Eldon B. Mahon Inn of Court Trial Judges Mentoring (2013-2014 Inn Year):
Active, sitting trial judges in the Eldon B. Mahon Inn of Court were assigned to each of the Inn's eleven Pupilage Groups for the 2013-2014 Inn Year. Some of the Pupilage Groups had more than one active trial judge in the group. A judge in each Pupilage Group was asked to host a lunch mentoring session in the judge's chambers for the Pupilage Group in which that judge was a member. These mentoring sessions were in addition to the six dinner meetings that were all planned about the American Inns of Court themes of civility, professionalism, ethics and excellence in legal skills.
Each trial judge planned the lunch mentoring session in chambers and introduced the Pupilage Group members to what goes on within that judge's court. Reports from both the judges and the Pupilage Group members indicated that the sessions were personal, informative and encouraging.
Eldon B. Mahon Inn of Court Expanded Community Service Projects (2013-2014 Inn Year):
The Eldon B. Mahon Inn of Court launched a greatly expanded "Community Outreach" effort for the 2013-2014 Inn Year. Instead of one Community Outreach project performed by the Inn as a whole, the Inn's eleven Pupilage Groups (each group consisting of two Masters, two Barristers, four Associates and one Pupil) each were challenged to plan and execute a separate Pupilage Group Community Outreach project.
All eleven Pupilage Groups have now reported completion of their respective Community Outreach projects for the 2013-2014 Inn Year. The Tarrant County (Texas) Food Bank, National Adoption Day, two Texas A&M Law School (Fort Worth, Texas) projects, Ronald McDonald House at Cook Children's Hospital (Fort Worth) and the Tarrant County Bar Association's free Legal Line were recipients of separate projects by one of the Inn's eleven Pupilage Groups. These Community Outreach projects included packaging food for children at Tarrant County Food Bank, providing books and stuffed bears and administrative staff for National Adoption Day, fund-raising for Texas A&M Law School's Public Interest Board, providing judges and administrative staff for Texas A&M Law School's high school moot court competition, providing evening dinner to current residents at the Ronald McDonald House at Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth, and staffing of volunteers at the free-to-the-public Legal Line program.
These Community Outreach projects required an estimated total of more than 225 hours of Pupilage Group planning and execution and involved the personal involvement and effort of the more than 100 Inn members in the eleven Pupilage Groups.