The State Bar Association of North Dakota Fall 2014 Gavel Magazine | Page 20

THE BENEFITS OF SBAND’S
NEW MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
KARA J. JOHNSON
Attorney at Law, Zuger Kirmis & Smith
“Why should I get a mentor?” “Why
should I be a mentor?” These questions
frequently come up when considering
participation in a mentorship program.
Before, the answer to both questions had
always been the same – it makes you a
better lawyer. Now, with participation in
SBAND’s new mentorship program, there
is another answer – to get CLE credit!
When SBAND began developing a
mentorship program, research showed that
the vast majority of successful programs
provided an incentive for participation by
awarding CLE credit to both the mentees
and the mentors. Because the experienced
lawyers are essentially teaching a CLE
by serving as mentors and the young
lawyers are learning during the mentorship
sessions, the CLE Commission has
approved CLE for both the mentor and
the mentee participating in SBAND’s
mentorship program through the adoption
of CLE policy 1.21.
For each reporting period, a lawyer
may earn up to 15 credits, a third of
the required CLEs, for participating.
The policy is designed to allow credit
for involvement for multiple years. The
mentor/mentee pairings are matched for a
period of one year and it is recommended
that the pairing spend a total of at least
eight hours together, six of which are
eligible for CLE credit. While CLE
credit cannot be given for all topics
covered within the mentorship program,
and it likely will not account for all of
the time the pairing spends working
together, the credit is intended to be an
acknowledgment of the importance and
value of mentorship relationships.
Because CLE credit is provided, the
mentorship program needed structure and
accountability. The SBAND Mentorship
Committee was careful to balance these
needs with the ability to cater to the
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interests of the individual mentorships.
For purposes of CLE compliance, the
mentorship program handbook provides
the mentor/mentee pairings with an
agreement for participation, tracking
records for substantive areas discussed,
and a certification for the mentor to sign
upon completion of the program. These
completed documents should be sent to
SBAND for the pairing to receive CLE
credit.
The introduction and instructions
sections of the mentorship handbook
outline how the program works. The
instructions explain that each pairing must
cover the topics of introduction to the
legal community, public service and bar
programs, rules of professional conduct and
standards of professionalism and civility,
work-life balance, and working with
clients. It is then recommended that the
pairing choose an additional three optional
sections to complete based on the interests
and experience of the pairing.
The optional sections cover practice areas
and include civil litigation, family law,
criminal law and procedure, personal
injury/insurance law, employment law, oil
and gas law, real property law, collection
law, probate, and transactional law. While
the introduction and instructions provide
some basic guidelines, the mentorship
pairing will still need to make a plan
regarding how they want their mentorship
relationship to work, including how they
want to communicate, what optional topics
they want to cover, and what sections of
the outline the pair will address.
Within each section’s outline, it is
recommended that each pairing participate
in or discuss some, but not all, of the
outline subsections. This is important
to note because some people become
overwhelmed by the amount of topics
included within the outlines. The outlines

are intended to prompt discussions
between the mentors/mentees, while
allowing the pairing the ability to tailor the
program.
The mentor does not need to be familiar
with all of the possible subject areas
addressed within the program handbook.
Mentors can enlist assistance from their
friends and colleagues within the bar,
but are only eligible for CLE credit for
the portions in which they personally
participate. If mentors have another
member of the bar assist them in the
mentorship, it should be noted by the
mentor and mentee on their outlines.
To serve as a mentor, the attorney must
have been licensed for five years or more
and have a current North Dakota license.
A mentee can be any attorney who has
been licensed in North Dakota for five
years or less.The mentor and mentee
applications, along with the mentorship
handbook, are available online on
SBAND’s website.
The Mentorship Committee understands
that it has not addressed all sub