Lawyers as MENTORs
The program called MENTOR in these web pages is essentially a partnering of lawyers with students. Since 1982, the MENTOR program in New York City has grown and flourished. In 2007-2008 58 law firms are paired with New York City public schools.
When he initially conferred with lawyers in developing the program, MENTOR founder Thomas W. Evans described the role of MENTOR lawyers in the Invitation below, which describes the theme of lawyers as MENTORS.

AN INVITATION TO LAWYERS
While our principal pro bono activity must remain the representation of indigent clients, we nevertheless have a significant duty to the public to explain our profession, the way the courts function and the opportunities and responsibilities afforded by the law. MENTOR is an ideal way to do this. We reach young minds, eager to receive information, guided by teachers skilled in law-related education. The added dimension which we bring to the process is practical experience. The heightened student interest makes possible results which could not otherwise be readily attained. And yet the program requires very little time from lawyers, who simply explain what they do and permit students to watch while they work. Lawyers and other law firm employees find immense satisfaction in the program.
MENTOR Manual 1983

The Basic MENTOR Program
The four basic MENTOR activities are:
1) A lawyer visit to the school, serving as a guest lecturer for their designated class.
2) A school visit is made to the law firm or agency, enabling students to be exposed to various careers. Lunch with the partners or lead agency personnel helps to “demystify” the legal profession.
3) A visit by their students to court is arranged and led by their MENTOR lawyers.
4) An elective activity is planned and held. In New York City, the elective activity is the MENTOR Moot Court Competition, co-sponsored by Fordham University Law school. This year, 46 New York City teams coached by their MENTOR law firms competed in multiple-elimination rounds, arguing a difficult appellate case.

Four MENTOR Manuals were published as the program grew.

The MENTOR Moot Court
During the fall of 2007 the 23 annual MENTOR Moot Court wasbe conducted in New York City. Dozens of high schools competed for the championship and the possession for the following year of the MENTOR Bowl. The student attorneys who compete are coached by lawyers from the firms in which they are paired in MENTOR.

The event is now older than its competitors and is sometimes coached by lawyers whose interest in the law was stimulated in their own high school years by arguing as student attorneys in the earlier years of the court.

In 1988, Fordham University School of Law became host for the competition. An editorial position for MENTOR was created on the Fordham Moot Court Board. Each year the Fordham editor is responsible for writing the problem to be argued by high school students. Preliminary rounds are held in classrooms at Fordham Law School where law students serve as judges. Finals are held in a United States courtroom before federal judges.

The 2007 MENTOR Moot Court
The 2006 MENTOR Moot Court
The 2005 MENTOR Moot Court
The 2004 MENTOR Moot Court

New York City MENTOR Law Firm/School Pairings

The United States National Law MENTOR Program
Lawyers as Mentors: The Program That Started It All was the title of an article in the Winter 1997 edition of Human Rights, a publication of the American Bar Association. As the article stated: “The original MENTOR program, created among five law firms in New York City has spread far and wide.”

    Those five pairings were made in December 1982 in a conference room of the Wall Street law firm Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon. MENTOR was founded and guided over its first decade by a partner in the firm, Thomas W. Evans. The reigns were taken over by Debevoise & Plimpton LLP partner John S. Kiernan and subsequently Dewey Ballantine LLP partner Aldo A. Badini who now leads the program.

    The Human Rights article quotes this advice: “Debra Lesser, director of the national MENTOR program, swears that she advises participants to start small. A law firm paired with a school in the program agrees to follow three steps: To send a lawyer to visit the school and talk with a class, take the class to a courtroom to observe a legal proceeding, and invite the class to the firm for lunch with other lawyers. That’s all.

    “’It’s a structured program and flexible enough that it’s not taxing on a lawyer’s time,’ said Lesser . . . . ‘Teachers love it because it excites the kids. It’s a win-win situation for everybody.’”
The same article summed up MENTOR’s value:

    “Evaluations by the New York City Board of Education have concluded the program not only acquainted students with the courts, the legal profession and the law, but also resulted in students having more respect for school and their teachers, and a deeper interest in their studies. The major goals are to guide students in recognizing the impact of the law on their lives, increase their knowledge and appreciation of the legal system and provide information on possible careers.”

    As the title American Bar Association gave to its article implies in “Started It All,” mentoring of students by lawyers in a variety of activities has had its origins in MENTOR program.

    The wisdom to start small had a Johnny Appleseed effect. Since the first five law firms and schools in New York City were paired in MENTOR in 1982, other programs have sprouted in cities and states across the United States. Programs in more than twenty states have involved over a million students over more than two decades.

    Utah, Washington, DC, New Jersey, Chicago and Los Angeles continue to participate in the official program. Other states have replicated the model and have folded MENTOR into their local law-related projects. Efforts are underway to expand the national program.

            The Justice Resource Center acts as a national office for MENTOR and will be publishing a new edition of the MENTOR Manual.