Published: NH Bar News (p2)
In 1838, J.M.W. Turner painted the The Fighting Temeraire, depicting a famous old sailing ship that had fought at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 against Napoleon’s navy, on its way to being scrapped, tugged by a steamship - new technology not only replacing the old, actively leading it to its destruction.
Most people who see the painting see it as a sad commentary on new technology. The steam tug is rather ugly, the old sailing ship majestic. An era is passing. Some art historians see the opposite. The sun in the background, they point out, is rising, not setting.
The legal profession is facing profound technological change, and it sometimes can feel like we are bound for the proverbial scrapyard. AI bots will do all our work for us and tug us relentlessly to our demise. It is easy to forget that we have weathered profound changes before. We also need to remember that we still have skills and experience that are as desperately needed as ever. We have a duty to pass on those skills to the next generation of lawyers. We also can’t be shy in asking our young lawyers to mentor the older ones, people who may be afraid that a radical new technology is too scary and overwhelming. The newest lawyers have a facility with technology that some of us older practitioners will never have. They have much to teach us.
Our profession is built on tradition, apprenticeship, and the gradual accumulation of experience that no textbook can fully convey. The transition from law school to the realities of client service, courtroom advocacy, and professional development can be both daunting and disorienting. Mentorship bridges that gap, offering new attorneys the guidance, support, and institutional knowledge they need to build successful and fulfilling careers.
At its most fundamental level, mentorship provides lawyers with practical knowledge that formal education simply cannot deliver. Law school teaches students to think analytically, parse statutes, and construct arguments, but it rarely prepares them for the day-to-day realities of legal practice. A mentor can teach how to manage a case file, communicate effectively with opposing counsel, navigate courthouse procedures, or handle a difficult client conversation. These skills are learned through observation and experience, and a mentor accelerates that learning curve dramatically.
A young lawyer can mentor older attorneys on how to craft AI prompts, how to identify mistakes and how to be appropriately skeptical of digital output. Importantly, they can teach how not to be afraid of technology.
From a broader institutional perspective, mentorship strengthens the profession itself. Law firms, government agencies, and public interest organizations that invest in mentorship programs benefit from higher retention rates, stronger team cohesion, and a more robust pipeline of future leaders. When attorneys take the time to mentor colleagues, they transmit not only technical expertise but also the culture, norms, and relationships that sustain legal institutions over time. The mentor-mentee relationship creates networks of trust and mutual obligation that enrich the entire legal community.
So how do we tackle the challenges facing our profession in the coming decade? To begin, on November 6, 2026 the Bar Association and the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law will be hosting a symposium on how to prepare lawyers to become counselors, judges and trusted advisors for the next decade. Central to the discussion will be how we are going to properly mentor and train the next generation. We cannot afford to leave it to how we have done it in the past. There will be some old-fashioned fundamentals and some reliance on understanding and utilizing the technological tools that are developing before our eyes. Like Plato’s Symposium, we will likely leave unanswered questions. But we hope this will be the start of an ongoing process.
So put November 6 on your calendar. Registration will open in September and space will be limited.
Otherwise, you can go to the National Gallery in London and sit in front of The Fighting Temeraire and ponder whether you are the sailing ship or the tugboat.