The ISBA proudly supports mentoring and acknowledges the value of having experienced lawyers provide professional guidance and share practical knowledge with new lawyers during the critical transition from law student to legal practitioner.
In addition to supporting the Illinois Supreme Court’s Commission on Professionalism Lawyer-to-Lawyer Mentoring Program through training efforts, the ISBA offers a Commission-Approved Mentoring Program. This new, year-long mentoring program pairs select ISBA lawyers with new admittees to provide them guidance during their first years of practice. Pairs will meet a minimum of eight times throughout the year to complete the Commission developed structured curriculum.
New Attorneys can select a mentoring program as one option to comply with their MCLE requirement. The MCLE rules – adopted by the Illinois Supreme Court and administered by the MCLE Board of the Court – establish a 15-hour accredited MCLE requirement for newly admitted attorneys, allowing them to choose from the following compliance options described in S. Ct. Rule 793:
In addition to participation in ISBA’s Commission-Approved Mentoring Program, the ISBA offers three CLE packages:
Find out more about these CLE packages geared towards newly admitted attorneys.
In addition to supporting the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism’s mentoring outreach efforts and local mentoring programs, ISBA is matching a limited number of new attorney mentees with select ISBA mentors. These participants will receive six professional responsibility MCLE credits upon successful program completion.
New Attorneys are eligible for the ISBA Lawyer-to-Lawyer Mentoring Program if they satisfy the following requirements:
ISBA’s program will focus on matching new attorneys who live and/or practice in areas of the state unserved by other commission-approved mentoring programs. To see if there is already a program in your geographic area, visit http://ilsccp.org/mentoring/mentoring_index.htm If you are still interested in applying as a new lawyer mentee for ISBA’s program, please complete the ISBA New Lawyer Application form by December 19, 2013. ISBA will notify you no later than January 10, 2014 regarding whether we can accommodate your request. A required orientation meeting will be held in January 2014.
New Lawyers shall be:
(1) admitted to practice in Illinois no more than two years prior to the date of beginning the program;
(2) be registered on the Illinois ARDC Master Roll of Attorneys as active; and
(3) practice law in Illinois or intend to practice law in Illinois.
If you meet this eligibility requirement and wish to participate in the mentoring program, you may complete the New Lawyer Application form. Applications for ISBA's Lawyer-to-Lawyer Mentoring Program will be accepted through December 19, 2013. ISBA will do its best to accommodate your request, but cannot guarantee a match. A required orientation meeting will be held in January 2014.
The program focuses on issues encountered in the practice of law. Mentees who are not yet working in the legal profession, please be aware that the program is not a tool for identifying or assisting you in finding employment opportunities. ISBA provides career assistance through our online career resource center at http://www.isba.org/career.
If you are an ISBA member and are interested in becoming a mentor and earning 6 hours of CLE credit, please complete the mentor application by December 19, 2013. ISBA will do its best to match you with a mentee. A required orientation meeting will be held in January 2014.
For more information about ILSCCP approved mentoring programs, contact Katherine Erwin, Special Projects Director, at 312-363-6210 or katherine.erwin@ilsccp.org.
For questions about the ISBA Mentoring Program, please contact Jeanne Heaton, ISBA Director of Continuing Legal Education, at jheaton@isba.org or Mary Kinsley at mkinsley@isba.org. Or call (217) 525-1760 or (800) 252-8908.
