The law strand of the Brunel Mentoring scheme was officially launched with an event at the London offices of Top 50 UK law firm, Blake Morgan, on the 18 November.
The event was opened by Blake Morgan Partner and Brunel alumnus, Tony Coyne, followed by Prof Arad Reisberg (Brunel Head of Law School), and Bertie Ross (Brunel Mentoring Programme Lead) who facilitated the mentoring itself.
In the three years since the law-specific strand of the Mentoring scheme was piloted, over 90 Brunel law students have benefitted from working with a legal mentor. The value of mentoring is recognised by mentors and mentees alike, enabling student mentees to take their first steps in making contacts in the law, and gaining a practical insight into a legal career.
40 mentors and mentees attended the event and the Brunel law students who attended were eager to meet their individual assigned mentors, who included Brunel alumni, Government Legal Lawyers and Blake Morgan personnel. Throughout the six-month programme, mentors will support their students through face-to-face meetings at the mentor’s place of work and regular communication in the interim by phone and email.
Later in the evening, Professor Reisberg presented Tony Coyne with a Brunel Mentoring Champion Award in recognition of his support of the law-mentoring programme since its inception. Blake Morgan lawyers, along with the Government Legal Department, have consistently been one of the greatest supporters of the law strand of the Brunel Mentoring Programme.
Bridget Lavin, the Careers Consultant for Law (Brunel Professional Development Centre), who has been involved with the law-mentoring strand since its inception and was delighted with the long-awaited launch.“Everyone I spoke to said how much they enjoyed the evening and several students have sought me out to say how much they had enjoyed meeting their mentor and were excited about their next meeting”.