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.