I wrote a blog and was asked an excellent question by a concerned lawyer just breaking into the profession. The theme of my blog was that a lawyer needs five years of mentoring before they are ready to try the more significant cases. The young lawyer with the desire to succeed asked this question:

"Precisely. So what is your advice to the young lawyer who cannot find legal employment and strikes out on their own without a mentor, partner or co-worker to lean on and learn from? How do they get the "five years of mentoring?" And when they don't get those five years, what then?

It’s easy to simply say, from the safety of 30 years experience, that young lawyers should buck up and take any case that they can. But the reality is, few new lawyers can simply take ANY case, especially when they have no mentor or support to handle the nuances of the new case.

I suppose I agree with the sentiment that the new generation of lawyers (post-2000?) probably has a different skill set and make-up than previous generations, and could probably benefit from a more "can-do" attitude, and a willingness to suck it up and take crummy cases. But I disagree with the notion that this, and only this, is the solution. New lawyers need experience, and that doesn't mean trial by fire. The support of working in a firm with lawyers who can show you the ropes is priceless. No amount of "can-do" attitude can replace that.

So, back to square one. When there are simply not enough jobs available (and by jobs, I mean opportunities to work with other lawyers, learning and gaining experience while paying your bills), how can the new lawyer get the experience that we both agree is required to be a successful lawyer down the road? The answer to that question is far more helpful to new lawyers than the sum of what your entry suggests."

Great question now let's get to answering it.

Are there no "jobs" for young lawyers, or are they failing to engage?

Joe's concern is about how young lawyers who can’t get hired by a lawfirm after graduation can get mentoring from more experienced lawyers. His question is a good one and has significant ethical implications, so today I will answer it with a number of suggestions for how to handle this situation. First allow me to list the idea and then I’ll more fully describe what I’m suggesting for each. Keep in mind these suggestions are limited to establishing a mentoring relationship, not an answer to the question about how to get clients; although the two go hand-in-hand. So let’s begin.

1. Team up with an experienced lawyer who is willing to offer advice and guidance. If you’re wondering how you find them see number 4 below. Another way is to just ask for an introduction. Many attorneys with experience are willing to talk to young lawyers. Who is a matter of what area of the law you have an interest in learning.
2. Use the electronic tools that allow you to communicate directly and in real time with more experience lawyers. (MSN instant messenger, email or Go2Meeting.com are a few useful tools.) I’m connected to several colleagues who all use MSN Messenger and we send questions to each other in real time. You may not get an answer that very second but you will normally within 15 or 30 minutes.
3. Stay away from message boards like the listserve being operated by the Iowa Bar Association and the Consumer Justice Foundation, or whatever they decided to call themselves (the former ITLA) because they are not secure, private or confidential. The lawyers on the ITLA listserv are looking for just referrals it’s like a referral club and not a good mentoring situation. One aspect that I have great concerns about is confidentiality. How do you know that what you say on the listserv isn’t being printed and handed to your opponent? You don’t, so stay away from this type of electronic communication tool.
4. Form a group with fellow neophyte lawyers that have the same issues and who can support each other. I’m starting such a group and would be willing to meet once a month to start to see how many people are interested and to what degree. We can hold it at my office after hours and invite other experience lawyers who would be willing to give a quick sketch of how to handle bankruptcy, divorce or estate cases.
5. Be willing to take just about any case where you have the prospect of earning a fee and then get your fanny down to the Drake Law School law library and read everything you can. I recently tried to refer an SSA disability case to a recent grad that is out doing the solo thing and he turned me down. Why, was he not willing to do the work it takes to learn a new area of the law? If you think someone that turns down cases/clients after whining about not having enough work will impress a referring/mentoring attorney who already hasn’t enough time in his day, think again. It won’t and that attorney will not want to spend any more time with you. Keep in mind we aren’t the ones needing work – you are. What we want is more time and less headaches.
6. Invest in free or low cost seminars like those from NBI or the Iowa Bar Association. Here are links to one example: NBI Seminars – Social Security - Handling A Social Security Disability Case
7. Work to impress the busy and more experienced lawyer that you know more about the law in the case than he or she. Believe me you can if you try. You can’t if you don’t try.
8. Comb the Internet to read what other lawyers have online about the types of case you’re interested in learning about, but then go back to rule 5 and confirm the general outline you’ve found online. Many law firms have out lined the law for potential clients and have written in a way that should shorten your learning curve. At the very least you get a good overview and some direction.
9. Ask lawyers if you can help with pieces of a case. Examples would be to call up a lawyer and ask if you can sit in on a deposition, a small claim trial, a client interview or allow you to draft a petition for him/her. You could ask to help with an investigation in a case so you have experience interviewing witnesses. Even successful attorneys still do the basics on a day-to-day basis. As an example I have premise liability case involving a tenant falling through a window after he tripped; the glass was not tempered and he was seriously injured. We are interviewing witnesses, photographing the scene and creating a dimensional drawing of the location. That’s not very glamorous but it’s something that needs to get done. My office mate does criminal cases and he’s certainly not going to turn over his client’s case to someone with no experience, but I’ll bet a dozen Dunkin Donuts he would let some eager young lawyer go out and interview a few witnesses. These are helpful jobs that sooner or later will lead to a pay check and eventually a more steady flow of income. I live by the rule, some is better than none.
10. If you get a good sizeable case, then partner with an experienced lawyer who has the financial means to foot the bill on the expenses in your case. That way you have a better chance of winning the case, you get mentoring along the way and don’t go broke trying to play Matt Damon in Rainmaker.
11. Don’t sit around doing nothing; instead contact a lawyer and offer to work for low pay, a low percent of the contingent fee or no pay just to learn about a certain type of case and how they are handled. Keep moving your bank of knowledge to earn interest on that investment you made in law school.  
12. Participate in a lawyer-get-together like the one I’m organizing. It’s a good and safe forum to be able to ask general questions, but more importantly it’s a place to meet other young lawyers who are also struggling and to listen to their questions that you may have or will soon encounter. One thing I’d like to do with my group is to ask large law firms to donate unused supplies that we can hand out for free to solo practitioners who are just starting out.
13. Follow law blogs like Carol Elefant's My Shingle where you can ask questions and learn free of charge.

The key to being mentored is to get involved with experienced attorneys and to stay involved. Don’t expect to make money with everything you do. Don’t expect to make a great deal of money to start. Be prepared to work long hours and to do more than you think you should have to do. The key is to impress experience lawyers that trusting you to take care of their clients is a good investment. But get started and stay engaged. Believe in yourself that if you get involved with more experienced lawyers that see your hard work, determination and commitment they won’t want to see less of you, they will want to see more of you and that means involvement in more of their cases and earning more money.

            Okay this is long enough for one day, onward we march! Come up with a plan and start making calls.

PS: Joe did I answer your question?