Robin Hensley, Raising the Bar Robin Hensley, Raising the Bar

One of the first rules of practice development, says J. Scot Kirkpatrick, is “you have to bring the younger people along.”

Kirkpatrick, a shareholder at Chamberlain Hrdlicka, has led the trust and estates group in the firm's Atlanta office since 1989. “An essential part of growing a practice is mentoring,” Kirkpatrick says he has learned over the years.

The transformation from eager young lawyer to a steady, mature person who is making a solid contribution to the practice will go much faster if senior lawyers get involved, Kirkpatrick says. Chamberlain has a well-thought-out formal program for mentoring, including accountability metrics, but Kirkpatrick says it's the informal daily interaction between senior and junior lawyers and a commitment to teaching and learning that make the difference.