Ohio’s lawyer mentoring program was presented as a model at a national mentoring conference in Minneapolis. “Managing Mentoring Programs in a Time of Change” took place on October 4-6, where judges and attorneys from across the country discussed ways to create and sustain mentoring programs in the legal profession during hard economic times.

The group attended sessions about the current state of mentoring in the legal profession and the success of professional development through mentoring. Other presentations advised how to establish and maintain a mentoring program sponsored by a law school, law firm, bar association, or court.

Ohio Supreme Court Justice Terrence O’Donnell gave the opening remarks at the conference, while Lori Keating, who serves as attorney services counsel for the Supreme Court and as secretary to the court’s Commission on Professionalism, presented a session on “Using Technology to Facilitate Successful Formal Mentoring Programs,” explaining how the Supreme Court administers its state-wide mentoring program using a computer application developed by the court’s IT division.

“Everyone agrees that mentoring is a good idea and people generally begin the mentoring relationship with good intentions,” Keating said. “To have a successful program, however, you need structure and accountability, and our court has developed an IT application that provides both for the hundreds of mentors and new lawyers who actively participate in our program at any given time.”

The conference was co-sponsored by University of St. Thomas School of Law, the National Legal Mentoring Consortium, and the Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough Center on Professionalism.