Women's Mentoring Program | Law Society of NSW

Connecting women with over five years experience in the profession with more experienced practitioners to support and encourage their career progression and advancement into leadership roles.

Read the Law Society of NSW Charter for the Advancement of Women in the Legal Profession

Click the following links to find out more about the Women's Mentoring Program:

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible to apply as a mentee or mentor in the Women's Program, you must meet the following criteria:

Mentees

You are a member of the Law Society of NSW;

You are female with over five years experience as a practising lawyer;

You are currently employed as a solicitor;

You commit to meeting with your mentor at least once per month for the 10-month program;

You agree to a check being conducted with the Law Society of NSW Professional Standards Department to ensure there are no disciplinary reasons why you should not be accepted into the program;

You complete and submit an online application form with payment.

Mentors

You are a member of the Law Society of NSW;

You are an experienced senior lawyer with at least 10 years PQE (both men and women lawyers are invited to apply as mentors);

You are willing to meet with your assigned mentee on a voluntary basis at least once per month over the 10-month program;

You agree to a check being conducted with the Law Society of NSW Professional Standards Department to ensure there are no disciplinary reasons why you should not be accepted into the program.

Program timeline

Applications are now closed
Launch event - 22 July 2020
Mid-program event - 18 November 2020
Program close - 5 May 2021

Mentee responsibilities

As a mentee, you are responsible for establishing the path you would like to follow during the mentoring process. The main aim of mentoring is to help you determine your broad career and personal development goals and define a plan to help you achieve them. You are responsible for driving the relationship with your mentor including arranging meetings and setting the agenda. You need to take a proactive role in shaping the relationship with your mentor and put your time with them to best use by:

Understanding what you want from the mentoring relationship and communicating your goals and aspirations clearly to your mentor
Setting aside time for the mentoring process, being flexible with meeting times and locations and keeping all scheduled appointments with your mentor
Having your topics for discussion at each meeting planned in advance
Responding to your mentor's feedback in a timely manner
Being honest with your mentor about your challenges and weaknesses
Balancing the personal and professional relationship with your mentor
Always displaying professional behaviour

Participation and matching will depend on suitable mentors applying, and therefore is not guaranteed.

Read our FAQ's

Mentor responsibilities

A mentor is a guide, a friend and a resource who derives satisfaction from helping others succeed. Your role as a mentor is to inspire, encourage and support your mentee and contribute to their professional and personal development by:

Committing to at least one hour of support per month for your mentee
Setting aside time for the mentoring process and honouring all appointments you've agreed to with your mentee
If appropriate, inviting your mentee to meetings or activities
Checking-in with your mentee frequently via phone, email or face-to-face
Keeping any information they share with you confidential. If your mentee raises something that needs to be discussed with others, it should first be discussed within the mentoring relationship
Establishing open and honest communication and a forum for idea exchange that fosters your mentee's creativity and independence
Helping to build your mentee's self-confidence and offer encouragement when needed
Providing honest and timely feedback and ensuring there are plenty of opportunities for your mentee to ask questions and talk about any concerns they may have.
Above all, listen.

Participation and matching will depend on suitable mentors applying, and therefore is not guaranteed.

Read our FAQ's

Cost

There is an administration fee of $140 (inc GST) for mentees only*. There are no fees for mentors as they are volunteering their time.

Payment must be made via the payment gateway link in the online application form. In the instance where an appropriate mentor match cannot be found, your fee will be fully refunded.

*As part of the Law Society's Indigenous Reconciliation Strategic Plan, the fee will be waived for Indigenous mentees.

Apply

A few pointers before you apply:

Make sure you have read all the program information and understand your commitments before you apply
The application will take about 10 minutes and needs to be completed in full for acceptance into the program - your progress is saved as you go
We recommend using a desktop or laptop as some questions require detailed responses
Spaces are limited so don't wait or you might miss out

Applications are now closed. Register your interest in the 2021 Women's Mentoring Program here.

Mentoring Partnership

The Law Society has partnered with Art of Mentoring to deliver best practice mentoring techniques and support all mentees and mentors involved in our programs. Each mentoring program has its own dedicated online platform where you can apply for the program and find all the necessary program resources in one place. This platform is accessible via desktop, phone or tablet anywhere, anytime.