One of the purposes of the Giles S. Rich American
Inn of Court is to facilitate the development of "one-on-one"
mentoring relationships between members of the Inn outside of the
regularly scheduled Inn meetings. To this end, the Inn has
established two mentoring programs, the Mentor/Protégé
Program and the Pupil Group Mentor
Program.
The Mentor/Protégé Program provides a special opportunity
for an experienced practitioner and new attorney to meet and
discuss specific practice experiences, exchange professional
insights, and share candid perspectives about "everyday" practice
issues and concerns.
The Pupil Group Mentor Program pairs
two Inn members (at least one of which is a recent law graduate)
with the Pupil members from each of the Inn's participating law
schools. The idea is to provide an informal forum in which Pupils
(and possibly even other students from their schools) can explore
their questions regarding preparation for and transition to
professional practice. Pupil Group Mentors need not be alumni of
the law school to which they are assigned.
Mentor pairings will be assigned by the Officers of
the Inn. In determining the pairings, the
Officers do their best to accommodate the interests of the Protégés
and Pupils by pairing them with Mentors having experience in one or
more of the areas of interest indicated on the registration form.
The subject matter of the mentoring relationship and the individual
meetings, however, e.g., personal,
professional, career-development oriented, is at the sole
discretion of the participants.
The formal term of the Mentor/Protégé or Pupil Group
Mentor relationship is nine months, beginning with the announcement
of the pairings in October. Protégés and Pupils are expected to
contact their Mentors within two weeks of announcement of the
pairings to propose a get-acquainted meeting (e.g.,
lunch or dinner). During the
nine-month term, each mentor pair ideally meet at
least four times outside of the regularly scheduled Inn
meetings. The initial get-acquainted meeting counts as
one of the four meetings, which absent extraordinary circumstances,
should occur within one-month of the announcement of
pairings.