Today, the New Zealand Law Society | Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa launched its National Mentoring Programme to provide professional support and guidance to lawyers as they navigate fast-paced changes.
Now, more than ever, a unifying and collegial path is needed to help us step each other through the impact COVID-19 has had on New Zealand and the law; a path that has professional wellbeing and improvement as its driver.
Even prior to the pandemic there was a call from the profession for better connectivity and relationship networks that needed to be delivered at a national level and go beyond special interest group, city centre or region.
The Law Society trialed a pilot scheme over a nine-month period in Canterbury-Westland and Auckland branch areas; its uptake and success has led to today’s announcement.
President Tiana Epati wrote to all members this morning inviting lawyers to think about whether they could do with an extra hand in their career, offer some experience and advice to another lawyer, or do both.
Although primarily designed for those currently holding practising certificates, we are aware these are unusual times, and welcome interest from anyone who has been admitted but is not yet practising, and anyone who is between roles and therefore does not have a current practising certificate.
The Law Society’s national mentoring programme is all inclusive, free and will be conducted virtually.
How to participate
- If you hold a current practising certificate, you will have received an email with a link from our President Tiana Epati. To sign up from the email, click on the Register here for Mentorloop button. If you did not get this email, please contact mentoring@lawsociety.org.nz
- Once on Mentorloop, you will have to confirm you are happy to commit to the terms and conditions and Code of Conduct, then you will answer a series of questions so that the software matching programme can create a profile for you.
- Every fortnight, the data pool is updated with new participants to help with matching. You will be notified when you have been matched with a mentor or mentee. Please note, this process might happen quickly for some of you and for others it may take more time. Once a match is made you both have an opportunity to see if it’s the right match for both of you.