Walker Morris Mentor Scheme: what’s in it for you?

As any law student or wannabe trainee knows, it is not just having the good grades, right qualifications or long list of sporting and musical achievements under your belt that helps you to succeed in the assessment process for vacation scheme opportunities or at a training contract interview. To be successful in launching and maintaining a legal career, it is essential to have an insight into what it is like in practice, be commercially savvy, demonstrate some networking skills and work towards gaining relevant experience.  Reading up on this or imagining that your life as a lawyer will resemble that of Ally McBeal or Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad will only get you so far!  However, taking part in a mentor scheme could prove invaluable.

For the last two years I have been involved in Walker Morris LLP’s Mentor Scheme. Having benefitted from taking part in a similar scheme during my time at law school, I wanted to stand on the other side of the fence and give what help I could to students as a mentor during my training contract.  

The Mentor Scheme at Walker Morris cannot be easily bettered, in that it puts you in direct contact with a practising solicitor and attracts support from individuals across the spectrum - from trainees to newly-qualified and associate solicitors and right up to partners. Depending on the approach preferred by you as the mentee and your respective mentor, a combination of email contact, telephone advice and one-to-one meetings can then be used. Through this interaction, the mentor from Walker Morris will take an interest in your professional life and provide a steer - by sharing their own experiences and looking at ways that you can gain new knowledge, skills and understanding. Examples include proofreading CVs and application forms, providing practical tips on planning a successful job search strategy, identifying areas for improvement and explaining the work of different legal sectors. These are just some of the opportunities your mentor could potentially provide, along with a general insight into what life is really like working for a leading commercial law firm and one of Leeds' 'big six'. 

Your mentor will be able to guide, advise, support, enable and encourage, helping you to:

• increase self-awareness;
• understand your strengths and weaknesses;
• identify options for development and career progression;
• understand the day-to-day life of a solicitor more clearly; and
• gain self-confidence – even when the going gets tough!

Having taken part in a scheme myself while studying and, now, in my role as a mentor, I cannot recommend highly enough the wonderful opportunities that Walker Morris’ scheme offers to aspiring legal eagles.

For anyone interested in taking part in the Walker Morris Mentor Scheme for 2014-15, the initial process could not be easier. Simply email the graduate recruitment team ([email protected]) for an application form.  Successful applicants will be notified by 22 or 23 October and invited to meet their new mentors at our offices on 4 November. Go on, what are you waiting for?

Philippa Plumtree-Varley is an associate in the planning & environment department of Walker Morris.