What to Ask for in a Law School Letter of Recommendation
Updated Dec 08, 2021
The law school letter of the alphabet of recommendation (LOR) is a certificate used to support a student's application for law school. It oft plays an of import role in the upshot of the individual's acceptance. Although there are a few institutions which don't put much weight backside the letter of the alphabet of recommendation, the majority of universities consider an application incomplete without two fastened letters of recommendation.
These letters are most effective, if non only effective, when written past a professor or piece of work supervisor who has had direct contact and ideally a fairly close relationship with the student. The fundamental purpose of an LOR is to requite the law school admissions committee a firm understanding of the applying student's eligibility, exterior of the LSAT score and the student'due south GPA. A letter of recommendation should first requite confirmation of the pupil's bookish success and potential, and second provide testimony of any other skills, ambitions, or achievements that are indicative of a successful law educatee and lawyer.
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What to Include
Call up that law school is starting time and foremost an intellectual pursuit. While there are many ways to recommend someone, the main chore of the police force school recommendation is to underline the applicant'southward likelihood to succeed in school. So, this letter should include:
- An overview of the relationship between the recommender and the applicant
- An summary of the applicant's best qualities
- Specific examples that support the letter of the alphabet's claims and advise hereafter success in legal studies
How Many Letters of Recommendation for Law School Do I Need?
Requirements are set by the police school. In general, schools ask for at to the lowest degree ii recommendations, and many offer the selection to submit more.
Merely do not presume that sending more letters is necessarily meliorate. Quality trumps quantity. Since this is a bullheaded process, and you may not be able to preview letters before submitting them to schools, make sure that you are confident that your recommenders will provide positive endorsements.
Who to Select?
The bidder's selection of writer is extremely important when requesting a law school letter of recommendation. The bidder should enquire a professor, teacher's assistant, or employer/work supervisor who has had direct contact with them, and who is able to attest to their potential every bit a constabulary student. Asking family friends, politicians, judges, or any professional exterior a university setting is discouraged and tin very frequently be detrimental to the success of the application. Many students will besides be inclined to ask an individual based on their reputation and the prestige surrounding their professional person title as opposed to how well they know the them as individuals; a letter from a teacher'due south assistant who has a close relationship to the student volition hold much more weight than 1 from a tenured professor who has had little to no contact with the educatee. The LOR writer must be able to provide specific examples of the student'southward work and should avoid conclusory statements which lack bear witness.
Who to Prepare
The student should select their references well in advance (junior year of undergrad) and give their selections proper notice (6-8 weeks) so that they tin can prepare for composition. If an individual has been asked to provide a alphabetic character of recommendation, he/she should offset consider whether they tin yield a potent alphabetic character based on the nature of their relationship to the student. If not, a direct conversation between the two should take place explaining why the letter of the alphabet tin can non exist provided. If the author complies, the student and recommender should see to discuss the LOR. The educatee will ideally supply the writer with a portfolio containing the following:
- Cover notation which thanks the writer and contains the student's contact info, the accomplishments/talents they would similar emphasized, a list of schools for which they are applying (highlighting their top choice), whatsoever schools for which they volition be needing a specific recommendation letter, due dates for submissions
- A completed LSAC recommendation form
- Unofficial transcript
- A list of the work completed in the professor's class
- Copies of the student's best work, specially that which has been graded by the instructor
- Draft of personal argument (optional)
- Resume
It should be noted that ofttimes universities volition require students to use the Law Student Admissions Quango's Credential Associates Service. This is a service that allows for the one time submission of all letters of recommendation and transcripts to the LSAC who will then distribute them to the police schools for which the applicant is applying. If the applicant chooses to use this service, they should provide the writer with instructions on how to submit their letters.
(Video) What is a Police force Schoolhouse Recommendation Alphabetic character?
How to Write (Format)
The format of a law schoolhouse recommendation letter follows that of a standard letter of the alphabet of recommendation, information technology will comprise an introduction, body paragraph(s) (as many every bit is necessary), and a determination followed past an invitation to talk over the applicant farther and the writer'southward contact information. The most effective letters, every bit discussed, volition come from a professor or direct work supervisor and the author should explicitly particular their credentials in order to convince the admissions council that the letter is coming from a reliable source. Information technology is important that a letter highlight the skills and graphic symbol traits which are valuable in a lawyer; intelligence, communication (written and oral), leadership, artistic/independent thinking. Those skills should then be supported by specific anecdotes/examples to illustrate the author'southward betoken. Furthermore, mild criticism can be used to strengthen the brownie of the claims provided in the letter. Comparing the pupil to his/her/their peers can often be the strongest statement inside a letter.
Beneath we've detailed each section of the police force school recommendation letter to provide instructions on how to produce as effective a reference every bit possible.
