Whitney, Thompson & Jeffcoach’s attorney Steve McQuillan was awarded the 2024 Blaine E. Pettitt Mentor Award on Thursday, October 10, at the Fresno County Young Lawyers Association’s annual George A. Hopper luncheon. Each year, this award recognizes one attorney who has demonstrated an exemplary commitment to mentoring young attorneys throughout their journey into the legal profession.
This award is a well-earned honor for McQuillan. He has spent much of his career mentoring young attorneys, going back to 2004, when he was one of the founding coaches of the Fresno State Mock Trial program. He coached teams in that program for approximately nine years, mentoring well over 100 different college students in that time. The team won many competitions under his tenure, with several of the members coached by McQuillan winning best attorney awards, receiving scholarships to law school, and going on to practice law locally and throughout the country. Their success is a testament to the incalculable number of hours Steve dedicated to the students on those teams.
From 2010 to 2015, Steve taught civil pretrial litigation at San Joaquin College of Law, and also continued to teach trial advocacy. He maintained his dedication to putting in extra hours to guide students in honing their skills, with many of them becoming local attorneys.
Steve’s guiding role continued at his firm, where he mentored many young attorneys including Kristina Garabedian, Will Jackson, Brooke Bergman, and others. He continues to serve as their mentor today, regularly fielding calls for advice. Some of Steve’s current colleagues at Whitney, Thompson & Jeffcoach even include former students from that very first mock trial team in 2004, now practicing law alongside him. Steve’s ongoing commitment to being a phenomenal resource and mentor for the next generation of attorneys lets him stand as deserving of this award bestowed on him.
