YLD Law Student Division is in need of mentors.

Attorneys are invited to sign up to mentor law students, locally or long-distance, to help them transition into practice and engage in networking opportunities.

The transition from law student to lawyer can be a daunting one, and the Young

Lawyers Division's Law Student Division is asking attorney s in every practice area statewide to get involved.

The mentoring program was designed to establish relationships between professionals and students who want to learn more about a certain practice area or hope to harness a connection in a specific location where they would like to start practicing after graduation.

Valerie B. Barnhart, a YLD board member from Ft. Lauderdale, has nurtured a connection with a local mentee for almost a year.

"I wish I would have had someone when I was a law student," said Barnhart. "I kind of feel like it's my obligation to give back to the profession. It's rewarding because you're building a good relationship. In my instance, we've become really close."

Barnhart consults with her mentee on everything from law review articles and job offers to clerk at different firms.

"It has been a fantastic experience for me. It's very rare to have the opportunity to really be unselfish and be happy for somebody else's successes and help groom them," she said. "That has really been the payback for me."

With so many of the civility and professionalism problems in courtrooms today, Barnhart explained that mentoring can alleviate some of those issues by advising inexperienced lawyers-to-be on how they should deal with legal bullies or address specific unexpected situations.

"These students get out of school and they go into court for the first time thinking they need to be pounding their chest, and that's not how it should go." Barnhart said. "Professionalismwise, it's a contribution because you're giving them insight on how to be civil, and maybe the better way to handle things."

Students may select whether they prefer to be paired with a local mentor or an across-the-state mentor, with whom they can communicate electronically or by phone. Last year, over 400 student-attorney mentoring pairings were matched.

Barnhart added that by investing in someone else's success, networking...