Introduction
The introduction volition state the author'due south recommendation of the student, it will describe their qualifications equally a reference, their relationship with the pupil, and why the student is deserving of a reference. The first paragraph should be concise, as the body paragraph(s) will expand on the claims relayed in the opening statements. In a higher place the beginning paragraph, the greeting of "Dear Law School Admissions Commission" or "To Whom It May Concern" should be apparent. If the alphabetic character is not being emailed, just delivered by mail/in person, a letterhead with the writer's proper noun and contact information should be included.
Example i
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Samuel Johnson and I am providing this letter of recommendation on behalf of Jacob Rodriquez, an intern at my law firm. The selection procedure for an internship at Murray & Johnson is highly competitive as we take into consideration GPA, course ranking, oral and written communication skills, as well equally recommendations from mentors and professors. Jacob's resume and application enabled us to take select him immediately, after which he proceeded to exceed our expectations. I can wholeheartedly recommend this beau for law school.
The commencement instance above is provided past an employer, seemingly a partner of the police firm at which the pupil in question did their internship. The paragraph states the qualifications of the writer, briefly states the qualifications of the applicant to be expanded upon later, and provides a strong recommendation as a determination to the introduction.
Example 2
Dear Law Schoolhouse Admissions Committee,
I am honored to exist able to provide my recommendation for Aiko Takagaki, a pupil in my Honors Psychology course hither at McGill University. Aiko is a disciplined, intelligent, and articulate educatee with boundless potential. I accept taught thousands of students in my 8 years at this institution and I would place her in the elevation fifty undergrads. I'grand sure she will go on to impress in a graduate school setting.
Our second introduction is addressed to the law schoolhouse admission committee and is written by a professor from McGill University. She lists the student'south qualities, she details her didactics career, and she ranks the pupil in order to provide the reader with a comparison of the applicant to her peers.
Body Paragraph(s)
These paragraphs are where the writer will endeavor to illustrate, in articulate and persuasive language, exactly why the applicant would make a practiced candidate for police school. Equally the author is most likely a professor, this is an opportunity to relay how the student stood out amongst his/her classmates, and which instances led them to believe that the candidate possesses the characteristics of a successful lawyer. It is essential that platitudes and generalities are avoided and that the alphabetic character be as subjective as possible; this volition convince the admissions quango that the recommender's argument holds water.
Instance 1
Johnathon's success every bit a writer is inevitable. Should he want to pursue the career of a novelist, I volition be the starting time in line for a copy. Should he determine on the life of an essayist, I will practice everything in my ability to assist him in achieving publication. And if he prefers journalism, I will subscribe to the publication for which he writes. There are very few students for whom I provide letters of recommendation as I rarely achieve a close enough relationship with a student to truly advocate for their achievements. My T.A. demanded that I review Johnathon'due south work personally, in particular his essay on Dostoevsky'due south "The Idiot", and from that point on, I took it upon myself to mentor this young man personally. Although I am enlightened of his decision to utilise for law school, I am confident that he would triumph in any occupation where success is dependent on the individual'south writing prowess.
One of the about important skills that a prospective pupil can possess is the power to communicate conspicuously and effectively in writing. The above paragraph is written from the perspective of an English professor who believes that the applicant in question is a gifted writer. This is a great example of a paragraph that will put the application over the edge for many admissions councils.
Example two
I was fortunate to accept the fore-sight to select Carolyn equally our school's representative at the UCLA conference on gratis expression. Students met and discussed with professionals in Police force and Politics to fix a presentation at the stop of the conference. Carolyn alloyed the information provided by the experts at-paw and compounded an argument to present to the 250 students in omnipresence. Her presentation was well presented and received i of the briefing's ii standing ovations. I was enormously proud and felt privileged to have such an intelligent immature woman to represent our school.
The above paragraph highlights the educatee's leadership and public speaking skills. Two qualities which law schoolhouse admissions committees wait for in an applicant. The author does a good job of choosing a specific example to focus on to call attending to the potential of the undergrad.
Conclusion
The conclusion should be used to restate the writer's adoration and support for the bidder in question. In no unclear terms, information technology should finish on an extremely positive annotation while summarizing the statements fabricated within the previous paragraphs. This is an opportunity to provide contact information, although this is not mandatory.
Example one
In conclusion, I insist that you accept into deep consideration Kyrie's application as I am certain that he volition continue to flourish at your esteemed and reputable University. I believe Kyrie already has the skill set to become a powerful attorney and I cannot recommend him enough. For more information, if necessary, feel complimentary to contact me at the below email accost.
Karen Butterfield Ph.D
Washington Land Academy
History Department
kbutterfield@wsu.history.org
Instance ii
Gary Schwartz possesses all the qualities of a practiced attorney and has washed an exemplary task during his internship. His diligence, maturity, and intellect take all enabled him to provide us with an excellent service at such a young age; information technology'due south frightening to imagine what he will be capable of given the opportunity to capitalize on an didactics at your institution. I urge you lot to consider his application seriously.
