Mentoring with an eye on succession planning

As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year, succession planning is top of mind for several law firms. But creating a culture of mentorship while working remotely has been a challenge for many senior lawyers.

“The COVID times have been tough,” says Douglas E. Finkbeiner, QC, a partner at Taylor McCaffrey LLP. “There have been so many people working remotely.”

Winnipeg-based Finkbeiner, who became a lawyer in 1975, has mentored many junior lawyers over his career. But he says it was easier to mentor junior lawyers in person. 

“It’s so nice to have the associate sitting across the desk from you,” he says. “If you’re on a conference call, they’re listening to the manner in which you deal with the other lawyers or the clients.”

It’s also a better and more valuable experience for the mentor to “think out loud in the presence of the associate about how to approach a situation.”

Junior lawyers beginning their practice during the pandemic face additional challenges, says Finkbeiner. It’s hardly unusual for an inexperienced associate to be unsure about how to go about a mandate. They often feel the need to seek out some guidance. “It’s one thing to be able to walk next door to one of your young colleagues and say, ‘Ever done one of these before?’ It’s entirely different sitting in your den at home by yourself thinking, ‘I don’t know how to do this and I’m not even sure I should call a colleague,’” says Finkbeiner. “It’s just that much more difficult when you are at home.”

Caroline J. Smith, a partner at McKercher LLP, says that her law firm would typically have regular drinks on Friday and events to introduce the lawyers to the new hires. But the pandemic put a stop to this. 

For Smith, who works in the office one or two days a week and from home the rest of the time, it’s been a challenge getting to know the new lawyers. 

“You see someone in the hallway; they’ve got a mask on; you’re not sure who they are,” she says with a laugh. 

To get to know the 2021 summer students, Smith tried a different technique. 

“Over the summer, I took each of our summer students out for coffee outdoors individually at least once so I could see their faces, talk to them a little bit, get to know them and develop a relationship with them for future working,” she says. “Now they have someone that they know they can come and talk to.”

Smith also tries to modify her virtual meetings to get to know her colleagues better by adding some built-in time for off-topic decisions. 

“When you aren’t meeting in person, the amount of small talk that you do tends to be shortened,” she says. “So what I try to do is add a little bit of time at the beginning of a meeting for off-topic discussion or when I was chairing a committee meeting, I would start with a question to try to get to know people a little bit better. Something like, ‘If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you be doing?’ or ‘If you had an extra hour in a day, what would you do with it?’”

Regardless of the challenges, both Finkbeiner and Smith agree that building a culture of mentorship at a law firm is an essential part of succession planning.

“Having a mentor will make junior lawyers better lawyers, make them far happier and more relaxed in the practice of law, and you’ve got a better colleague to work with. It’s a win-win-win,” says Finkbeiner.

Finkbeiner, who practices commercial and corporate law, says he benefited from mentorship early in his career. 

“It was a long time ago, but I can still remember just feeling completely clueless about so many things,” he says. “Fortunately, I had senior people who could answer questions and instruct me and show me how to draft things.”

“I benefited early in my career from having some really wonderful mentors myself,” says Smith, who practises in commercial litigation and insurance defence in Saskatoon. “They gave me advice I still think about and use every day.” For her, becoming a mentor was part of giving back to her junior colleagues. She felt she needed to spend as much time and effort as her mentors assisting junior lawyers in finding their way through the profession. “It’s honestly the most rewarding part of my job to work with a lawyer, see them grow, see them learn, see them find something that interests them and get good at it and enjoy their job.”

Heather Gray-Grant, a Vancouver-based business strategist, tries to encourage older practitioners to gradually plan their exit, leaving them time to serve as mentors to their junior colleagues.

Ultimately, the law firm benefits, she says. “It allows for a much smoother transition for client comfort and loyalty on to the next lawyer.”

It’s a system that also leverages the value of senior lawyers. “They are at a stage in their lives where they are like a sage; they are really quite wise,” says Gray-Grant. “There is no one who knows the law better than someone who has been practising it for 30-plus years. They know three sides of the law: the legal side, the business side and the client-management side.” 

All of which are essential to running a practice effectively, and moving up in a firm.