Other: ______
Suggestions for Improvement
Mentor Only Question
We attempt to pair partners from the same general committee and in the same geographic location. If this is not possible, please indicate your preference:
__Pair partners who are in same geographic location even if not in the same committee
__Pair partners in the same committee even if not in the same geographic location
Mentor and Mentee Questions
Would it help to have us contact participants more regularly?__YES__NO
Would you attend a quarterly TIPS meeting if the mentor program coordinated an event with
mentors/mentees? __YES__NO
Please describe below other ideas you have on how to improve upon the mentor program.
1
[1] Participating Committees were: ADR, Animal Law, Automobile Law, Aviation & Space Law, Business Litigation, Corporate Counsel, Employment Law & Litigation, Government Law, Health & Disability Law, Insurance Coverage, Insurance Regulation, Intellectual Property, Life Insurance, Media, Privacy and Defamation Law, Medicine & Law, Professionals, Officers, & Directors Liability, and Self Insurers & Risk Managers.
[2] The cities were Dallas, Miami (2), New York City (2), and WashingtonDC.
[3] One student vice-chair who was never assigned a mentor completed the survey.
[4] One never made contact because never paired.