Colorado Attorney Mentoring Program ("CAMP")
Mentoring in the legal profession is as old as the profession itself. But with the current economics of law practice many new lawyers don’t get any formal guidance, whether in private practice or the public sector. Colorado decided to do something about this. In 2011, the Chief Justice’s Commission on the Legal Profession recommended to the Colorado Supreme Court the establishment of a statewide lawyer mentoring program now known as the Colorado Attorney Mentoring Program (CAMP.) The CAMP programing will be implemented through bar associations, inns of court, law firms, agencies, and other legal organizations throughout the state. CAMP Programs are designed for recent law schools graduates and young lawyers, who are transitioning into private practice, to help them develop the professional identity to become a part of the Colorado legal community. Rule 255 C.R.C.P. establishes CAMP as an independent component of the Supreme Court’s attorney admission, registration and regulation system. CAMP aims to promote professional pride, excellence and identity in the legal profession by forging strong relationships with the bar, courts, clients, law schools and the public. CAMP helps other legal organizations in different ways: 1) Supports and provides training materials to existing mentoring programs; 2) Assists bar associations and other legal organizations in implementing mentoring programs by providing all forms, a template mentoring plan structure, and access to CLE credits for mentors and mentees; 3) Due to the networking opportunities with bar association sponsored programs, CAMP will help mentees find programs in their localities. When needed CAMP will match individual mentees with individual mentors for individualized programs; 4)Through a virtual online mentoring resource center, CAMP will provide readings, mentor and mentee training, videos, and other materials for all lawyers and law offices.
