TYLA Project

Speed Mentoring for Women Law Students:  Preparing for Your Future Now
By:  Shaprecia Bryson

Though women comprise over half the students in law school, they remain woefully underrepresented in senior positions in our profession, whether in private practice, the judiciary, or corporate America.  TYLA would like to address this issue by exploring the barriers facing female attorneys, and how they can overcome these barriers to advance their legal careers and flourish within the legal community.  It is with these goals in mind that TYLA would like to foster a dialogue amongst current female law students with Speed Mentoring.

TYLA plans to participate in the ongoing discussion about the upward mobility of women in the legal profession by offering a unique mentoring opportunity for female law students in the Dallas area through its Speed Mentoring event.  Speed Mentoring will give the women the opportunity to address their growing concerns about women in the legal profession by speaking with dynamic women who are currently busting through those barriers to become current leaders in the legal community.

TYLA will enlist ten women mentors of varied legal backgrounds and practices to participate in ten roundtable discussions with an estimated sixty female law students about the current environment for women in the legal profession.  The students will be divided into ten groups of six.  Each group will rotate amongst the mentor tables, getting the opportunity to engage each one of the mentors in a candid discussion.

The event occurred on Tuesday February 23, 2016, at City Club in Dallas, Texas.  We sought out potential mentors for the event, and were able to secure 6 mentors to volunteer their time.  If you can think of any female attorney in the Dallas area that would be willing to donate their time to participate in such a meaningful event in the future, please contact your TYLA representative or the author of this article for more information.

Shaprecia Bryson, District 6, Place 5, is an associate at Andrews Kurth LLP.