DA's Office LOR
Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 8:51 pm
Hey everybody,
I'd appreciate it if I could get some advice on how to approach and ask for a Letter of Recommendation, but before delve into it, let me give you some background. I plan on attending law school in the fall of 2016 and I'm currently preparing for the LSAT. I graduated from college in 2007, so it's been quite a few years since I was in school and therefore I don't have any connections to former professors. I've been working at an small IP law firm in Southern California for the last 2 years and have been interning with the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office since October 2013. Later this year I will be interning/clerking with the US Attorney's Office during the summer and fall. In addition to my work experience, I also have plenty of volunteer work (multiple years with the OC Rescue Mission and Big Bros Big Sisters) which may seem insignificant but it shows I'm interested in public/community service. I plan on pursuing and focusing on criminal law with the hope that after school I can work in the public sector (DOJ, State Attorney's Office, perhaps even DA) at some point during my career. Please bear with me, most of my plans aren't set in stone just yet, I'm still learning about some of the less talked about nuances and challenges that prospective law students encounter when they begin contemplating a career path. Nevertheless, I hope this thread will receive some good, thoughtful posts that address my question rather than periphery issues such as why I'm not pursuing biglaw.
As I mentioned before, I've been interning/clerking with the Los Angeles DA's Office for the last 15 months. During this time, I've been exposed to and worked on a variety of cases and themes ranging from simple assaults to drug related crimes to murders. Interestingly, I haven't worked under one or two specific DDA's, rather I've assisted and supported numerous DDA's in a central department that deals with all types of felonies. Obviously, what I can and can't do has limited my ability to assist this office. For instance, I obviously haven't drafted any motions, done any in-depth legal research, or argued anything in court. Nevertheless, despite this limitation, I have done a great deal of pre-trial and in-trial work such as: screened footage of crimes; transcribed calls; visited crime scenes; reviewed/synthesized prelim transcripts and then briefed DDAs; transcribed and translated jail calls; translated on behalf of witnesses; prepared and reviewed discovery; used Lexis (legal research) to answer case questions/issues, shepardized cases, prepared legal memos; briefed DDA's after synthesizing case info; and contacted investigating officers/lab technicians/witnesses. In addition to this, whenever I wasn't working on anything, I would sit in and listen to prelims and trials; estimating conservatively, I think I've listened to more than 25 prelims and listened to parts of at least 25 felony trials. I plan on finishing this internship/clerkship this coming January and I would like to ask for a LOR, but here-in-lies the issue: how do I approach a very busy DDA and ask him for a LOR?
A few weeks ago I approached the Deputy DA who interviewed me, brought me in, and gave me my first assignment, and I asked him if he could write me a LOR. Although he didn't refuse to write it, he did tell me that he would prefer if I wrote it and then he signed it since he's been terribly busy. As many of you know, law school admission officers can spot a self-written or a haphazard LOR a mile away. If I were to write the LOR, I'd not only run the risk of having my application completely disregarded but I would also compromise my personal statement. If I pressure this specific DDA, it's likely that he would do less than good job on the letter. So that's the issue...how or what can I do to ensure that I obtain a well written LOR with content that will make an impression with law school admission officers? Should I ask another DDA who I'm close with and who has assigned me tons of work? Or should I ask one of the calendar DA's who I not only get along with but who has recently assigned me work?
Following the advice of a friend who graduated from law school, I put together a list of the cases that I've worked with and what I did in those cases, plus I also drafted a list of all the tasks and duties I performed during my internship/clerkship. These two lists will not only facilitate the work of whoever will be writing my LOR but it also ensure that my LOR is strong, substantial, and specific. Is there anything else that I need to provide to ensure that my LOR will make a statement or leave a great impression on whoever reads it? What should I tell my recommender about what I would like included in my letter? Anything? Is there anything else I'm missing?
If anyone has any questions or needs more info, don't hesitate to post and I'll do my best to respond ASAP. I would like to ask for a LOR at the beginning of January and give my recommender at least 3 or 4 weeks to draft it; so, there is some urgency on my part to get as much info or advice from people as soon as possible. Thanks for reading.
