#2 in our Mentee series: Michael Gasi

Many people in our NYCLA community have been hit very hard by storm Sandy. Our thoughts are with you during the extended cleanup and hope that the return to normal is swift. 

Due to Sandy, we have made some scheduling changes with the mentoring program and will be starting the new session in January. In anticipation of that and as we think about giving our time to less-experienced members of the bar, I am posting a piece from Michael Gasi. It is the second post from a mentee-participants in NYCLA's mentoring program.

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When I sent in my application for the NYCLA Mentoring program, I had no idea what to expect.  All I knew was that I was a young lawyer with very few solid relationships in the profession and a whole lot to learn.  A year later I have developed a tremendous lasting relationship with an experienced, knowledgeable, compassionate and affable lawyer who has made sure that I am not alone in this huge world. 

From my particular experience, it was very easy to feel isolated and alone.  Though I had networked and developed some relationships, I wasn't always comfortable reaching out to those individuals for a variety of reasons. 

Although I barely knew my mentor at first, she made sure I felt welcomed.  She invited me out to lunch with her and, at times, with her and her colleagues.  Like a family member, my mentor accepted me as is.  I no longer had to fear being judged if I had a question a more experienced attorney would consider rudimentary.  She became my source of knowledge and wisdom that filled the gaps between the books, the statutes, the caselaw and the courtroom.

I'm deeply thankful to NYCLA for helping me form this relationship.  I have no doubt it will last for the remainder of my professional career.  I look forward to the day I can pay it forward and mentor a young lawyer such as myself.  I'm confident that day will come, now that I have such a great example to follow.

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Michael Gasi is a solo practitioner located in Queens running a general practice.

1/2 Mentored 1/2 Not

Our last poll surveyed NYCLA members to find out if they had a mentor who assisted them in their legal career. The results were curious: 50%  of respondents were lucky enough to have mentors guide their careers, while 50% were not so lucky and wished that they did have a mentor. 

Beyond the scarcity of mentoring, the poll doesn't say much.  It would be interesting to hear from both groups to compare where they are in their careers and development. Success is subjective.  I would be curious to know how those with mentors view their success in terms of the mentoring they received. Likewise, I would like to hear from those who wish they had mentors to know how they feel they would have advanced if mentored.


At least we hope to raise the statistics with NYCLA's mentoring program, now in its third year!

Musings on Mentoring

The next poll that I am going to post is about mentoring. I am truly curious as to the extent that successful lawyers have been mentored (sponsored, supported--whatever you want to call it) along their career path to their success.  A lot of discussion is currently being had on the need for more mentoring of young attorneys, but I don't recall any conversations in my ten years of talking with senior lawyers about their positive experiences with mentors. Is it just that my conversations with senior lawyers have been so narrow?

I wonder if lawyers will admit to each other (especially lawyers to their junior) that they receive help along the way.

Let's see if the poll reveals anything. Comments are welcome too. Both are anonymous.

Institutionalized Mentoring

A sure sign of a growing, sustainable trend is when an ethics opinion is written about that trend. So is the case with mentoring.  Oregon (which was preceded by Georgia and Utah, with other states in the works) has instituted a mandatory mentoring requirement for all attorneys who pass the Oregon state bar, starting this summer.  And just in time before any mentor-mentee partnerships break any rules, the Oregon bar issued a formal opinion on ethics issues arising in mentoring relationships and use of LISTSERVs. For the full text of that opinion, click here: http://www.osbar.org/_docs/ethics/2011-184.pdf

NYCLA's Mentoring Program. lots of professionals, good advice and dare I say, swanky....

I am so excited about the 2011 Mentoring Program. NYCLA has put together the FIRST EVER bar association sponsored mentoring program for the second year.  We had the first meeting last night with a huge turn-out of mentors and mentees.  This year's group consists of 20 pairs! We had to whittle down the applicants (>150! we enthusiastically encourage reapplying) based on the success of last year's program.

The meeting featured an excellent introduction to career empowerment and mentoring from Elise Holtzman http://www.advocatesuccessgroup.com/blog/.  Following the meeting we met at our new monthly social gathering at the swanky, fabulously decorated back room of the Woolworth Tower Kitchen. http://www.thewoolworthtowerkitchen.com/photos.html  I love this place. I can't wait to come back. Thank you Shariff and Lou!

This program is really that good. In fact, we need to find a better name than just mentoring program to brand it. I am open to suggestions.

Big thanks to Bari, Zack, and the Advisory Board: Lew Tesser, Judge Laura Ward, Nancy Morisseau and my humble self.  This is going to be BIG!

Calling Mentors and Mentees

NYCLA is gearing up for the second year of its successful mentoring program.  The goal of the program is to "enhance the experience of junior attorneys in the legal profession by providing the tools and resources necessary for their professional and personal development through mentoring services, customized CLE programs and active bar association membership."

If you are interested in participating as either a mentor or a mentee, click the link here for more information, http://www.nycla.org/index.cfm?section=Ethics&page=NYCLA_Mentoring_Program

The Task Force on Professionalism Revs Up for a New Year

The Task Force under the helm of Ron Minkoff started off the new year with its first meeting last week. The big ticket item is the second year of the Mentoring Program which will build on the success of the first year pilot program. Also in the pipeline are new initiatives and the future of our humble blog. Stay tuned …

The Staten Island Outing

The mentors and mentees from our Pilot Mentoring Program spent a fun-filled evening networking while watching a Staten Island Yankees Game -- with all you can eat burgers and dogs. Last evening's B-league baseball game was one of the structured events organized by NYCLA to get mentors and mentees together. The aim of this event was for the mentors (all leaders in the NYCLA community) and the mentees (all future leaders in the NYCLA community) to talk about things other than law and the legal profession ... we all need a break sometimes....

