Letters of Recommendation for Law School
Letters of Recommendation for law school admission are an important factor for getting the school you want and setting the stage for your future at that school.
What can you do to emphasize the best of the letter of recommendation process and get the highest quality letters written on your behalf?
Who is a good reference?
Many law schools want to see a heavy focus on faculty associated with your successes in undergraduate programs. It lends credibility to your current (or recent) habits, capabilities and focuses. You’ll want to work with someone who you trust and whom respects you as a student; as well as a professor who has stewardship over a respected course (ideally) in your discipline instead of an elective course instructor. If you can find a reference that is passionate about your abilities or knows your work ethic or ideals well, it will only serve to enhance the impact of the letter. It’s ideal to get recent letters and to make a smooth and swift transition between undergraduate school and law school; but things happen: look for those who are connected well enough with you to be able to write without much concern for content, because they know you well and recommend you unabashedly. It’s more important that you have an enthusiastic letter writer than that the writer be of high station or have massive influence in the legal profession. Often, the best recommendations come from dedicated non-law centric faculty and it’s got little negative impact on the viability of the letter of recommendation: law schools are looking to teach you about law, not expecting you to know everything or have worked with famous legal figures prior to your arrival at their institution.
Don’t discount letters that aren’t fluffy and perfect, as long as the content doesn’t include a direct indictment on your character, ethics or work habits, chances are, the honesty from a recommender will actually go in your favor.
So how do you get the right people to write letters of recommendations for law school?
Don’t wait too long to get started, but don’t be sneaky, shy or unsure of yourself when asking. Talk with the person face to face if possible, and if there are some people who have declined, ask for an honest assessment of why they declined to write on your behalf (more on that in a minute). Email and formal letter as well as phone are also acceptable, but be concise, direct and helpful when asking so that the task isn’t putting them out. You’ll want to explain why you think they are the best choice; why you are choosing law school and why the specific schools you are considering, and give them some expectation to refresh their memory of some of your stronger points. That isn’t to say that you should beg for a specific inclusion; you want the letter to be honest realistic and natural. Simply reminding the writer of a time where you think you did particularly well, or of one which they were an active participant, will help to endear them to your cause and put them into a position as a fan of you. You will also want to send them some documentation and reference information to make their job much easier.
- Resume
- School Transcripts
- A good elevator pitch on you as an asset (like a personal statement)
- Any documents or reminders of projects that involved the writer and connected the two of you
- Your signed LSAC letter form if applicable
- Some mail supplies and paper for returning to the Law School, LSAC, LSDAS, etc. if applicable
You’ll want to be very proactive about a couple aspects of the process, specifically, you will want to reestablish communication for a bit of time before you formally ask for a recommendation as long as it isn’t awkward or inappropriate to do so. People don’t want to feel like they are just in place to help you out. Like the concept underlying the quote from Andrew Carnegie “…sometimes people just want to hear themselves talk, not necessarily be heard…”: people want to know that they are important in the relationship too, even if it’s just by you paying some degree of deference or respect to them. Nothing helps with this more than being involved for some time before you ask for favors.
Give a reference at least a month to take care of your letter, and follow up politely and without aggressive contact. Please don’t forget to make the deadline date clear and remind as necessary.
Writing your own?
It’s possible to do, but if you need to rely only on your skills to get into a great school, you’re going to have more trouble than you think in law school. Letters of recommendation for law school should be the culmination of your interpersonal communication and relationship building, your skills and your determination, none of which should be kept afloat by fabricated letters made to artificially inflate your ego, or your perceived chance of acceptance. Guess what? Chances are, they will smell a fake letter a mile away, and little you will do after that, will help you to get into your best choice law schools.
Be judicious and realistic when you ask for recommendations, and trust that your choices were right. Ask for a copy of the letter so you know what to expect, but don’t ask them to let you send the letter back. Trust that your relationship and capabilities will be enhanced when the law school thinks the letter had nothing to do with your own writing or thought process. Be engaged with the reference and you will find much less chance of negative information reaching the school.
As a side note, it’s preferable from the organizations reading the letters of recommendation for law school, that you waive your right to reading (disregard the above statement to ask for a copy if this applies to you). This practice ensures in their minds that the letters should hold more accuracy and fairness, as well as better understanding of your unique personality and skills.
In the end, it’s very important that you nurture relationships throughout your college career, and rely upon your efforts in this regard to ensure you can compete for a spot at your law school of choice.
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