Hi all--
I'm preparing to submit some clerkship applications this week and have a question about the writing sample. I'm using an excerpt from a brief I wrote for an external moot court competition. It is highly fact-specific, and I am having trouble cutting down the 2.5 page summary of the facts that is currently included. Unfortunately, the bare bones facts will take up at least 1-1.5 pages. I feel like at that point, might as well include the full thing...
Would it be okay to exclude the summary of the facts altogether since the relevant facts are explained in sufficient detail within the analysis itself? Or should I just include it all?
Including all the facts requires cutting down the analysis section, so I'm leaning towards excluding all the facts. Any tips are appreciated.
Also, is it general practice to include the summary of the argument? Or is a short intro page explaining the assignment sufficient?
Thanks!
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Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are sharing sensitive information about clerkship applications and clerkship hiring. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.
Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned."
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ndirish2010
- Posts: 2985
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Re: Writing Sample Question
Other people might have a different view, but I would cut the facts. When I reviewed these things as a clerk, I wanted to see as much substantive legal analysis as possible. We can figure out the facts from the context. Maybe just say at the top that you omitted a discussion of the facts for brevity or something like that.
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EzraFitz
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Re: Writing Sample Question
Obviously take this with a grain of salt, because it's OCS, but we were VERY explicitly told to never sacrifice the facts, for the sake of context.
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A. Nony Mouse
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Re: Writing Sample Question
Pretty sure every time I got advice about this, I also got told to cut the facts.
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BVest
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Re: Writing Sample Question
I limited my sample to the argument section only. I didn't even include any facts on the cover sheet, just a two sentence description of the issues at hand.
The relevant facts were, of course, woven into the argument; I felt that was sufficient as I wanted the judge to get a sense of my writing, not decide the case on the merits.
The relevant facts were, of course, woven into the argument; I felt that was sufficient as I wanted the judge to get a sense of my writing, not decide the case on the merits.
Last edited by BVest on Sat Jan 27, 2018 4:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Anonymous User
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Re: Writing Sample Question
Having this issue but realizing if I cut facts (which are dry), I don't meet page ranges. Is it totally improper to combine two different memos/analysis to make one 15 page sample?
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