FAQs

We have deliberately limited the career field categories because too many choices can hamper the matching process. For instance, if the career fields were more extensive, then fewer advisors on average will match the criterion and show up on the "results" list of students. Please select the career field that is the closest match. There is also a Specific Career Field. In addition, you can always specify your occupation more clearly in your profile.

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The goals of the Utah State Bar New Lawyer Training Program are to train new lawyers during their first year of practice in professionalism, ethics, and civility, to assist new lawyers in developing the practical skills and judgment necessary to the effective practice of law, and to impart to all Utah attorneys the importance of organizational mentoring. See the NLTP Policies & Procedures and the NLTP New Lawyer Manual under the "Resources" tab for more information about the program.

Activities typically fall under the following categories:

1. Participation: Hands-on experiences with the activities you choose. While the Plan is intended to be flexible regarding practice areas, the emphasis should be on obtaining practical experience.
2. Observation: If you are unable to participate in an activity, then observe your mentor or another attorney. Observing court proceedings can teach you a lot about the practice of law.
3. Discussion: In some cases, you can discuss principles and practices. Use examples as much as possible in these discussions.

1. anything NLTP including CLEs earned through completing the NLTP? Send email to mentoring@utahbar.org .

2. a CLE I attended but have not yet received a certificate for attending? CLE Dept: CLE@utahbar.org.

3. my MCLE requirements? Go to the Utah Supreme Court Board of Continuing Legal Education (MCLE department) website: https://www.mcleutah.org/lawyers/, or contact the MCLE department at: staff@mcleutah.org.

Rule 14-808: https://legacy.utcourts.gov/rules/view.php?type=ucja&rule=14-808

New lawyers admitted to the Utah Bar after 2008 and maintaining an “active” status license are required to participate in the NLTP unless grounds for exemption of deferment apply. See Rule 14-808(c) and (d).

1. Attorneys with active Utah licenses who do not reside in Utah are exempt. Instead, these attorneys must comply with the regular MCLE requirements for active Utah lawyers.
2. Attorneys admitted to practice in Utah after being actively engaged in the practice of law for at least two years in another U.S. jurisdiction prior to admission to practice law in Utah.
3. New lawyers with active Utah licenses who are either unemployed or not engaged in the practice of law may petition the NLTP Office for a six-month deferment. These lawyers should create an account on this website and request the deferment through their dashboard. See Rule 14-808(d).

Yes. However, a judicial clerk may temporarily defer participation in the NLTP for the duration of their clerkship. Once the clerkship ends, the clerk is REQUIRED to complete the NLTP. See Rule 14-808(c). Two years of experience as a judicial clerk is NOT sufficient grounds for an exemption from the NLTP.

Starting in 2024, there will be three NLTP terms per year: 1. January 1 to December 31 2. May 1 to April 30, and 3. September 1 to August 31. For administrative efficiency, new lawyers will not be permitted to begin the NLTP at any other point during the year.

Click on "Create account" in the upper right corner of this website. You will need to fill out a short form that includes questions such as your educational background, professional experience, and mentoring preferences.

You should register at least 4-6 weeks BEFORE the start of the next NLTP cycle. This will give you time to find a mentor, participate in the mandatory NLTP Orientation session, and familiarize yourself with the NLTP.

The mandatory NLTP Orientation is held in December for the following January 1st cycle, and in June for the following July 1st cycle. You will not receive a Zoom link for the Orientation until AFTER you have submitted your registration on the NLTP website.

BE PROACTIVE. You cannot request or even search for a mentor until you create an account on this website. If you have already identified an NLTP-approved mentor who you would like to work with, you will have the option to request that mentor after you submit your registration. If your requested mentor agrees, they will contact you. If you do not have an approved mentor in mind, you can search the NLTP database for one and send a request to that attorney. Please note that you cannot start on your mentee checklist items until after you have a mentor.
Even though you reach out to a prospective mentor through the NLTP website, you should also reach out to them via email to touch base.

You should choose a mentor who is objective and will give you unbiased advice and guidance. Mentor and mentee need to have the freedom to speak openly about sensitive issues including ethical dilemmas. As such, you should avoid choosing a mentor with whom you have a personal relationship such as a family member, friend, or neighbor.

