Mentoring Law Students On a Decline?

Legal Blog Watch has a post titled Will a Down Economy Mean the End of Mentoring? It is Carolyn Elefant's reaction to an article in the 9th issue of the Complete Lawyer. It has been common for law firms to offer summer associates positions to 2L and 3L students that potentially led to a full time employment. Students had the opportunity to be taught and mentored by practicing attorneys directly. Firms took upon a role of shaping the almost-graduates into successful attorneys. With fewer jobs and less opportunities for law students to be summer associates, what will happen to the mentoring role firms have assumed over the years? That leads to another question; how important the mentoring really is? Can older and experienced lawyers (sometimes set in their old ways) provide the sufficient guidance in the quickly changing technology based times?

So we ask you. How important this guidance really is? What are your thoughts about the existence, need, and effect of mentorship? Would you like to see such guidance as a part of the school curriculum? Or is it better to just learn on the job? Feel free to share your opinions.