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by Carter Isham | October 28, 2024

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A successful career in law is greatly bolstered not just by training but also by mentorship and sponsorship. Today, on National Mentoring Day, we’re highlighting the top 10 law firms in Vault Law’s 2025 Informal Training, Mentorship & Sponsorship rankings below, sharing direct feedback from associates on each firm’s mentoring efforts.

O’Melveny & Myers LLP

  • “We had a lot of very helpful onboarding training and a really great mentorship program where we are paired with an associate mentor and our partner mentor. We had a choice in who we wanted, and the firm honored my choices.”
  • “I appreciate the vast opportunities for both training (from a professional development perspective) and mentoring. Each new associate is formally assigned both a partner mentor and an associate mentor, and the firm sponsors coffee and lunch opportunities for all associates, counsel, and partners to meet and get to know each other.”

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

  • “We have a monthly mentor ‘budget’ to take associates and partners to coffee and get informal ‘training.’ We have weekly practice-group-specific trainings in a more formal setting. We also have joint practice group trainings with related practice groups led by partners.”
  • “All associates are assigned a partner mentor, and junior associates are also assigned a senior associate mentor. Associates are encouraged to meet with their mentors regularly and to seek out feedback from them. Most attorneys are also very willing to provide feedback to their junior colleagues when asked.”

McDermott Will & Emery

  • “… Mentoring is incredible. The firm greatly sponsors all associates to build relationships and practice expertise with assigned and unassigned mentors.”
  • “The training and mentoring at the firm have been really helpful. Throughout the first year, we've been giving numerous trainings that helped to provide good instruction and context for our roles in various practice areas. Additionally, the firm places a strong emphasis on encouraging mentors through the formal mentoring system, providing incentives to spend time with informal mentors and through a cohort system.”

Proskauer Rose LLP

  • “There are a variety of programs for mentorship in addition to the informal congenial mentoring that develops naturally. Specifically, the women’s programs for sponsorship and mentorship are stellar and unique. Female associates who are part of these programs are paired with a senior partner sponsor/mentor, and there are events, both training and social, to help foster these relationships, as well as relationships with other attorneys at the firm who can serve as additional informal mentors.”
  • “The firm organizes formal hour-long trainings to first-year and second-year associates two or three times a week where partners/senior associates will provide an in-depth overview of a specific aspect of a particular practice area. In addition to formal trainings, partner/senior associate mentors engage in informal mentorships via weekly lunches.”

Warner Norcross + Judd LLP

  • “The firm has formal training programs and an enormous amount of recommended resources for continued legal education based on practice area, much of which is produced by the partners themselves. There are also formal and informal mentorship programs. Generally, associates are paired up with a partner in their practice group, and the partner will help identify the associate's professional goals and help them identify what steps to take to get there based on the partner's experience.”
  • “The firm sponsors formal training opportunities and encourages associates to attend trainings in their respective practice areas. Some trainings are required and clearly indicated in the benchmarks provided to all associates. The firm also assigns each associate a partner mentor and may otherwise informally participate in the mentorship process.”

Clifford Chance US LLP

  • “Each associate is assigned a career development partner mentor who conducts their reviews. Junior associates are also assigned senior associate mentors. However, the formal mentorship programs are not extensive. Instead, informal mentorship is more common. Colleagues are very willing to help and provide guidance to each other.”
  • “Mentors are assigned to associates through a formal program within each practice. In addition, mentorship of junior attorneys is a value shared by all senior attorneys at the firm.”

Choate, Hall & Stewart

  • “There are very regular trainings, weekly lunch-and-learns, etc. Choate has a small, personal, and intimate office so there are basically unlimited mentorship opportunities. Because we all get to know each other so well, I consider almost all of my colleagues to be my mentors. Everyone is very willing to help and gets to know your strengths and weaknesses and targets their guidance accordingly.”
  • “New associates are assigned to three mentors: a partner, senior, and peer. I’ve found having a mentor at each of these different levels is valuable because each is able to serve a different purpose. There are also lots of informal mentoring as well as structured training throughout the year.”

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

  • “Since you are given a partner/associate mentor, you have the opportunity to learn from both aspects. The partner mentor allows you to have the opportunity to see a full overview of the firm and how your work should look when given to them, while associate mentors are very understanding of what you are going through since they were recently in the same position.”
  • “The firm has both formal and informal mentorships and sponsors practice group retreats for everyone across all the offices to get together face-to-face.”

Gunster

  • “Gunster offers a mentorship program whereby you are assigned to a ‘mentor’ Shareholder who provides quarterly meetings focused on associate development. Additionally, informal mentoring has been extremely beneficial to my success. Because Gunster is a statewide firm, there is plenty of opportunity to work with Shareholders in other office locations to learn from them as well. The firm provides plenty of in-person training for new associates and I felt that the onboarding process was seamless, even for someone with minimal prior working experience.”
  • “There is a structured mentoring program at Gunster, and we meet with mentoring committee members quarterly to check in with how it's going with our assigned mentors, and also how we are feeling generally about our life at the firm and outside the firm. …”

BakerHostetler

  • “BakerHostetler does well with training, mentoring, and sponsorship. There are formal programs for each of those components of BH culture. The firm tracks our professional opportunities, experiences, and development.”
  • “There are many training videos that are available to us made by partners at the firm and are great on-demand resources. However, the best training I have received has been organic from the partners I am working with; because the partner-to-associate ratio is high, there is no lack of willing and available mentors. Whenever I am struggling with something personal or professional, I have to decide which of eight-plus partners I should reach out to because all will be responsive and helpful.”

You can also read more about Finding and Using Mentors to Grow Your Legal Career and review Five Essential Steps to Finding a Mentor in the Legal Industry. Check out the Vault Law blog for more articles on mentorship and other legal industry topics.

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