Tips on Mentoring continued from page 25
• My mentor told me at the beginning “ Your job is to make me obsolete ” and for what ’ s it worth , he worked hard to give me the space to do it .
• Received : Treat everyone with equal respect , regardless of how you personally feel about them .
• Do not shoot from the hip .
• An associate needed management to be more detailed oriented . I told him that “ loose threads weave the rope that hangs you .” He put that saying on his screen saver . He has since been inducted into the College .
• Given : If you can , develop your own book of business . It is the best way to have some control over your schedule .
• Say yes to all potential experiences early in your career .
• Pass it on . Mentor others as you have been mentored ( or better ).
• God gave you two ears and one mouth , use them in that proportion . LISTEN !
• Be yourself , everyone else is taken .
• Know your limits . It is OK to say “ no .”
• I once asked a mentor of mine if he had problems mentoring young lawyers NOT in his firm . He said “ No-it ’ s a relationship , not a competition .”
• Don ’ t ask your judge or senior partner a question until you first try to figure it out yourself .
• Don ’ t assume that making a change is the most risky decision . Sometimes it is the failure to change that has the most risk .
• I tell law students to call themselves to be mentored by any and all great lawyers who take an interest in them-whether they look like them or not .
• Never hurts to ask .
Pro
Bono from page 9
protect her child . She also filed an adversary proceeding . P was struggling to understand how all this fit together , what her options and rights were going forward . Her case was sent to mediation . We helped P to understand the various issues in her partner ’ s bankruptcy as well as her options and rights . We continue to help her as she works toward finalizing a mediated settlement .
• 11th Circuit - South Alabama Volunteer Lawyers Program / Alabama Bankruptcy Assistance Project . D , who was retired and living on Social Security , had $ 8,000
personal debt . Around 2020 , D reached out to a credit consolidation company . The company told her to stop paying her creditors and pay them [ debt consolidation company ] instead , and they would handle it . D lost hundreds of dollars before realizing that the company was not making any payments to her creditors and had not contacted a single creditor . In 2022 , D contacted ABAP . Because she had low over-all debt and no income or assets that could be attached by her creditors , D was not a good candidate
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