Free mentorship program
Nobody should have to learn this alone.
Every attorney and law student who qualifies for the Foundation is paired one-to-one with a mentor who has done the thing they are trying to do: a law firm owner, an operations expert, a law firm finance expert, or a marketing expert.
There is no fee, no membership, and no cost of any kind. Mentors volunteer their time and are not permitted to sell anything to the person they mentor.
Cost to the mentee
Nothing, ever
Four kinds of mentor
Matched to the problem in front of you
Running a firm is four jobs, and almost nobody is strong at all four. You are matched with the mentor whose work maps to what you are actually facing, and rematched if that changes.
01
Law firm owners
Attorneys who have opened and run their own practice. They cover the decisions nobody else can speak to honestly: whether to leave, what the first year really costs, when to hire, what to say no to, and how to keep the practice from consuming the rest of your life.
02
Operations experts
Firm administrators, case managers, and operations directors who build the machinery: intake, workflows, staffing structure, case management systems, and the documented procedures that let a firm take on more work without dropping any of it.
03
Finance experts
People who understand the money side of a law practice: pricing and fee structures, cash flow in contingency and hourly work, trust account discipline, the numbers worth watching monthly, and what a firm can actually afford to do next.
04
Marketing experts
Practitioners who know how ethical legal marketing works: where clients in your practice area actually come from, how referral relationships are built, what a small firm should spend, and how to tell the difference between marketing and being sold to.
How the pairing works
Four steps, and none of them cost anything
We keep the process short on purpose. The people who need a mentor most are the ones with the least time to apply for one.
STEP ONE
Tell us where you are
A short application: what stage you are at, what kind of practice you have or want, and the one problem you would most like help with. It takes a few minutes and we do not ask for financial information.
STEP TWO
We match you deliberately
A person reads your application and pairs you with a mentor whose experience fits the problem, not whoever is next in a queue. We tell you who they are and why we chose them before anything is scheduled.
STEP THREE
You meet, with something to work on
The first conversation starts from the problem you named, and ends with one thing you are going to change. Sessions are held by video or phone, on a schedule the two of you set. We suggest a standing monthly call to begin with.
STEP FOUR
It continues as long as it is useful
Pairings run for as long as both people want them to. We check in periodically, and if the fit is wrong or your needs change, we will match you with someone else. Ending a pairing costs nothing and is not held against you.
Who qualifies
If you are building or running a small practice, you qualify
Our program is for the part of the profession that has the least support and serves the most people. If you are in one of these groups, apply. If you are unsure whether you fit, apply anyway and we will tell you.
Law students
Enrolled at any law school, considering practice ownership or simply wanting to understand how firms work.
Newly licensed attorneys
Within roughly the first five years of practice, in any setting, in any state.
Attorneys opening a firm
Planning, launching, or inside the first two years of your own practice, at any point in your career.
Solo and small firm owners
Practices of roughly ten people or fewer, at any stage, including firms that have been open for years.
Firm staff and administrators
Paralegals, office managers, and case managers who have been handed responsibility for how the firm runs.
We do not screen on revenue, school, class rank, or firm size. The only thing we ask is that you show up to the sessions you schedule, because a mentor's time is the one thing in this program that cannot be replaced.
The rules of the program
What this is, and what it is not
Free mentorship in the legal industry is often a sales channel. Ours is not, and the boundaries are written down so a mentee can hold us to them.
Mentors may not sell to mentees
No pitching services, software, coaching, or fee-sharing arrangements. A mentor who solicits business from the person they mentor is removed from the program.
It is not legal advice or supervision
Mentors discuss business and operations, not the merits of your cases. No attorney-client relationship is created, and mentors take no responsibility for your matters.
Conversations are confidential
What you tell a mentor stays between you. We ask mentees never to share client confidences, and mentors agree in writing not to disclose what they hear.
Conflicts are screened
We do not pair people who compete for the same clients in the same market, and either side may decline a match for any reason without explanation.
Request a mentor
Apply in about three minutes
A person reads every application. You will hear back either way, and if we cannot match you immediately we will tell you what we are waiting for rather than leaving you wondering.
While you wait, the resource library is open and free: eight documented procedures, a development guide, and a worksheet. Many mentees start by reading the procedure closest to their problem and bringing it to the first session.
What it costs
Nothing. There is no fee, no membership, no deposit, and no paid tier of this program. Mentors are volunteers and the Foundation is funded by charitable contributions.
Mentorship application
Free to apply and free if you are matched.
Used only to match you and to reply. Never sold or shared. Privacy policy. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3), EIN 42-2464496. Mentorship is educational and is not legal advice.
Volunteer as a mentor
You already know something somebody needs
If you own a firm, run its operations, handle its finances, or market it, you have knowledge that took years to acquire and takes an hour a month to pass on. That hour is the whole program.
We ask mentors for a standing monthly call with one mentee, agreement to the program rules, and honesty about what you do and do not know. We do not ask for content, referrals, or money.
Write to us about mentoringOne hour a month
A single standing call with one mentee. Take a second pairing only if you want one.
No preparation required
We send you the mentee's stated problem in advance. You bring your experience, not a curriculum.
Nothing asked of you but time
Mentors are unpaid volunteers and are not solicited for donations by the Foundation.
You may also review drafts
Mentors who want to contribute further read procedures before publication and tell us where they are wrong.