Yes, but it takes approximately 3 months for a prospective attorney mentor to apply and receive approval which may not be soon enough to mentor you. The Utah State Bar Committee on New Lawyer Training needs adequate time to review the prospective mentor's request, so if you plan to ask a lawyer to apply to be your mentor ask the lawyer to submit their Profile well in advance of your enrollment deadline. You should have an alternate approved mentor in mind. Keep in mind that a delay in choosing an approved mentor may put you behind in completing all NLTP requirements by the deadline.

You and your mentor will create a Mentoring Plan during your Initial Meeting (go to the "Resources" tab to find the NLTP Guide to Creating a Mentoring Plan. This meeting MUST take place during the first month of the NLTP term in which you are participating. The Mentoring Plan must be completed within 60 days after the start of the NLTP term. For the January to December term, the deadline is approximately March 2. For the July to June term, the deadline is August 29. If the deadline falls on a weekend, then the following Monday will be the deadline. It is important that you meet this deadline, or you may not have enough time to complete all of the required activities of the program. The program lasts the entire 12 months, and it is NOT possible to complete the program in a shorter time. The earliest a Certificate of Completion can be given is 2-3 weeks before the end of the 12-month NLTP term.

Yes. It is preferable that you complete the program with the same mentor, but it is possible to switch. You should contact the NLTP Office as soon as possible. If the new mentor is someone within your law firm (“inside” mentoring) who is already approved in the NLTP, then submit that person’s name to the NLTP Office. Otherwise, you should review the list of available mentors on the NLTP website and send a request to prospective new mentor.

Yes. Per Rule 14-808(e), there is a total cost of $300. This is broken up into the $150 NLTP Enrollment Fee paid before you start the program, and a $150 Completion Fee that you may pay after you complete the NLTP Ethics Course and your Mentoring Plan. Your mentor will need to verify that you have completed the Mentoring Plan by submitting the NLTP Completion Certification that will appear on their dashboard during the last month of the NLTP term. These fees must be paid through your USB Practice Portal (https://services.utahbar.org/Login). Please note that the Utah State Bar no longer accepts checks or money orders. After the Fee is paid, the 3 CLEs from taking the NLTP Ethics Course and the 12 CLEs from completing your mentoring plan will be added to your CLE transcript.

See Rule 14-808(e): https://legacy.utcourts.gov/rules/view.php?type=ucja&rule=14-808

After the new lawyer mentee completes the NLTP Mentoring Plan and NLTP Ethics Course, they will need to pay the the $150 Completion Fee. Once this is paid, they will receive 3 ethics CLE for the Ethics Course and 12 CLE credits for the NLTP. These CLEs cover the CLE requirements for one MCLE cycle. Please note that the Utah State Bar no longer accepts checks or money orders.

The Completion Certificate will only show up on the mentor’s NLTP dashboard and is not available until 2-3 weeks before the end of the 12-month cycle (mid-December or mid-June depending on which term you are in). Your mentor will need to verify that you have completed all requirements before the Certificate can be issued.

The list of NLTP requirements or “Milestones” will only appear once you have a mentor. Once you have a mentor, go to the “Connections” tab on the left side of your dashboard. Click on the picture of your mentor, and then click on “Milestones.”

No. Direct supervisors are not allowed to provide NLTP mentoring to their subordinates. However, another attorney in the organization may mentor you under the NLTP as long as they are not a supervisor to you within the organization.

No. The NLTP-approved mentor must accept (match) your mentor request through this website to verify that you are moving forward in the program.

No. You must be matched with a mentor through this website before you can move forward in the program or receive credit for attending the NLTP Ethics course which is held in April and October.

The maximum number of NLTP mentor requests that a new attorney can have at any given time is two. NLTP mentors may choose to mentor either one new lawyer or two new lawyers at any given time. When a new lawyer sends a request, that request takes up at least one spot on the mentor's list. For mentors who only have one available spot, a new request will take them out of the NLTP mentor pool on the website at least until they respond to the request. To avoid having too many mentors taken out of the mentor pool, new lawyers are limited to two mentor requests at a time. If you do send out two mentor requests and one of the mentors accepts, please cancel your request to the second mentor as soon as possible so that they are put back into the mentor pool and are available for other new lawyers.

