Oregon Requires Yearlong Mentorship for Law Grads
Law school graduates taking the February bar exam in Oregon have learned in a letter from the state’s chief justice that they will be required to participate in a new mentoring program.
The mandatory yearlong program is designed to help law grads who can’t find jobs after graduation, Oregon State Bar President Steve Piucci tells the National law Journal.
In the past, “You would graduate law school, get a job at a firm and people there would serve as mentors,” Piucci told the NLJ. “Now, there are so many people who can’t get firm jobs and are hanging out their shingle. We’re trying to connect them with the professional side of the job and teach them the culture—teach them how to be civil, how to network and introduce them around at the courthouse.” Mentors will also recieve CLE credit, the National Law Journal reported.
The Oregon program is being developed by the state bar at the request of the state supreme court. Details are still being ironed out, but new lawyers in the state will probably be required to get two hours of mentoring each month from lawyers with at least five years of experience, the story says.
Two other states—Utah and Georgia—have bar-mandated mentoring programs, the story says.
