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As the legal profession undergoes rapid change, one principal is sounding the alarm over what early-career lawyers could be losing along the way: meaningful mentorship and the practical skills it has traditionally helped them build.
For early-career lawyers, learning the law is only one part of becoming an effective practitioner.
Understanding how to run a matter strategically, communicate professionally and exercise sound judgement can take years to develop – and experienced mentors can play a critical role in closing that gap.
Selina Nikoloudakis, principal of Divorce Legal, flagged a critical gap facing junior lawyers, with limited access to experienced mentors potentially leaving them to learn the complex art of running a matter from start to finish largely through experience.
“One of the biggest challenges I see for early-career lawyers is learning how to run a file from both a strategic and practical perspective,” she said.
“It is not just about understanding the law, but about managing a matter from start to finish, keeping on top of deadlines, understanding the procedural steps involved, and ensuring that nothing is overlooked along the way.”
She said junior lawyers must learn from experienced practitioners that their role goes far beyond being the client’s mouthpiece, with strong legal practice requiring sharp strategic thinking, sound judgement, and an appreciation of how every decision can ultimately shape the outcome for both the matter and the client.
“Practitioners need to remember that they are not merely the client’s mouthpiece,” she said.
“For many junior lawyers, there is a steep learning curve in remembering the countless procedural steps involved in running a matter effectively, whilst ensuring that they comply with their ethical obligations.”
But navigating the mechanics of a matter is only one part of the challenge.
Nikoloudakis also pointed to the difficulty junior lawyers can face when learning how to advocate strongly without allowing their communication to become unnecessarily aggressive.
“Another challenge is learning how to advocate effectively without feeling that every interaction needs to be aggressive. There can be a misconception that strong advocacy is demonstrated through combative correspondence,” she said.
The rise of what she described as “keyboard warriors” has only added to that pressure, with the speed and convenience of email making it easier for lawyers to fire off messages that can escalate rather than resolve an issue.
“Further, the rise of what many refer to as ‘keyboard warriors’ has only reinforced this challenge. The speed and convenience of email can encourage unnecessarily adversarial communication,” she said.
As the simple phone call becomes less common, Nikoloudakis warned that losing the habit of resolving issues directly and collaboratively could come at a cost, with the way lawyers handle a matter potentially influencing whether clients can afford to keep paying for legal services.
“Gone are the days when practitioners simply pick up the phone, have a conversation with the lawyer on the other side and work through issues in a practical and collegiate way,” she said.
“How a practitioner handles a client’s matter can, to a degree, impact on whether the client can afford the services of a lawyer.”
It is in these everyday moments, Nikoloudakis believes, that mentorship can have its greatest impact.
An experienced mentor, she explained, can show younger lawyers that not every disagreement needs to become a strongly worded email and that, in many circumstances, a simple phone call can resolve an issue more efficiently and constructively.
“An experienced mentor can demonstrate that not every issue requires a strongly worded email and that, in many cases, a telephone conversation is far more effective,” she said.
“On the other hand, they can teach young lawyers when it is appropriate to put pen to paper, or, fingers to keyboard rather!”
Yet the value of mentorship extends far beyond knowing when to pick up the phone or hit send.
For Nikoloudakis, some of the most important lessons of legal practice are difficult to teach formally and instead come from watching experienced practitioners navigate real-world situations.
“Equally important, they can model professional judgement. Practical lessons in communication and professionalism are invaluable and are often what distinguish good lawyers from truly exceptional ones,” she said.
Nikoloudakis warned that if current trends continue, the legal profession could see one of its most valued strengths begin to fade, with the collegiality that has long shaped relationships between practitioners increasingly at risk.
“I do have concerns that, if the current culture continues, we risk losing some of the collegiality that has traditionally characterised our profession,” she said.
“Respect between lawyers has long been one of the profession’s strengths, particularly in family law where ongoing professional relationships are important.”
She cautioned that when senior practitioners are no longer there to model these behaviours, younger lawyers could miss out on developing the professionalism, respect, and collaboration that have long underpinned the profession.
“Without experienced mentors modelling professionalism, civility, and mutual respect, younger generations of lawyers may miss the opportunity to develop those qualities themselves,” she said.
