Future Lawyers Need Your Expertise
LawReady is an innovative initiative designed to broaden access to legal education and meet undergraduate students earlier in their academic journeys to help them prepare for a future career in law. The program gives students a roadmap to explore career opportunities in the legal field, develop the skills and abilities they need to succeed in law school and beyond.
An important aspect of LawReady is to connect students with practicing attorneys who can serve as mentors to provide real-world insights into today’s legal practice. A mentor's guidance will help foster a sense of inclusion and belonging in the students — and give them an opportunity to share experiences and knowledge, hone their leadership abilities, and help shape the next generation of lawyers.
Timeline
The mentorship program is a 12-month commitment. We are currently recruiting mentors to build the program's resource pool. Once an individual volunteers to be a mentor, we will email a short background survey to collect demographic and legal experience information.
When students sign up for the program, they will complete a preference survey. We will use responses from the mentor background survey and the student preference survey to match students and mentors. A mentor and their student mentee will be connected via the LawReady platform. Mentors and students will be matched twice a year, during traditional Fall and Spring semesters. In order to participate, a mentor must satisfy the eligibility requirements set forth below.
Expectations
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A mentor must have an unrestricted license to practice as an attorney and be in good standing to practice law in each of the jurisdictions in which they are licensed to practice as an attorney.
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A mentor must not have been convicted of any act of moral turpitude, felony, or any crime involving the illegal use of drugs or alcohol.
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A mentor should have a desire to help a prelaw student learn about themselves, law school, and legal careers.
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A mentor must agree to a one-year commitment to the program.
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A mentor must commit to spending a minimum of thirty minutes per month meeting virtually with mentee.
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A mentor agrees to complete mentor trainings as required.
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A mentor must be willing to share personal journey to and through law school and career insights.
- Successful mentors excel at active listening, are encouraging and supportive, patient and flexible, tolerant and respectful of individual differences.
What People Are Saying about LawReady
LawReady will help attract and prepare the people we need for the future of our legal practices. It creates a path for a more diverse group of law school applicants and complements their conventional academic experiences with directly applicable skills that will help them flourish in the world to come. This will accelerate our profession’s adaptation to a more complicated world and produce better career outcomes for those who invest in the approach.
Jason Barnwell
General Manager and Associate General Counsel
Microsoft Corporation
One of the things that has come up a [lot] is mentorship, not just hearing a lawyer talk, but somebody who can help students start to navigate what it is to enter the legal profession. And all of those lessons that you’re not going to find when you just pull up a website of how do I get into law school?
Emma Clark
Director, Law and Society
Cornell College
How Do I Sign Up?
Individuals
To sign up to become a LawReady mentor, individuals can fill out a LawReady Mentorship Application . You will be required to agree to the terms of the Volunteer Mentor Acknowledgment, Release, and Waiver of Liability (“Terms”) which will be emailed to you along with a short background survey prior to the start of the next round of matching. Once you are matched with a student, you will be given access to the LawReady platform to interact with your mentee.
Organizations
We value our continued collaboration with legal organizations and their assistance in recruiting qualified mentors to pair with our LawReady students. If you are interested in assisting with mentor recruitment, please complete a LawReady Mentor Recruitment form and we will be in touch with you.
Resources for Mentors
Virtual Training and Support
Virtual training will be provided to support mentors with technical assistance, program operations, and mentoring best practices including topics to guide a mentor and their student mentee throughout the duration of the mentorship term.
Connect With Your Community
Mentors will be able to connect with other LawReady mentors through our online learning community to build their network and share resources and support.
LawReady Mentor Program Support
If you have any questions, please contact us at LawReadyMentorship@LSAC.org.