Market Areas > Practice Management >Mentoring Associates

Mentoring Associates: The Key to Retention, Development and Profitability

Course Description:

Associate attrition rates continue to rise. New lawyers see themselves as free agents, they stay only until a choicer offer comes along, or they leave to maintain a more appealing work-life balance. 

Even in firms with structured mentoring programs, associates routinely complain that partners don’t invest enough time in helping them grow and develop.  And partners wonder why they should invest so much time and energy in associates who’ll probably leave the firm anyway. 

Find out what factors you should consider when trying to develop or expand your current mentoring initiatives. You’ll learn key strategies and best practice techniques used by leading firms to not only pair protégé and mentor based on practice area but more importantly on background and interests. 

In just 75 minutes, CCM’s expert faculty with provide you with innovative techniques to:

• Apply mentoring programs as a means of recruitment and retention
• Support your diversity initiatives through an effective mentoring program
• Integrate mentoring into your overall attorney training program
• Ensure your associates receive the type of experiences that will help them advance and stay in the firm
• Solicit regular feedback to ensure your program is working
• Choose which type of program is best for your firm: Traditional vs.Non-traditional programs (i.e. mentoring circles)
• Match mentors and mentees to create a value and establish winning connections
• Prepare participants for the mentoring relationship
• Utilize 21st century technology to expand your mentoring program
  

Featured Faculty:

M. Diane Vogt, Principal in PeopleWealth, Professional Retention Consulting Firm

M. Diane Vogt, is one of the country’s top rated lawyers. She has been rated “AV” by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory since 1990. This is the highest rating given to lawyers by their peers. Less than 20% of lawyers receive this rating. Diane is also rated “AV” in two states, Michigan and Florida, which can be said by an even smaller number of attorneys. Diane was selected a Leading Florida Attorney, an honor bestowed on less than five percent of all practicing attorneys. In 2004, Diane was selected by her peers as a member of the Florida Legal Elite, an honor bestowed upon the top two percent of Florida’s more than 70,000 lawyers. She is a member of The Florida Bar and the State Bar of Michigan as well as admitted to practice in several federal courts. Diane has appeared as a featured speaker at national and local lawyer conferences such as the American Bar Association, the Association of Legal Administrators, the National Association of Law Placement, and many more.

Diane was a litigation partner in the Detroit, Michigan, law firm of Clark, Klein and Beaumont (now Clark Hill) until 1992, when she moved her practice to Tampa, Florida. She is currently a principal in PeopleWealth, the professional retention consulting firm also based in Tampa. Diane is the co-author of Keeping Good Lawyers: Best Practices to Create Career Satisfaction, available at all online booksellers and local bookstores.

Ricardo Fernandez, Chief Recruiting Officer, Shutts & Bowen LLP

Rick Fernandez has over 30 years of combined legal and staffing industry experience as a trial lawyer, executive search consultant and member of senior management in law firm, military (JAGC) and corporate settings. He is admitted to practice in both Florida (1978) and California (1982) and has tried cases in federal, state and military courts ranging from capital crimes to mass tort, professional and products liability. He was Board Certified by the Florida Bar as a Civil Trial Lawyer in 1990 and is AV Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.  He is a past president of the Hillsborough County Bar Association (Tampa), a former member of the Florida Bar Board of Governors and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.  Mr. Fernandez has lectured extensively on issues related to career development, personal branding, associate retention and mentoring and has been profiled in both the ABA Journal and Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Fernandez has been a litigation shareholder with two Tampa, Florida firms:  Shackleford Farrior Stalllings & Evans (now Gray Robinson) and Fowler White Boggs Banker.  He has also served as a Managing Director (South Florida) for Special Counsel, a national legal search firm (MPS Group - NYSE:MPS).  Beginning in 2000, his career focus shifted from trial practice to recruiting, career development and management. He joined Fowler White in January 2003 as a healthcare litigator and completed his career transition in 2004 when he was named Hiring Partner. In that role he was responsible for all lateral attorney recruitment and retention for the Firm’s  seven Florida offices.  Mr. Fernandez joined Shutts & Bowen (http://www.shutts.com/), a Florida-based firm with 200+ attorneys and six offices throughout Florida, in March 2008.  He serves as the Firm’s Chief Recruiting Officer and has firm wide responsibility for attorney recruitment, retention and professional development. He maintains offices in both Miami and Tampa.

We're so confident you'll get what you want out of this conference that we'll refund every penny if you're not completely satisfied. No questions asked! It's 100% risk-free!

Pricing:

Your CD recording includes the complete audio conference presentation, audience Q&A and presentation materials.

CLE:

CCM provides audio conference attendees with CLE credit processing services. To expedite CCM processing your CLE request, please complete and submit the evaluation form available from CCM at the conclusion of the audio conference. It will be necessary to enter the following information: name of each attorney requesting CLEs with full contact information, including e-mail address, bar number, and the state in which the attorney wants credits. Each attorney requesting credits must submit an evaluation.

Please be advised CCM audio conferences are subject to approval from each CLE issuing organization and approval is not guaranteed (state bar associations in Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania do not grant CLE credits for audio conferences). The approval process takes approximately 6 - 8 weeks for most organizations but can take as long as 3 - 4 months. You will be notified via e-mail with the final status of your CLE application.

Any person applying for CLE credits must attend the audio conference from start to finish (attendance will be taken for compliance reasons). Requests for CLE credits must be received no later than two weeks following the conclusion of the audio conference or live conference. CLE credits are not available for CD recordings.

If you have any questions regarding CLE credits, contact Jill Adler at 631.368.2082 x 21 or jill.adler@meeting-matters.com.

Each CCM event presents a variety of information and is presented for each organization to develop its own approach and methodology.