I'd appreciate it if I could get some advice on how to approach and ask for a Letter of Recommendation, but before delve into it, let me give you some background. I plan on attending law school in the fall of 2016 and I'm currently preparing for the LSAT. I graduated from college in 2007, so it's been quite a few years since I was in school and therefore I don't have any connections to former professors. I've been working at an small IP law firm in Southern California for the last 2 years and have been interning with the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office since October 2013. Later this year I will be interning/clerking with the US Attorney's Office during the summer and fall. In addition to my work experience, I also have plenty of volunteer work (multiple years with the OC Rescue Mission and Big Bros Big Sisters) which may seem insignificant but it shows I'm interested in public/community service. I plan on pursuing and focusing on criminal law with the hope that after school I can work in the public sector (DOJ, State Attorney's Office, perhaps even DA) at some point during my career. Please bear with me, most of my plans aren't set in stone just yet, I'm still learning about some of the less talked about nuances and challenges that prospective law students encounter when they begin contemplating a career path. Nevertheless, I hope this thread will receive some good, thoughtful posts that address my question rather than periphery issues such as why I'm not pursuing biglaw.
As I mentioned before, I've been interning/clerking with the Los Angeles DA's Office for the last 15 months. During this time, I've been exposed to and worked on a variety of cases and themes ranging from simple assaults to drug related crimes to murders. Interestingly, I haven't worked under one or two specific DDA's, rather I've assisted and supported numerous DDA's in a central department that deals with all types of felonies. Obviously, what I can and can't do has limited my ability to assist this office. For instance, I obviously haven't drafted any motions, done any in-depth legal research, or argued anything in court. Nevertheless, despite this limitation, I have done a great deal of pre-trial and in-trial work such as: screened footage of crimes; transcribed calls; visited crime scenes; reviewed/synthesized prelim transcripts and then briefed DDAs; transcribed and translated jail calls; translated on behalf of witnesses; prepared and reviewed discovery; used Lexis (legal research) to answer case questions/issues, shepardized cases, prepared legal memos; briefed DDA's after synthesizing case info; and contacted investigating officers/lab technicians/witnesses. In addition to this, whenever I wasn't working on anything, I would sit in and listen to prelims and trials; estimating conservatively, I think I've listened to more than 25 prelims and listened to parts of at least 25 felony trials. I plan on finishing this internship/clerkship this coming January and I would like to ask for a LOR, but here-in-lies the issue: how do I approach a very busy DDA and ask him for a LOR?
A few weeks ago I approached the Deputy DA who interviewed me, brought me in, and gave me my first assignment, and I asked him if he could write me a LOR. Although he didn't refuse to write it, he did tell me that he would prefer if I wrote it and then he signed it since he's been terribly busy. As many of you know, law school admission officers can spot a self-written or a haphazard LOR a mile away. If I were to write the LOR, I'd not only run the risk of having my application completely disregarded but I would also compromise my personal statement. If I pressure this specific DDA, it's likely that he would do less than good job on the letter. So that's the issue...how or what can I do to ensure that I obtain a well written LOR with content that will make an impression with law school admission officers? Should I ask another DDA who I'm close with and who has assigned me tons of work? Or should I ask one of the calendar DA's who I not only get along with but who has recently assigned me work?
Following the advice of a friend who graduated from law school, I put together a list of the cases that I've worked with and what I did in those cases, plus I also drafted a list of all the tasks and duties I performed during my internship/clerkship. These two lists will not only facilitate the work of whoever will be writing my LOR but it also ensure that my LOR is strong, substantial, and specific. Is there anything else that I need to provide to ensure that my LOR will make a statement or leave a great impression on whoever reads it? What should I tell my recommender about what I would like included in my letter? Anything? Is there anything else I'm missing?
If anyone has any questions or needs more info, don't hesitate to post and I'll do my best to respond ASAP. I would like to ask for a LOR at the beginning of January and give my recommender at least 3 or 4 weeks to draft it; so, there is some urgency on my part to get as much info or advice from people as soon as possible. Thanks for reading.