The first step is to go to the upper right corner of this webpage and click on “Create account.” Once you create the account, you should click on the “mentor” option which will take you to the Mentor Profile. You will need to include three professional references for the NLTP Committee to contact. Once you submit your Profile, it takes approximately 3 months to receive approval from the NLTP Committee, though it may take longer depending on how many prospective mentors are applying. If you would like to become a mentor for a specific NLTP term, you should submit your Profile as soon as possible.

NLTP Guidelines for Mentor Qualifications:

1. Hold an active status Utah license to practice law;

2. Minimum of 7 years of practice experience in any jurisdiction where the attorney is licensed to practice law;

3. Practiced law for at least one year within the last three years.

4. No past or pending public or formal discipline proceeding of any time or nature by a court or a state bar; however, the NLTP administrator shall submit applications for individuals with discipline to the USBC on New Lawyer Training. The Committee has authority to further evaluate the nature and history of the disciplinary proceeding to determine whether the applicant, despite the disciplinary history, is eligible to serve as a mentor;

5. Attorney shall carry malpractice insurance in an amount of at least $100,000/$300,000 if in private practice; and

6. Approval by the USBC on New Lawyer Training. The USBC on New Lawyer Training has broad discretion to approve or not approve mentors.

All requests to become a mentor are reviewed by the Utah State Bar's Committee on New Lawyer Training. The Committee requires the submission of at least three professional references from the legal community with whom you have had professional dealings within the past three years (no family, friends, neighbors, tennis partners, etc.). Essentially, we would like you to provide the names of attorneys who are familiar with your demeanor and general reputation in the legal community.

Please reach out to your references in advance to ensure they are willing to give a reference and to verify their contact information. You should let them know that a member of the NLTP Committee will contact them.

Please use the following guidelines when choosing your references: 1. Only one reference can be from your current firm or legal employer. 2. Provide a reference from someone who is adverse/opposing counsel. 3. Provide one judicial reference from a judge familiar with your performance and demeanor in court. The judge before whom you appear most often should be used if possible. If you are rarely in court, list the name of a judge who you have appeared before.

Your references should be people who know you in a professional capacity and will give an unbiased opinion. Do NOT use friends, family members, neighbors, or school classmates even if they are an attorney.

Provide the names of attorneys with whom you maintain a professional relationship. Examples of acceptable references include but are not limited to outside counsel (current or previous) representing your organization, attorneys who have appeared adverse to you in some capacity (contract negotiations, mediations, etc.), or attorneys at government entities with whom you have professional dealings.

If you have any questions about whether you are providing appropriate references, please email your questions to mentoring@utahbar.org.

New lawyers starting the NLTP are responsible for seeking out an NLTP-approved mentor through this online platform. Since this is a new lawyer driven process, it may take some time some time before you receive a mentor request from a new lawyer. You can increase your chances of receiving a mentor request by adding more information to your mentor profile such as all the areas of law in which you practice, your law school, personal interests, languages, adding a profile picture, etc. Another possible reason that you are not receiving new requests is if you are still attached in the NLTP database to a prior new lawyer mentee who has already completed the NLTP. If you believe this is the case, please send an email to mentoring@utahbar.org.

You may mentor up to two new lawyers at any given time. However, if you mentor two new lawyers during the same NLTP term, you will only receive 6 CLEs total.

Mentors are entitled to a total of 6 CLE credit hours per NLTP mentoring term. The CLE credit hours are live (in-person), regular credit hours.
You will receive the 6 CLE credits once your mentee successfully completes the NLTP term and you sign off on their mentor NLTP Completion Certification Form which will not appear on your NLTP dashboard until approximately 3-4 weeks before the end of the NLTP cycle. Once you have submitted this, please send an email to mentoring@utahbar.org to have your CLEs added.

The Completion Certificate will not be available on the NLTP Milestones tab until 2-3 weeks before the end of the 12-month cycle. You will need to verify that your mentee has completed all requirements before approving. See Rule 14-404(b)(4).