Institute of Paralegals
Setting Standards - Promoting Professionalism
MyLawMentor
www.mylawmentor.org
"To lead people, walk beside them" Lao-tzu
We helped establish and partner with various legal professionals, including paralegals, to offer the MyLawMentor ptogramme. MyLawMentor is designed to further the learning experience of school, sixth form and FE college students. Their aim is to provide an insight into the real world of legal practice and the professional skills and ethics that are required for a career in the law. Their mission is to bring legal professionals of all types to face to face sessions with student groups, providing students with access to a simple professional network to help to bridge barriers to the profession.
In order to attract busy professionals, the MyLawMentor scheme has been made as simple as possible and requires a minimal time commitment from mentors yet, in association with the teaching and guidance of dedicated teaching professionals, it aims to bring context, depth, insight and inspiration to aspiring future legal professionals.
"Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It's the only thing" Dr Albert Schweitzer
The Mentor Programme
Simple and designed to maximise inspiration and minimise perspiration in five basic steps:
- A mentor visit to the school, serving as a guest lecturer for their designated class.
- Sharing information via the MyLawMentor website, mentor blog and interactive forum.
- A visit by students to a court, law firm or barristers chambers is debriefed by the mentor.
- An elective activity is planned and held, for example a Moot Court Competition.
- Mentors contribute to careers advice in a manner agreed with the student tutor, at least to the extent of providing guidance to the tutor, covering CV preparation, interviews, further training and skills development
The website provides a LawBlog which will relate tales and anecdotes from practice. Mentors are encouraged to provide occasional excerpts from their professional lives or commentaries on legal developments for inclusion in the blog.
There is also an interactive forum on the site for the use of students and mentors. Students are particularly encouraged to use the forum to share their own experiences and to develop peer mentoring exchanges.
MyLawMentor seeks to work, in particular, with communities that lack social or family histories of higher education and professional careers. Typically what these students and their communities lack are pathways to the professions and professional role models. This is the need that MyLawMentor seeks to address.
A key factor in addressing the self-esteem and personal worth issues inherent in communities such as this is the support offered by the Institute. This has brought immediate and significant benefits which have been recognised by OFSTED:
- free Institute membership to all students in the scheme which brings with it a host of benefits including specialist careers advice and a free newsletter;
- free reciprocal membership of the New York City Paralegal Association which broadens students horizons;
- enhanced professional and career awareness particularly in relation to the paralegal profession which was unknown to most students but is an accessible and sustainable pathway to any career within the legal profession and in which there is growing demand;
- support and fellowship during the difficult transition to further/higher education and training and into the legal profession;
- professional context and insight to enhance their learning and add value to their personal development;
- the ‘incubation’ of professional conduct principles;
- increased employability and a sound foundation for their future career development.
If you are interested in setting up a MyLawMentor scheme in your area or are currently running a similar scheme and would like to talk to us about recognising your scheme and providing benefits to your members, please email us at mentoring @ theiop.org (note breaks in link).
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