Connecting SC Lawyers
By fostering constructive mentoring relationships, the Lawyer Mentoring Program seeks to elevate the competence, professionalism, and success of South Carolina lawyers.
The Lawyer Mentoring Program, established by Rule 425, SCACR, connects new lawyers, who have recently been admitted to the practice of law, with experienced lawyers for a year-long mentorship. All new lawyers must register with the mentoring program within 30 days of their admission to the South Carolina Bar. Mentors must have at least five years of experience in the active practice of law.
Enroll as a Mentee (New Lawyers) or as a Mentor
Mentees (New Lawyers)
All new lawyers must register with the mentoring program within 30 days of their admission to the South Carolina Bar. Qualifying lawyers are residents of South Carolina, practice or will practice in South Carolina, and have not been admitted for more than 2 years in another jurisdiction. Failure to participate in the program will result in a referral to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel and you will not be in compliance with the Bar.
Mentors
Mentors must have at least five years of experience in the active practice of law. The mentor and the new lawyer are encouraged to work together to identify and help the new lawyer achieve professional goals. Upon completion of the program, mentors receive 4 CLE hours, including 2 hours of ethics.
Enroll in the SC Bar Mentorship Program
Program Requirements
After the initial meeting, the mentor and new lawyer must complete the individualized mentoring plan and the new lawyer must submit a copy to the South Carolina Bar for approval within thirty days of being paired. Periodically throughout the year, the plan should be reviewed and updated to ensure that it is still meeting the objectives of the program and the individual goals as set out by the mentor and new lawyer. Upon completion of the one-year mentoring experience, a Certificate of Completion, signed by the mentor and new lawyer, must be submitted to the South Carolina Bar.
Resources
Barnes Alford Stork & Johnson, LLP
Buist Moore Smith McGee, PA
Collins and Lacy, PC
Dority & Manning, PA
Eighth Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office
Finkel Law Firm, LLC
First Circuit Solicitor’s Office
Gallivan White & Boyd, PA
Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, PA
Jackson Lewis, LLP
McAngus Goudelock & Courie, LLC
Burr & Forman
Murphy & Grantland, PA
Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, LLP
Nexsen Pruet, LLP
Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office
Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart, PC
Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, LLP
Richardson Plowden & Robinson, PA
Rogers Townsend & Thomas, PC
SC Department of Revenue
Sixteenth Circuit Solicitor’s Office
Smith Moore Leatherwood, LLP
Sowell Gray Stepp & Lafitte, LLC
Supreme Court of South Carolina & South Carolina Court of Appeals
Thirteenth Judicial Solicitor’s Office
USC School of Medicine
Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP
Wyche Burgess Freeman & Parham, PA
The purpose of the mentoring program is to provide assistance to the new lawyer in the following respects:
1. The mentor should assist the new lawyer in developing an understanding of how law is practiced in a manner consistent with the duties, responsibilities and expectations that accompany membership in the legal profession.
2. The mentor should assist the new lawyer in developing specific professional skills and habits necessary to gain and maintain competency in the law throughout his or her career and should assist the new lawyer in developing a network of other persons from whom the new lawyer may seek personal or professional advice or counsel when appropriate or necessary throughout the lawyer's career.
3. The mentor should assist the new lawyer in identifying and developing specific professional skills and habits necessary to create and maintain professional relationships based upon mutual respect between the lawyer and client; the lawyer and other parties and their counsel; the lawyer and the court, including its staff; the lawyer and others working in his or her office, including both lawyers and staff; and the lawyer and the public.
4. The mentor should introduce the new lawyer to others in the lawyer’s local or regional legal community and encourage the new lawyer to become an active part of that community.