WHAT
Mentor in Law is a monthly newsletter featuring articles originally published in my Mentor in Law column for Colorado Lawyer Magazine. It’s written for law students, pre-law students, recent graduates, and junior lawyers. It focuses on what law school often overlooks—how to build a legal career in the real world. Each column offers practical, actionable advice on topics like choosing a practice area, navigating law firm life, and exploring nontraditional paths.
If there’s a topic you’d like to see covered, reach out at nyssa [at] nyssapchopra [dot] com.
Subscribe below, join the Mentor in Law LinkedIn Group, where I typically post job opportunities and other resources, and follow Mentor in Law on Instagram.
WHY
I frequently receive requests for coffee, phone calls, and/or mentorship from law students and lawyers. In speaking to so many law students and drawing from my own law school experience, I realized there is so much law schools don’t teach you about the practice of law and being a lawyer in general. I wish I had sought out a mentor in law much earlier to help guide me through OCI, interviews, jobs, networking, and general lawyering, so I hope this newsletter bridges that information gap for others and serves as another resource to learn the practical skills to thrive as an aspiring or practicing lawyer. I am a strong advocate of impactful mentorship, and having been both the mentor and mentee, I know firsthand what magic can come from people believing in you, your abilities, and your potential, and people providing proper guidance and access to opportunities that may not have hit your radar otherwise. In addition to providing an opportunity to scale the advice and pay it forward, my goal for this newsletter is to amplify diverse voices in the legal profession, particularly first-generation and minority lawyers. Representation matters, and different things resonate with different people.
WHO
While the primary audience of this newsletter is law students and associates at law firms, much of the content will be relevant to all lawyers in general, particularly those that are looking to move jobs, change careers, or switch practice areas. So all lawyers are welcome to sign up. Pre-law students are also welcome to sign up.
WHEN
Monthly.