Best,
Steve Aderman
Fraser, Luna, and Willington L.L.P
370 Lexington Ave #505,
New York, NY 10017, Usa
saderman.flw@gmail.com
Both of the to a higher place sample paragraphs reiterate the writer'southward assertion that the pre-law undergraduate is qualified for law school, final the letter with a sign-off, their contact information, and an extremely positive final impression.
Sample 1 (from Employer)
Dear Law School Admissions Commission,
I enthusiastically submit this letter in support of Julie Lee'southward awarding for access to the course of 2022.
For the past year, I accept served as Julie'due south supervisor at The Brockman Insurance Agency. Every bit an banana bookkeeper, she balanced a part-time work schedule with class requirements during the school year and worked a full-time schedule over the summer. Though I've managed countless college students over my career, I have never met anyone who then exemplifies both intellect and integrity.
Final year, Julie volunteered to help with a meaning authoritative reorganization. Though she had no specific prior experience, she was a quick study and helped our small business concern to streamline operations. She is a supportive coworker, and readily shoulders extra responsibilities to assistance ease burdens on her busy colleagues.
I take no dubiety that she will be a successful constabulary pupil and chaser.
Please let me know if there is any other data that I can provide.
Sincerely,
Joyce Brockman, CPA
Sample two (from Attorney)
Dear Law School Admissions Committee,
I am submitting this letter in support of Trevor Johnson's application for admission to the class of 2022.
Trevor completed an internship in my office last summer. He was a pleasure to work with and showed a natural flair for legal analysis. While most summertime interns are tasked with only basic administrative responsibilities, Trevor volunteered to tackle a research projection. He spent a large chunk of the period scouring old court decisions and organized his results in an piece of cake-to-apply database.
Possibly most important of all, in Trevor I see a genuine passion for the police force. He has curiosity in spades, and clearly evinces a want to utilize his training to brand a difference.
I wholeheartedly recommend him for credence..
Sincerely,
Hugh Brown, Esq.
Sample 3
To Whom It May Business:
I am delighted to be able to provide this letter of recommendation on behalf of Alisa Nguyen equally she attempts to pursue her academic career at your esteemed academy. I accept had close contact with Alisa as a Instructor's Banana in iii of her courses and I am privileged to be able to call her my friend. She is without a doubt the brightest undergraduate student I've tutored, and possibly the almost intelligent that I've encountered in my vii years here at Columbia. Her tireless piece of work ethic, in combination with her brilliant heed and most frightening maturity, has allowed her to complete a four-year undergrad in iii years and has bodacious me that she is optimal candidate for constabulary schoolhouse.
Alisa is a phenomenally gifted author. In her 2d-year Microeconomic theory class, she produced an essay on the effects of oligopolistic cartels on the American economy and the federal authorities'due south recent abandonment of investigation into the practices of concentrated industries. Her business firm understanding of economical theory and the history of oligopolies in the United States was flabbergasting for a student of her age and teaching. Also, the eloquence with which she delivered her statement had me questioning whether the paper was plagiarized. The essay helped propel her to the top of the class where she stayed for the residual of the semester.
Alisa was also a valued member of the debate team and was well respected by her peers for her competition preparation and her critical analysis of the topics at hand. This extra-curricular club immune her to develop her public speaking skills which were essentially not-existent when she starting time arrived at the University. An archetypal shy educatee, she relied on vigilant inquiry to bolster her confidence. Her charismatic personality developed slowly over her three-year baccalaureate degree, simply she at present has the advice skills to compete with the most talented public speakers that opposing universities throw at her.
What truly separates Alisa from her peers is her maturity. She speaks with the conviction of a academy professor and attacks her studies with incessant bailiwick. This is primarily why she could consummate her bachelor's degree in such short time; she was simply responsible beyond her years. While she was initially alienated from her peers out of presumably pure intimidation and jealousy (this is my theory), she soon adapted her arroyo to interaction with her fellow students by simplifying her speech and altering her perceived interests. This was not out of humility or modesty, just because she required their assist in group projects and presentations, and their treatment of her was hindering her progress through university. Outside of class, she mostly chooses the company of grad students and professors every bit she struggles to find others her age who are at her level intellectually.
Alisa is a force to be reckoned with and a prime candidate for law school. While she hasn't always thrived equally a public speaker, she worked on her weaknesses and through diligence and persistence, turned them into her strengths. Alisa is deceptively perceptive, dangerously sharp, and undoubtedly a gifted student. I insist that you admit her into your programme as I am sure that yous will bask watching her progress as I accept thus far. Experience free to contact me at anytime to discuss Ms. Nguyen further.
All-time,
Rachel Moscovitch
rmoscovitch@gmail.com
(345) 834-2394
Source: https://eforms.com/recommendation-letter/law-school/
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