{"id":5024,"date":"2025-10-15T19:37:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T19:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/?p=5024"},"modified":"2025-10-15T19:37:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T19:37:00","slug":"mentoring-plays-key-role-in-student-alumni-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/mentoring-plays-key-role-in-student-alumni-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Mentoring Plays Key Role in Student, Alumni Success"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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By Adam Stone<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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For many attorneys, mentoring is the key to success. The American Bar Association <\/span>reports<\/span><\/a> that 85 percent of women and 81 percent of multicultural professionals say they need \u201cnavigational help\u201d\u202fat some point in their careers.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

UBalt Law meets that need in part through moot court and mock trial, where alumni coaches typically do more than just fine-tune specific legal skills. They also mentor the student competitors, helping them to develop leadership traits, career-planning skills, and overall self-confidence. And the mentors say these relationships in turn make them better leaders and better lawyers themselves.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Here are a few of their stories.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u2018J<\/span><\/b>oy in seeing someone else succeed\u2019<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>

\"\"Erek Barron, the former U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, greatly increased African American representation in the office. <\/span>Beatrice \u201cBea\u201d Thomas, J.D. \u201919,<\/span><\/b> became an assistant U.S. attorney in 2022 under his leadership.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cHe had been a <\/span>mentor to me at my previous firm, and he just did not hesitate to support me,\u201d Thomas says. Through UBalt Law, she is supporting others in turn, coaching mock trial and also mentoring first-year students through the Law Career Development Office.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

She\u2019s also starting a <\/span>term as president of the Alliance of Black Women Attorneys of Maryland, a post previously held by all the major mentors in her life:<\/span> Maryland Supreme Court Justice Shi<\/span>rley M. Watts; <\/span>Hon. Teresa Epps Cummings, J.D. \u201902<\/span><\/b>; <\/span>and Johns Hopkins VP for Civic Engagement and Opportunity Alicia Wilson.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

As Thomas mentors students and others in the skills of leadership, she focuses on communication: Not just what they say, but also <\/span>\u201cactively listening to other people, which is so important,\u201d she says. She puts a premium on empathy, \u201cunderstanding that everyone has a different journey \u2026 that shapes who they are and how they think.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

And she leans heavily into strategic thinking. \u201cNone of us has the capacity to do everything all the time. You have to pick a few things that you know you want to dedicate your time to, the things that are important to you. And then when you do that, do it well,\u201d she says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Helping others to thrive is a source of personal pride for Thomas, who can appreciate the importance of having strong professional role models early on.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Black women make up a tiny fraction of the legal profession, \u201cand for me there’s a joy in seeing someone else succeed, seeing them forge a path forward,\u201d she says, \u201cI get great satisfaction from problem-solving and helping people become resilient in this thing called the law \u2014 because it’s not for the faint of heart.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u2018Incredibly rewarding\u2019<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>

\"\"As a law student, <\/span>Jessica Swadow, J.D. \u201916,<\/span><\/b> was on the moot court appellate advocacy competition team. UBalt Law adjunct professor Laurie Bennett showed her the ropes, helping to hone her skills. Bennett went on to become a mentor and a friend.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cI always seek her opinion,\u201d says Swadow, who is contracts associate counsel at Towson University. \u201cShe’s been a sounding board for musings on my career, a great person for me to bounce ideas off of.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Bennett\u2019s model of leadership has helped Swadow to become a leader herself: Since 2017, she\u2019s partnered with her former mentor to co-coach the moot court team.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cW<\/span>e work with the students to enhance their skills in brief writing, and their oral advocacy skills for competition,\u201d Swadow says. And the relationships go deeper than that. \u201cIt always expands well beyond the competition. I provide a lot of mentoring and feedback on everything from things to do with law school classes, to what they want to do after law school, thinking about different career options.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The mentoring relationship \u201cis incredibly rewarding,\u201d she says. \u201cI get to see those skills develop, to see them become better advocates, better critical thinkers.<\/span> It is fantastic.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u2018The attorney personality that fits them\u2019<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>

