Guest post by Thomas Gallagher.

One of the wonderful traditions of lawyering is mentoring. Before law schools, it was the primary way a lawyer was born. Ever since, mentoring is essential to becoming an effective lawyer.

For the person receiving the benefit of the mentoring, sure—but what about the lawyer giving of their time and expertise to a potential new competitor? Here is why you should do it:

1. The legacy. We naturally tend to want to pass on to others what has been passed on to us. We are a social profession. We are collegial. This is true, even though on one level we are in a conflict-based profession. We give what was given us.


2. Recognition. We enjoy being the teacher, helping someone learn, and being recognized as an expert.


3. Referrals. This one is not obvious at first, but any lawyer who has given generously of their time to help colleagues has probably received client referrals as a result—sooner or later. Mentoring is marketing for the long run.

Technology has given us the ability to engage in mentoring relationships more effectively. The tel