Message from the Chair

By David H. Hirsch*

GIVING BACK—BECOME A MENTOR

For this issue’s "Chair’s Message" I want to take the opportunity to focus on the new Public Law Section Mentoring Program, which we’ve just launched in cooperation with the California Young Lawyers Association (CYLA). This exciting new Program provides a great opportunity for our members to give back to the profession by connecting with newer attorneys who want to explore careers serving public agencies and the public. We’ve developed a set of guidelines and goals for the Mentoring Program. The stated goals include seeking to foster excellence in professionalism, ethics, civility and legal skills for young lawyers. Another goal is to promote collegial relationships among legal professionals and active involvement in the profession, the legal community in general and, in particular, the Public Law Section. We hope to foster the development of CYLA members’ practical skills and mentor CYLA members regarding various practice areas within public law.

Public Law Section members who have practiced for at least 10 years are eligible to be mentors. Mentees will come from the membership of CYLA. Any member of the Bar who is under the age of 36 or has practiced five years or less is automatically a member of CYLA. To the extent possible, we hope to match mentors and mentees according to practice area and location. We’ve set up the Program so that the formal mentoring relationship will last for six months, although mentors and mentees will be encouraged to maintain informal relationships after that.