Writing Samples
SIGNIFICANCE
Some employers review a writing sample before ever scheduling an interview while others may consider the writing sample merely a formality that they may glance at or not. Regardless of the weight placed upon your writing sample the fact is that you will be asked to produce one at some point in your job search. Don’t wait until the last minute to have one prepared! You should be able to respond to a job openings as soon as you become aware of them.
CONTENT
Some employers will accept an entire brief or article but many others would like an excerpt from a longer work. If they do not specify a page limit, you may send the entire work. You cannot go wrong if you choose 5-10 pages of your best legal work/writing. General opinion is that you should always err on the side of sending too much, because the employer can always choose to quit reading.
If you send an excerpt, make sure that you attach a cover page and if necessary a brief explanation putting the piece in context. For example:
Writing Sample
Tasha Everman
Excerpt from First Year
Legal Writing Assignment-
Appellant’s Brief in Support of
It’s Motion for Summary Judgment
Most employers use the writing sample to judge your writing ability and they want you to submit your own work. For that reason, employers prefer pieces which have not been heavily edited such as a published law review article. Remember that just because your sample has to be your own work does not mean that you cannot go back and make changes suggested by your legal writing instructor. It is imperative that you do not have any grammatical or typographical errors.
If you have numerous writing samples to choose from you should obviously choose that piece which best reflects your ability to write clearly and concisely. Employers like appellate briefs because they demonstrate your ability to set forth facts objectively and still advocate in the argument section. Using work product from a law clerk position is acceptable if you get the permission of your employer and make sure to remove any information which would reveal the identity of the client.
WARNING
Remember, you may be asked to discuss the topic of your writing sample so make sure that you review what you wrote before you go to the interview.
