The Florida Supreme Court's Commission on Professionalism is in the process of reviewing a proposal to implement a mandatory mentoring program for newly admitted attorneys in the state. I agree with the thoughts of Carolyn Elefant at MyShingle.com. She thinks that a mentoring program for newly admitted program is great, in theory, but realistically it would likely cause more confusion and frustration than anything else. Adding to her viewpoint, I believe that individual firms should be responsible for mentoring their own newly hired attorneys, not the state.

What about new attorneys going into solo practice? Maybe states can offer an optional program for newly admitted attorneys in which the young attorney can get paired with a much more experienced attorney who can assist the younger attorney when called upon.  The Tennessee Bar Association recently announced plans for a law student mentoring program, which I think is a great idea. This type of program would be much more beneficial than a new lawyer mentoring program, in my opinion.

Many states will likely propose similar programs to the Florida proposal, but states should take a long and hard look at this because as great as it seems on the surface, there could be serious reprecussions waiting to emerge.

Thoughts? Comments?