Survey: Nearly Half Of Lawyers Say Mentors And Peers Are 'Go-To' Sources For Legal Career Advice, Beating Out Family Members

MENLO PARK, Calif., Oct. 14, 2015 /CNW/ -- Lawyers provide legal counsel to others, but who do attorneys turn to for advice on managing their own careers? Nearly one-quarter (24 percent) of lawyers interviewed by Robert Half Legal said mentors are their single best sources of career advice. Coworkers or peers ranked second, receiving 23 percent of the survey response.

The survey was developed by Robert Half Legal, a legal staffing and consulting solutions firm specializing in lawyers, paralegals and other highly skilled legal professionals. It was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on 350 telephone interviews with lawyers in the United States and Canada: 175 of the respondents are employed at law firms with 20 or more employees and 175 are employed at companies with 1,000 or more employees.

Lawyers were asked, "Which of the following people has been your single best source of career advice?" Their responses:*

Mentor	24%
Coworker or peer	23%
Boss	19%
Spouse, partner or significant other	14%
Parent or other family member or relative	13%
Judge	3%
Other	2%
Don't know/no answer	3%
	101%

*Total percentage does not equal 100 due to rounding.

"Whether you're a newly minted associate or senior-level attorney, forging strong professional relationships is a smart career move," said Charles Volkert, executive director of Robert Half Legal. "Having mentors both inside and outside of your organization can provide you with valuable perspectives at key decision points in your legal career."

About Robert Half Legal

Robert Half Legal is the premier provider of legal staffing and consulting solutions for law firms and corporate legal departments. With North American and global locations, Robert Half Legal provides a customized approach, including managed review, legal project management and eDiscovery services, to help organizations handle constantly changing workloads. The company offers in-demand expertise across practice areas as well as highly skilled legal professionals on a temporary, project and full-time basis. More information about our full suite of legal staffing and consulting solutions can be found at roberthalflegal.com. For career and management advice, follow our Legal Blog at blog.roberthalflegal.com.

SOURCE Robert Half Legal

Lisa Hamilton, [phone], [email protected], http://www.roberthalflegal.com