A graduate of Yale Law School, Suzzanne Uhland serves as a partner at O’Melveny & Myers and chairs the firm’s restructuring practice. Selected as one of 2009’s Women Worth Watching, Suzzanne Uhland knows the challenges facing young lawyers and stresses the importance of mentoring to overcoming obstacles and achieving success.
Most young lawyers, when they take their first jobs after law school, quickly learn that their professional development cannot take place in a vacuum. For example, there is a widely held misconception that professionalism equates to toughness, and that the true professional remains aloof from even her peers. Young lawyers, just starting out in professional careers for which they have been exhaustively trained at great expense, usually do not have the capacity to evaluate their own performance except in the most general way. For example, a young attorney who loses an argument in a meeting often cannot appreciate that her debating skills were superior, but that she was simply on the wrong side of the argument.
The term “mentoring” has become almost overused in the past couple of decades, yet it describes perfectly the relationship young lawyers just entering the field should try to establish with an older, more experienced professional. Many law firms and other enterprises have more formal mentoring programs, in which established members of the firm are matched with the new entrants. Mentors can help their charges to recognize and cultivate their strong points and coach them to overcome their weaknesses. They can also be invaluable in helping young professionals to develop the people skills so important to success.
Most young lawyers, when they take their first jobs after law school, quickly learn that their professional development cannot take place in a vacuum. For example, there is a widely held misconception that professionalism equates to toughness, and that the true professional remains aloof from even her peers. Young lawyers, just starting out in professional careers for which they have been exhaustively trained at great expense, usually do not have the capacity to evaluate their own performance except in the most general way. For example, a young attorney who loses an argument in a meeting often cannot appreciate that her debating skills were superior, but that she was simply on the wrong side of the argument.
The term “mentoring” has become almost overused in the past couple of decades, yet it describes perfectly the relationship young lawyers just entering the field should try to establish with an older, more experienced professional. Many law firms and other enterprises have more formal mentoring programs, in which established members of the firm are matched with the new entrants. Mentors can help their charges to recognize and cultivate their strong points and coach them to overcome their weaknesses. They can also be invaluable in helping young professionals to develop the people skills so important to success.
