Summer Programs: Peoria, IL
Mentoring
By virtue of being a smaller sized office, the mentoring program for Summer Associates in Peoria is much less formal than in other offices. That is not to say, however, that the mentoring program is not an important part of the Summer Associate experience. Every Summer Associate in Peoria is assigned a mentor at the beginning of the summer, typically an Associate in our Peoria office.
Initially, the mentor will meet with the Summer Associate to give him or her "the lay of the land" in our office. The mentor is a valuable resource in answering a variety of questions from the most basic, such as where the coffee machine is located or how to fill out a timesheet, to the more complex, including how to negotiate the computer network or develop a strategy for completing an assignment.
The mentor also typically reviews the Summer Associate's first few written assignments to offer tips and suggestions before the completed assignment is delivered to the assigning attorney. The mentor maintains an open door policy, manages the Summer Associate's workload, answers questions as they arise, and provides feedback on the Summer Associate's progress. The mentor (and one or two other attorneys in our office) will also accompany the Summer Associate to the firmwide Summer Associate social event, held for the last several years in our St. Louis office.
As with all of our firm's offices, the ultimate goal of the summer program is to make an offer of full-time employment to the Summer Associates. As each Summer Associate will discover, the mentoring program is a key component of ensuring the success of the summer program.