The Pre Law Center has partnerships with several corporations and law firms to provide mentors for students. The mentors are attorneys who are committed to assisting students with deciding about whether to go to law school, then aiding in the process of how and where to apply. The attorney-mentors are resources when students struggle with compiling a resume, selecting appropriate law schools, and composing the law school application.

Mentors also are role models for students; they want to convey to students that they once walked where students do now. Several events each year are earmarked for mentors and mentees: video conferences, for example, and visits to mentors’ workplaces.

UTA pre-law students with their attorney mentors from AT&T's legal department, at AT&T in Dallas, October 24, 2012.

Mentorships must be arranged through the Pre Law Center. There is an application process; please see the application form. After students’ applications are approved, then the Pre Law Center matches students (mentees) with mentors. Matches are made on the basis of undergraduate major, family background (e.g. first generation college students), law school attended/intended, and other factors. There are only as many matches as there are attorney mentors in any academic year, and so obtaining a mentor is NOT guaranteed. Preference is given to seniors with superior overall grade point averages. Only currently enrolled students may apply for the mentoring program.

Among the mentoring partners are attorneys who work in the Dallas office of AT&T. In the academic year 2012-13, 21 corporate attorneys at AT&T have volunteered to serve as mentors. The attorneys are a diverse cross section of the legal community, and they are enthusiastic about encouraging UT-Arlington students. AT&T will sponsor one visit to their corporate headquarters for students who are mentees, in fall 2012; transportation and meals are provided. In spring 2013, AT&T will host a gathering in Dallas for a broader group of UT-Arlington pre law students who are registered with the Pre Law Center.

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Pre-law mentees Rhonda Ruiz-Walden (second from left), Bhavik Patel (second from right), and Michael Mendoza (far right) visit with Mr. Darrell Guy (far left), an attorney-mentor with AT&T, on October 12, 2012.  The students helped make a video about the UT-Arlington mentoring program as part of AT&T's pro bono initiative.

Ms. Kenya Woodruff (second from left), an attorney with Haynes and Boone in Dallas, hosted UTA Pre-Law students Timeka Warren, Nadah Joudeh, and Monae Walls when they met their attorney mentors in January 2013.