By AdvocateDaily.com Staff

Mentoring law-school graduates at Ryerson University’s Law Practice Program (LLP) has been surprising, exhausting, but ultimately extremely satisfying, for Toronto criminal lawyer Melanie Webb.

The LPP, an intensive eight-month program that offers an alternative to the traditional 10-month articling positions that prepare candidates for admission to the bar, sees students spend 16 weeks in “virtual law practices,” guided and assessed by mentors, followed by four months in placements at actual law firms.

Webb, the founder and principal at Melanie J. Webb, Barrister, has many years of mentoring law students and junior associates under her belt. But serving as a mentor in the 16-week virtual learning phase of the Ryerson program is a first for her.

“I really didn’t know that much about the program — most people in the general profession probably aren’t aware,” she tells AdvocateDaily.com. “I have to say I’m impressed, having seen how comprehensive and how rigorous it is."

As a mentor, Webb meets weekly for one hour with one of the program’s virtual law firms through a web-conferencing program. She also conducts twice-monthly individual meetings with students and marks several assignments a week.

“I wasn’t expecting quite so much of it,” she says. “But that’s fine — it’s just been a bit of a learning curve.”

The assignments range from full-blown research memos consisting of four to five pages, single-spaced, on various topics such as criminal, family law or estates law, to reports on meetings with clients. These clients are professional actors playing a part.

Another assignment has students make a recording of their response to a client voicemail.

“They actually take out their microphone and record a voicemail message so we can evaluate them on their client communication skills.”

Mentors also observe at least two meetings between firm members and simulated clients.

“There’s quite a bit of time commitment, which I wasn’t expecting, and it was quite a challenge,” Webb says.

She has had to work a lot of late nights to keep up her own practice during the 16-week mentoring period.

“But I recommend it to other lawyers, especially those who have support staff to help them when there’s a time crunch,” she says. “It’s quite rewarding from a personal perspective.

“I do it because it’s part of giving back to the profession and contributing to the future of the profession.”

While it is hard work for her, it’s nothing compared to the workload faced by the students, Webb says.

“It’s intensive and full time. There are students who are holding down part-time or full-time jobs as well, or caring for children. I have no idea how they’re doing it.”

The students go on field trips — to courthouses for example — to observe how proceedings unfold. They also learn to put together a business plan and manage a law firm’s finances.

“Students are making the decision to participate in the Ryerson LPP because it gives them quite a bit of hands-on experience about the business side of running a law firm as well, which they may not get as much exposure to in a typical articling position.

“I mean, managing partners don’t typically take every articling student and say ‘here’s how you draw up a business plan’.”

Webb says she has heard anecdotally, from other lawyers, that some students coming out of Ryerson seem better equipped for the real world than some who are coming out of traditional articling positions.