Many thanks to Bari Chase and her staff for organizing a great event!

(I am sorry I had to leave before the fireworks. I heard they were fabulous! And I still can't believe that that ferry ride was a freebie!)

Mentoring Program Surveys

Thank you, Mentees, for filling out your surveys. We received a lot of valuable feedback and will analyze the results further to incorporate your suggestions as we go forward with NYCLA's Mentoring Program.

Mentors, you should have received your surveys last week. It is time for you to fill them out and return them to us as soon as possible. We need your insights too!

Mentees Send In Those Surveys

Mentees, this is a post dedicated to all of you; a reminder to please fill out the surveys as fully as you are able by June 30. (You have two days.) We can really use your feedback and are grateful for your time. Thanks!

The Pilot Mentoring Program has begun

The Task Force on Professionalism's Pilot Mentoring Program is being unveiled.

After months of organizing and negotiating how the program will work and best practices; contacting mentors and a difficult selection process of many fine applicants for mentees; and preparing training materials, making final adjustments and last minute trouble shooting, NYCLA and the Task Force on Professionalism are thrilled to be hosting the kick-off party to start the first year of the Pilot Mentoring Program.

Through its surveys and analysis, the Task Force recognized a real need for mentoring amongst New York legal professionals. The mentoring program hopes to fill that need for NYCLA members.

I plan on following the progress of the Mentoring Program through this blog in order to support the Program in two ways: (1) to generate comments on the effectiveness of the Mentoring Program during this first, very crucial year. We would like to get the benefit of suggestions from NYCLA members who are participating in the Program (and those who are not participating, but still have suggestions) in order to work out any kinks and strengthen the Program; and (2) to generate interest in the Program in order to make this a sustainable, perennial Program.

The need for mentoring in the New York legal community is undeniable. Through the NYCLA's Mentoring Program we hope to advance confident lawyers to be more satisfied in their profession.

NYCLA's Mentoring Program

The overwhelming number of voters in the latest poll are interested in participating in NYCLA's pilot mentoring program. We at the Task Force on Professionalism are very excited about this program.

NYCLA’s Task Force on Professionalism conducted a study on ways legal proficiency and professionalism can be improved. Interviews and focus groups were held at large, mid-size and small firms. A key theme that emerged from the interviews and focus groups was the need for mentoring of young attorneys as the best way to increase professionalism among lawyers and increase their professional satisfaction. To that end, the Task Force and NYCLA’s CLE Institute has developed a Pilot Mentoring Program. To learn more about the program and apply, follow this link: http://www.nycla.org/index.cfm?section=CLE&page=NYCLA%20Pilot%20Mentoring%20Program

Mentoring Back on the Agenda

Rumor has it that the NYCLA Task Force on Professionalism is in the early stages of developing a mentoring program. The Task Force's efforts have identified a serious need for mentoring to advance professionalism and satisfaction among lawyers. We will keep you updated as we receive more information.

We Need Mentors!

One hundred percent (100%) of the people who responded to our last survey "Would you like to be a mentor or mentee in a nycla-sponsored mentorship program?" responded that they could use the assistance of a mentor. That tells me two things: (1) most of the people who are reading this blog (or at least voting in the survey) are in the earlier stages of their career; and (2) those attorneys need to talk to people with more experience than themselves to help them navigate their way to their career goals.

We would like to hear from more seasoned attorneys to get a mix in the dialogue so I am dedicating the next survey to a topic that is likely close to the hearts of those who have been practicing for more than 10 years (and in some cases, a lot more): Mandatory retirement.

Don't forget to cast your vote and to click on the "COMMENTS" link below to comment, give your opinion or any ideas for future surveys.

Mentoring - reprise

I am taking a short detour from my exploration of the contours of the professionalism definition to a topic that we looked at earlier. (please don't fret, I will return to the definition shortly)

I would like to give my thoughts on a few questions that I received from an earlier mentoring post.

Question:
"I'd appreciate thoughts on how bar associations like NYCLA might help on the mentoring front. Would senior lawyers, including retired and semi-retired lawyers, be willing to participate? Is there a way that at least some CLE credit could be offered to both mentors and mentees for a well-structured program?"

Having retired/semi-retired lawyers in a formal mentoring program would be an amazing resource for young lawyers, for obvious reasons. I think it would be more difficult to get older lawyers on board. The benefits for older lawyers that I can think of: interest enriching the profession with their wisdom, and keeping up with the profession through a young blood, may not be enough to interest retiring lawyers, who might rather be playing golf or learning how to play the piano.

I would love to hear from older lawyers in particular who can think of reason why mentoring young attorneys is attractive to them.

CLE credits might be a way to attract more interest (though I am not sure how CLE credit programs are structured) and there definitely is professional development value in a mentoring program not only for the young attorneys, but also for older lawyers -- to keep them on their toes.

It is worth looking into. If anyone has any information in this regard, please pass it along to me.

Do you need a mentor?

We are trying to find out the extent mentoring had an impact, or is having an impact on your careers. In thinking of ways to promote professionalism, ethical behavior and a sense of community among attorneys, we are of the opinion that the profession could use more mentoring.

Even though many large firms have formal mentoring programs, have they worked for you? And if you are a young attorney in a small or mid-sized firm are you getting mentored at all? If you work outside of private practice, in government or public interest, are you given any mentoring?

Wouldn't it be great to have a system where you can turn to someone that is not directly affiliate with your job to talk? (knowing full well that you can't talk to your mentor directly - in most cases - if he or she is the one you have a professionalism gripe about) Or do you think that all is well in the land of lawyers and the last thing you would want is to talk to another one?

And of course, if your career was assisted somehow by a mentor we would like to hear about that too.


Looking forward to your comments!

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Thanks and regards,