Should You Seek Out an Attorney Mentor?
There is a steep learning curve in the legal profession. It can take years as an attorney to really feel you have mastered the art of lawyering. There is a way to dramatically shorten that time so you are ready to practice law fresh out of law school. That is with the assistance of a mentor.
At CDTA, Dean John Patrick Dolan founded the law school to develop strong trial attorneys. He envisioned a training program similar to that of a residency program in the medical field. He understood from his own experience the power of working with an attorney mentor as he sat 2nd chair through many trials as a law clerk while still in school. There is nothing that can match what you will learn assisting in preparing documents for trial, discussing strategy with your mentor, meeting with your client to prepare and finally, participating at counsel table through the trial itself. The evidence code your spend hours pouring over finally comes to life in the courtroom!
Many of our students find themselves drawn to a particular area of the law. They will approach one of our local attorneys or judges specializing in that field, and begin their own “residency” program. Working closely with an attorney mentor will not only teach you valuable lawyering skills, but you will also find out if the area of law you thought you wanted to practice is indeed the right one for you.
You will find that the faculty attorneys and judges as well as the other legal professionals you will interact with at CDTA are extremely generous with their time and knowledge, happy to pass along what they have learned over the years. You can avoid making many “rookie mistakes” by learning best practices while still in law school.
Working with a mentor, you can learn valuable lessons about what to expect as an attorney, what to focus on, how to present yourself, and how to handle clients. You will learn how to present your case in court, how to talk to the judge and courtroom staff. Some new attorneys fresh out of school do not even know where to stand in the courtroom or what the proper procedure is while making court appearances. Working with an attorney mentor will assist you in avoiding these pitfalls and put you light years ahead of your competition.
Matching law students with good mentors are one of the reasons CDTA graduates hit the ground running after law school. The fact that you will take all of your law school classes in one of our beautifully appointed courtroom/classrooms doesn’t hurt either!
Are you interested in becoming a trial attorney? Our mission at CDTA College of Law is to educate, train, and develop extraordinary legal advocates. Your legal education will be comprised of bar-tested academic subjects, skills training, and values reinforcement. Upon completion of your 4-year course of study you will be fully qualified to take and pass the California Bar examination. Call us today at (760) 342-0900 or find out more online here.