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Ok guys quick question:

I was on another law school forum and read a post from a young man who was suggesting that he could get a LOR from his uncle who was a "famous University of Chicago law professor." Is it not against certain ethics to get LORs from relatives even if they are contributors to the law community and have a heavy name? Perhaps I'm a little naive about this type of thing but I just assumed that type of thing was frowned upon. Please give me some insight. Thanks guys.

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merichard87 wrote:Ok guys quick question:

I was on another law school forum and read a post from a young man who was suggesting that he could get a LOR from his uncle who was a "famous University of Chicago law professor." Is it not against certain ethics to get LORs from relatives even if they are contributors to the law community and have a heavy name? Perhaps I'm a little naive about this type of thing but I just assumed that type of thing was frowned upon. Please give me some insight. Thanks guys.

I can't give you a solid answer on this, but think about it from an adcom's perspective (assuming it's obvious the person is a relative, i.e. mentioned in the LOR or same last name). If I were an adcom, I would place more weight on what your other recommender(s) say over a relative. Unless you are applying for Chicago and the professor is so highly respected that the adcom would not question his opinion, even of a relative, then I think a non-relative is a better option.

That being said, the situation you mention is like a perfect storm of whether or not you should be related to a recommender.

merichard87 wrote:Ok guys quick question:

I was on another law school forum

'Nuff said. TLS >>>>> All other law school forums. Ignore any advice read on other forums.

/thread.

I have an uncle who's a named partner at a boutique firm and whom I would have considered using for an LOR if I didn't have references from my employers, but only because 1) he's related to me by marriage to my aunt, 2) we live very far apart from one another, and 3) we don't share the same last name. So basically, the adcomm would never have known that he was my uncle.

I'd look for references from someone else first, especially from someone who can provide more than just a general character reference; but if those 3 conditions hold, then I wouldn't worry too much about using an LOR from a relative outside of your immediate family.