\"\"As an assistant public defender in Baltimore County, <\/span>Amanda Sirleaf, J.D. \u201923,<\/span><\/b> knows it takes inner strength to succeed in the courtroom. As she coaches and mentors law students in mock trial, she looks to share that strength with others.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cThe first thing that\u2019s super important is making sure their confidence is up, because there’s a lot of self-doubt in this profession \u2014 for everyone,\u201d she says. \u201cAs a leader, I try to shine a light on things that are specific about them: \u2018You\u2019re really good at making people feel emotions<\/span>,<\/span><\/i>\u2019<\/span> or, \u2018You’re really good at describing things and breaking things down.\u2019\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

When Sirleaf was in law school, husband-and-wife coaches <\/span>Ashley Bond Beasley, J.D. \u201916<\/span><\/b>, and <\/span>Benjamin Beasley, J.D. \u201914<\/span><\/b>, offered more of a tough-love mentoring style. \u201cThey didn’t sugarcoat, and they definitely made sure I had some tough skin,\u201d she says. \u201cThere are still things I do to this day \u2014 or things I will not do \u2014 because of their coaching. They were always there to pick me up after a mistake.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Mock Trial coach <\/span>Annemarie Duerr, J.D. \u201922<\/span><\/b>, a UBalt Law adjunct professor, further helped her to build both her legal chops and her leadership skills, and <\/span>Sirleaf went on to co-coach with her. Other mentors in her life have included her first boss, Shawn Bartley, as well as<\/span> family law and immigration attorney <\/span>Shari Hoidra, J.D. \u201912<\/span><\/b>. \u201cShe helped me learn to maneuver as a woman of color in the legal world,\u201d Sirleaf says.<\/span><\/p>

As Sirleaf leads students through the mock trial experience, she looks to help them find their authentic selves. <\/span>When <\/span>attorneys model themselves after classmates or TV characters, \u201cit can come off as unnatural, not genuine,\u201d she says.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m trying to help them find the attorney personality that fits them. That\u2019s huge, especially for litigators.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

A launching pad<\/span><\/b><\/h4>

\"\"Nick Szokoly, J.D. \u201903<\/span><\/b>.<\/span> knows<\/span> from experience just<\/span> how impactful a moot court mentorship can be.<\/span><\/p>

Now a partner with Murphy Falcon Murphy, he started his first year as an evening student at UBalt Law while still finishing his undergrad degree. He tried out for the moot court consolidated competition, \u201cand the professor who led it at the time, Byron L. Warnken, took an interest in me,\u201d he says. \u201cIt changed the entire trajectory of my career.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Warnken, who passed in 2022, taught him how to be a lawyer and a leader. \u201cEverything I ever learned about how to practice law and run a law firm, I learned from Byron,\u201d Szokoly says. Along with Warnken, faculty members Ernie Crowfoot and the late Richard \u201cDick\u201d Bourne<\/span> helped guide his path.<\/span><\/p>

Now Szokoly is doing the same for others. As a moot court coach and mentor, he tells students that moot court can be a launching pad: \u201cThis is your opportunity to circulate with practicing lawyers and judges, to make relationships that can really make a difference in your life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

It certainly did in Szokoly\u2019s case. As he reflects on the impact that Warnken had on his career, he says, \u201cI can’t think of a single outcome that would have been the same if it hadn’t been for Byron\u2019s mentorship and moot court.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Adam Stone <\/em><\/strong>is a writer based in Annapolis.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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By Adam Stone For many attorneys, mentoring is the key to success. The American Bar Association reports that 85 percent of women and 81 percent of multicultural professionals say they need \u201cnavigational help\u201d\u202fat some point in their careers. UBalt Law meets that need in part through moot court and mock trial, where alumni coaches typically […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3596,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,27],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5024"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5024"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5277,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5024\/revisions\/5277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}