ADLS INC FAMILY LAW COMMITTEE’S MENTORING SCHEME FOR FAMILY LAW PRACTITIONERS
A difficulty often experienced by family law practitioners, especially those new to the legal profession, is a lack of contacts with whom they can discuss their options, their career direction, their work problems, their hopes and their fears. The mentoring programme aims to link up recently qualified practitioners with practitioners who have been in practice for at least five years. The programme is not exclusively for newly admitted lawyers. We have had applicants with many years of practice apply to be mentored by more experienced practitioners, and been happy to oblige.
After an applicant has been assigned a mentor/mentee, information and general guidelines and suggestions about establishing the mentoring relationship will be provided. The basic premise, however, is that the mentor and mentee come to an agreement between themselves as to how to establish the mentoring relationship.
The agreement should include details such as a meeting agenda, the role the mentor is to take, the goals, the procedures, and the responsibilities of the mentor and of the mentee. It is very much up to each pair to agree on details such as the frequency and duration of meetings and the ground rules for communication, including telephone or electronic communication. They also need to consider how the mentoring relationship will conclude (apparently research indicates that effective mentoring relationships last about 2 – 3 years).
A subcommittee of the ADLS Inc Family Law Committee will be responsible for coordinating the programme. This includes re-assigning mentors and mentees if the match does not work well and also arranging a change of mentor if a mentee wishes to gain a wide experience of opportunities and career advice.
It is planned to review the matchings 4 months after they have been assigned. The mentoring sub-committee members proceed on the basis that information provided to them is confidential.
If you wish to participate in the ADLS Inc’s mentoring programme please note that applications will need to be received by 1 October 2010.
Click here to download the mentor application form
Click here to download the mentee application form
The committee’ s role is:
1. To represent Auckland Practitioners as an information gathering focus group of people who can identify and formulate problems, find strategies and implement resolutions for the issues unique to Auckland family law practitioners. Such issues are generally as follows:
- Registries
- Staffing
- Court Liaison Committees
2. To effectively disseminate information on those issues to Auckland practitioners.
3. To formalise the gathering and circulation of the information, make submissions and lobby:
- Auckland practitioners
- Auckland District Law Society Incorporated Law Committees
- NZLS Family Law Section
- Government Select Committees
- Ministry of Justice
4. To interface with the Family law Section on the issues affecting both local and national interests of family lawyers.
5. To maintain a representative function that determines legal education topics, and reports to the Continuing Legal Education Department of ADLS Inc.
6 To have a networking function for Auckland practitioners with lunchtime forums, articles and media contacts
Click here to view the Family Law committee members
Click here to review Family Court Matters Act