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ACTL EXPANDS
CRITICAL NATIONAL MENTORING PROGRAM FOR FIRST-GENERATION LAW STUDENTS
AT THE 2022 LEADERSHIP WORKSHOP IN RHODE ISLAND, THEN PRESIDENT SU- SAN HARRIMAN EXHORTED EVERYONE TO MAKE THE COLLEGE MORE RELEVANT. THE COLLEGE’S MENTORING COMMITTEE LISTENED AND SPRANG INTO ACTION.
Past President Jeff Leon and former Regent Christy Jones, under the leader- ship of Past President Doug Young, had led a task force that in 2019 issued a Report on Mentoring, which led to the creation of a new College Mento- ring Committee charged with implementing a program for ACTL Fellows to mentor younger lawyers in developing their trial and professional skills.
The Mentoring Committee devised the “Summer Judicial Internship Men- toring Program,” which was inspired by the opportunity to partner with the Just The Beginning-A Pipeline Organization (“JTB”). JTB historically has provided federal court internship opportunities for first-generation and minority law students. Mentoring Committee Chair John Siffert de- veloped a program in which the College and the Foundation would jointly provide stipends for some of those interns. Additionally, ACTL Fellows would volunteer to coordinate with the judges’ chambers to mentor the summer judicial interns.
The Mentoring Committee implemented the ACTL Summer Judicial In- ternship Mentoring Program in the summer of 2022 under the leadership of Committee Vice Chairs Kimball Anderson and Susan Price. Funded by a substantial grant from the ACTL Foundation, which was augment- ed with a contribution from the College, twenty-one law students each received $4,500 stipends that made it financially possible to gain the ex- perience of interning with federal judges. The experience with the judges was, of course, a horizon-expanding experience. But to maximize the expe- rience, the Mentoring Committee teamed each JTB intern with a Fellow to mentor the student through the internship and beyond.
In 2023, the Mentoring Committee substantially expanded the mentoring part of the program. Approximately 120 Fellows mentored nearly 100 JTB interns, in addition to thirteen interns in the Sonia and Celina Soto- mayor Internship Program in New York.
Vice Chair Susan Price created and produced professional education seminars for the in- terns in 2022 and again in 2023. President Bill Murphy spoke about the mission of the College and Vice Chair Kimball Anderson presented on ethics and professionalism. Ju- dicial Fellow Lindsay Jenkins (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois) talked about her path to the federal judicia- ry. Other Fellows have also generously given their time to present on various career op- portunities in the private and public sectors.
The opportunity to clerk for a federal judge and to be mentored by a Fellow of the Amer- ican College of Trial Lawyers was a game changer for these first-generation interns’ careers. The program further enhanced the College’s brand and goodwill among new lawyers and the federal judiciary.
Comments received from the interns were overwhelmingly positive.
“The project was an enriching experience start to finish. Unlike the supervisors I had within the chambers, such as the judge and her two clerks, Ms. Champion is at the helm of a prominent St. Louis law firm. Her pro- found insights into the local legal market, the intricacies of law firm operations, and the working conditions for attorneys gave me invaluable knowledge that I wouldn’t have accessed within the chambers.”
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