Marriah Paige, an associate at Thomas Kennedy Sampson & Tompkins, wrote this about Shermela Williams, a senior associate: “She has helped me improve my acumen as a young lawyer in various ways. Shermela is committed to cultivating the talents of the young lawyers at the firm by assigning challenging tasks, reviewing our work, and talking through case strategy. On several occasions, Shermela has stopped what she was doing in order to address my case concerns. I remember one time in particular, Shermela was preparing for an important deposition in a major case, and I needed feedback on a negotiation letter. Although she was swamped with her own work, she stopped what she was doing to review my letter and offer substantive feedback. Shermela is a trainer and teacher at heart. She always seeks ways to help less-experienced colleagues become better lawyers.”

Who was one of your most important mentors, and what was that relationship like?

I have had the immense blessing of having a plethora of mentors, both personally and professionally, many of whom did not even know that they were my mentor. One of my most important mentors is and was my mother. Throughout my life, she has modeled faith, work ethic, compassion, service, sacrifice, perseverance, tenacity and many other qualities that have shaped me into the person and the lawyer that I am today.

What is the biggest challenge to maintaining a mentor-mentee relationship?

The biggest challenge in maintaining a mentor-mentee relationship is ensuring that you make the requisite time to meaningfully and continuously invest in your mentee and adjusting to the varying seasons and needs of the relationship.