Mentoring BLS Students

A report in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle features the efforts of BLS alumna Hemalee J. Patel, Class of 1991, the current president of the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association (BWBA), in developing a mentoring program for BLS law students. This week, the BWBA, a chapter of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY), held a special event where about 25 BLS law school attendees were able to speak with several attorneys during one-on-one sessions of eight minutes each. The program allowed participants to discover how their mentors developed their careers. Attorneys offered advice on how to build a network of contacts within the legal profession. Membership for student in the BWBA is free.

“WBASNY, or the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York, does long-term mentoring, but this is a little different,” Patel said. “It’s important for law students to understand early on what the bar association does and to get law students involved without a big commitment.” Patel was admitted to the bar of the State of New York in 1991 and to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1998, one of a few South Asian lawyers in the history of the Court to receive this honor. Last year, the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association celebrated the 90th anniversary of its founding in 1918 with the 90th Annual Dinner which was held at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle article, True to Tradition, Hemalee Patel Leads Brooklyn Women’s Bar, by Samuel Newhouse explains in greater detail the community efforts of one of Brooklyn Law School’s most active local graduates.