Starting in September 2012, for the fourth year, the OBA is aiming to link its young lawyers with experienced ones who are able to provide guidance and practice tips to facilitate the young lawyers’ successful integration into the legal profession and community. The program will also allow mentors to share their accumulated knowledge, stay in touch with current legal trends and develop leadership skills. Ultimately, our goal is to develop meaningful relationships and to encourage candid conversation about life and law.

The application deadline for  Mentees is August 20, 2012 with the Mentors having a deadline of August 31, 2012.  However, we will be accepting applications on an ongoing basis throughout the year.


Ottawa and Kingston
Lead by Leanna Olson and Patricia Simpson in Ottawa and Kristin Muszynski in Kingston. Ottawa and Kingston had a very successful pilot year and are looking forward to continuing Mentorship in their cities.
 

Windsor                Greg Goulin, Chair
Guelph                  Cherolyn Knapp, Chair
Thunder Bay          Peter Mrowiec, Chair
Sault Ste. Marie     Wayne Chorney, Chair
 

GTA - Toronto, York, Durham and Peel Regions
Jamie Trimble and Patricia De Sario, Co-Chairs.
 

GTA Committee: Angela Chu, Igor Ellyn, Derek R. Freeman, Michael Kealy, Kelly McDermott, Guillermo Schible, Martin Sorensen, Edwin G. Upenieks, Caroline Ursulak, Cheryl S. Williams


This program will fill a void for the region’s young lawyers and provide invaluable mentoring that will benefit the entire legal community. We also aim to be as inclusive as possible, with the goal of providing a mentor for all young lawyers accepted to the program as mentees, no matter where they practice, and to provide diversity group specific mentors for any mentee requesting one.

One Year Commitment

The mentorship commitment runs for one year, with the aim of pairs connecting at least once every six weeks. Recognizing the busy nature of everyone’s schedules, we encourage emails and phone calls between pairs, but also expect an in-person meeting at least every three months, if distance permits.

The Ontario Bar Association will endeavour to solve any conflicts that may rarely arise during the course of the mentoring relationship and will maintain online resources and discussion topics to facilitate the process. Please see the links on this website for the various program documents and applications, as well as resource links for mentees and mentors and contact information for questions not answered on the website.

All information collected in the matching process will remain strictly confidential and be used for the sole purpose of the mentoring program.

Mentoring and the Continuing Professional Development Requirement

Mentoring activities are a convenient way for both mentors and mentees to earn up to 6 CPD Hours  every calendar year.

Any time spent discussing substantive or procedural law topics can be used as Substantive Hours. Professional Hours can also be acquired through mentoring activities by applying to the Law Society at least 30 days in advance of the session and including an outline or agenda highlighting the professionalism, ethics, and/or practice management content.

New lawyers may obtain New Member CPD Hours for mentoring activities that include a significant amount of professionalism content.

Mentoring sessions can take place in person or over the telephone.

Supporting documentation such as notes and outlines for mentoring activities should be kept until the end of the following calendar year for administrative purposes.

Contact the OBA for more information about the Mentorship Program or the Law Society of Upper Canada for more information about CPD Requirements.

CLICK HERE to read a blog from one of our Mentee's.