February 2026 (5-min read)

Legal Mentorship Isn't Dying.
It's Relocating.

By Brett Colvin, CEO of Goodlawyer

It was 11:42pm on December 31, 2017.

I was in Vancouver on secondment at a major financial institution—still a junior lawyer at my firm. Goodlawyer was barely an idea. While everyone else was ringing in New Year’s Eve, I was polishing a submission for my firm’s innovation challenge.

Deadline: midnight.

My idea wasn’t software. It was a diagnosis:

Mentorship is critical. But firms price it like overhead.

If you want better lawyers, you need a system that rewards the people who make others better. My pitch was simple: give real credit for mentorship—track it, value it, reward it.

I never heard back.

Big Law employs the most junior lawyers. It should be the profession’s apprenticeship engine. Instead, the model rewards throughput and leverage—not teaching.

Mentorship takes time. In firms, that time has a lesser name: non-billable. So training gets rationed. Review gets thinner. The incentive is to bill and move on.

And yet the machine still worked—because clients quietly subsidized the learning curve.

Juniors learned on live files because the first pass had to come from somewhere. So it came from junior dockets: research, first drafts, checklists, doc review. When someone actually bled red ink on it, you learned. Over time, reps plus real feedback turns a smart student into someone you can trust.

That subsidy is gone.

Here’s the receipt: on more than one matter, I’ve seen billing guidelines that say the quiet part out loud—no training time, no “learning curve,” no first-year research, no duplicate review. Clients don’t want apprentices on the invoice. Sometimes it’s even explicit: junior time isn’t billable unless approved.

They’re not wrong.

Then AI showed up and finished the job. When a competent first pass becomes cheap and fast, the last excuse to fund junior hours disappears. You can debate timelines, but the direction is obvious: fewer junior reps, less paid review, less funded teaching.

So mentorship moved to where the incentives actually work: in-house.

In-house, you’re not billing hours. You’re building capacity. You mentor so you can delegate responsibility without blowing up risk. Mentorship isn’t charity. It’s how you scale judgment inside a team.

But this shift leaves a gap: the solo GC, the first-time GC, the legal leader without a bench. They don’t need another memo. They need a backstop. They need someone who’s had their hands on the keys.

That’s what comes next. Two things are already clear:

1. Stable teams beat rotations—shared context and tight feedback.

2. A senior operator helps new GCs make better calls: “This matters. This doesn’t.”

Mentorship isn’t dying. It’s relocating.

Which brings me back to New Year’s Eve 2017.

If firms want to keep producing great lawyers, they have to make mentorship count.

Track it. Reward it. Expect it. Otherwise it keeps moving to the places that can value it.

Because if the apprentice ladder breaks, the market will rebuild it anyway.

The only question is where the next generation learns to climb.

Brett Colvin
CEO, Goodlawyer

Lessons Learned from 5 Years as General Counsel

By Zak Biggs

Marisa Muchnik spoke with Zak Biggs about negotiating a Canada Soccer sponsorship, coming down from the ivory tower, and building joy through legal work (and chocolate).

ZB: Was working as GC, Canada for Ferrero as fun as it sounds?

MM: Working for a brand that brought people joy gave me extra pride in my work. For example, our Brantford, Ontario factory is the town's largest employer. Ferrero made a major investment, a project with extensive legal work. When I got to visit and see the smiles of the employees and the people in the city, it was so heartwarming.

ZB: What was one of your legal work highlights? 

MM: Negotiating a sponsorship with Canada Soccer was a blast. As an Italian company, soccer is in Ferrero’s DNA, so bringing that energy to Canada—especially with the World Cup coming here—felt special. Keep an eye out for products with Canada Soccer branding!

ZB: How did your time as GC make you a better lawyer and leader?

MM: I learned the importance of listening to different perspectives, weighing commercial realities alongside legal risks, and tailoring my advice to fit the company’s goals. Being a true business partner requires you learn the business, learn risk tolerance, and not have an ivory-tower style.

Also, there is something to be said about making the law fun – it’s a skillset that not everyone has, but is highly appreciated. 

ZB: ​​What advice would you give to in-house lawyers struggling to secure additional headcount or support?

MM: Two things: I used to think about headcount in a traditional sense. Then I used Goodlawyer, and saw there’s an easier way to get the help I needed. So, explore creative options like fractional lawyers.

Secondly, talk to peers in the industry to learn what’s working for them. Sometimes the best support comes from thinking outside the traditional box and being open to new solutions. 

Marisa now practices as a Fractional GC, and recently joined Goodlawyer as Director of Growth. Connect with her on LinkedIn. 

What does Goodlawyer actually do? 

It's a question we're often asked, so here's a short video with our answer.

Hint: More than just yacht parties!

We asked Josh Weinberger, Pauline Chan, and two of our fractional lawyers to paint a picture of how we embed senior in-house lawyers into companies. 

Watch the video.

LEGAL EVENTS

Galentines High Tea hosted by Goodlawyer (Toronto & Calgary, Feb. 20)

We’re bringing together women in-house legal leaders for networking, finger sandwiches, tea and champagne in an intimate, invite-only setting!

Law.com Legal Week (New York City, Mar. 9-12)

One of the biggest legal and legaltech conferences in the world. Reach out to Goodlawyer's Marisa Muchnik if you'll be there and want to meet up! 

GOOD VIBES

Scientifically formulated to help you beat seasonal affective disorder. 

Listen on Spotify

BEFORE YOU GO

Planning an event and think a Goodlawyer perspective could be helpful?

Our team is always happy to join conversations about how in-house teams are innovating, and where the profession is going. 

Just hit reply, or send us a DM on LinkedIn. 

Until next time,
Brett & Zak

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