SOL Lawyer Magazine_Summer 2021

MENTOR

expected of them and when, along with the extensive communication the school has directly with the mentors, contributes to the high retention rate. “[The school has] really devised a program that has a lot of benefits for the students and also for the mentors as well,” 11-year mentor and Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said. Fourteen attorneys from the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office are mentors, while 17 attorneys from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office participate in the Mentor Externship Program. “The program is formalizing a more natural or organic process of networking. In other words, for those students whomay find it more difficult to get out andmeet others, network naturally, or are unsure where to start, it gives them that launch pad,” said Jill Sauber ’13 J.D. , who now serves as amentor. “Those

several factors, including students’ career goals and aspirations, when selecting mentors and mentees. Taking a personalized approach,

they say, is what allows each relationship to really thrive.

St. Thomas Law student Natalie Cote’s experience in the program in her 1L year with her mentor, Minnesota 10th District Judge Tad Jude, led to her first law clerk position at the Washington County Attorney’s Office. Cote logged more than twice the Mentor Externship Program’s required hours with Jude. Cote, who just completed her 2L year, gained exposure to the defense side of criminal lawwith her second mentor, John Lillie. “I observed client meetings and court hearings. I gained additional writing and research experience with him, which taught my brain how to switch to the defense side,” she said. “Everything he taught and showedme further sparkedmy passion for the defense side.” For a program built on personal connections that emphasizes the importance of communication, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a significant disruption, but it hasn’t halted mentoring activities. Rush and Campbell quickly pivoted in March 2020 to adapt the program and put safety protocols in place for all participants. They say mentors have been wonderful and gone above and beyond to create online and socially distanced interactions. The pandemic also provided an opportunity: group mentoring experiences. Long an idea for Rush and Campbell, these incredibly popular experiences involve mentors meeting with 10 students at a time on Zoom.

Natalie Cote

skills are critical in practice. The program is important for the firms andmentors becausementees give us a newperspective and energy that sometimes we lose during the daily grind – it is refreshing.” To ensure meaningful mentor- student interactions, Rush and Campbell carefully match each pairing. They take into account

Morgan Fuller ‘16 J.D. (right) meets with her mentor Kathleen Edmond ‘94 MBA of Robins Kaplan LLP (now retired) in 2016 during an event in the School of Law’s Frey Moot Courtroom.

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