Why Mentorship is a Two-Way Street

In honor of Mentoring Month, Sean Alto , Partner at Cooper Elliott, shared his insights on mentoring law students.

Every quarter, I get the opportunity to speak to groups of law students at Capital University Law School, my alma mater.  Typically, I’m speaking to a group of 2L and 3L students who are trying to find their way into the legal practice.  Some know exactly what they want to do, some have no idea.  Many are in the middle.  

My usual topic surrounds what it’s like to represent people and families who have suffered serious loss.  My hope is that through talks like this, young law students can see what it's really like to do this job.  I view this as a form of mentorship.  

This work isn’t for everyone.  There are some very fine people that do work on the other side of the v.  Without fail, after every talk, I get asked to go out for coffee or lunch to talk more about what I do and how to get into the personal injury field.  I say yes to every single person who asks because I was that person many years ago.  

I was the person who was trying to find their way and trying to find a career that is meaningful, rewarding and fulfilling.  Now that I’ve been doing this work for a while, I want to help however I can.  

Some have specific questions about the practice, others more general.  Both are equally valid and important.  The important part is that they’re taking that step of networking and doing everything they can to grow their networks.  That goes for me too.  

Each time I speak to a class, or go to a coffee or lunch with a law student, my network grows too.  Too often lawyers believe they are too busy to do things like this or have other “more important” things to do.  And that may very well be true.  

But taking the time out of our admittedly busy schedules is critically important to helping the next generation of lawyers.  I had people do that for me and I will continue doing it as much as I can for the next generation.  Mentorship can, and should, be a two way street.  

Forming lasting connections that will go on for years.  You never know when you’re going to need help or answers and the more we connect like this, the better off we will all be.