Professors vs. Employers for LORs Forum

[CB19]

I am applying for Fall 2017 and am a 2015 graduate of a small liberal arts college. So far, I have one very strong letter from a professor in my major (environmental studies), who happens to hold a JD PhD from a top 5 LS, and I am also getting a letter from a professor of music. I graduated with honors in music performance and music was an important part of my undergraduate education, so I decided a letter from this professor would be beneficial. Both professors know me very well and genuinely care, and I know that their letters are/will be great. This brings me to the big question...

I have worked for the past year as a legal assistant at a large biglaw firm in NYC. I have good working relationships with several attorneys, and I am sure that any of them would be happy to write me a letter of recommendation, but I can't imagine that there is any way they would write a letter as good as the letters from my professors. The attorneys are people who have only known me for a year, in a strictly business context, and who are already so busy that 1) I would feel bad asking them to give up free time to write the letter and 2) would probably not put as much time into the letter as a professor would. Despite this, I feel that I might be doing myself a disservice by not taking advantage of the opportunity to have a letter from one or several attorneys from my firm (a top firm). Furthermore, I wouldn't ask a partner because I know they don't know me well enough and I know that adcoms don't care about a big name on the letter. But what if I get a letter from a first-year associate (class of 2015)? Would that look strange? This guy happens to be a former LSAT instructor, so he probably knows what a good LOR should say...

Thoughts?

[cavalier1138]

A letter from someone who knows you well, regardless of their career, is always better than a letter from someone who doesn't. And it can actually hurt you if it's an obvious form letter. So just stick with your professors. Admissions doesn't give a damn if you got a generic recommendation from someone at a law firm.

On a total side-note: there's no reason that a former LSAT instructor would write a better LOR. Those are completely unrelated skill sets.

[maroon175]

Easy. submit the two LORs from your professors and also submit the third from your employer to any school that allows you to submit three. Academic references are stronger in my opinion, especially if you haven't been out of school for too long.

[Blueprint Mithun]

I am applying for Fall 2017 and am a 2015 graduate of a small liberal arts college. So far, I have one very strong letter from a professor in my major (environmental studies), who happens to hold a JD PhD from a top 5 LS, and I am also getting a letter from a professor of music. I graduated with honors in music performance and music was an important part of my undergraduate education, so I decided a letter from this professor would be beneficial. Both professors know me very well and genuinely care, and I know that their letters are/will be great. This brings me to the big question...

I have worked for the past year as a legal assistant at a large biglaw firm in NYC. I have good working relationships with several attorneys, and I am sure that any of them would be happy to write me a letter of recommendation, but I can't imagine that there is any way they would write a letter as good as the letters from my professors. The attorneys are people who have only known me for a year, in a strictly business context, and who are already so busy that 1) I would feel bad asking them to give up free time to write the letter and 2) would probably not put as much time into the letter as a professor would. Despite this, I feel that I might be doing myself a disservice by not taking advantage of the opportunity to have a letter from one or several attorneys from my firm (a top firm). Furthermore, I wouldn't ask a partner because I know they don't know me well enough and I know that adcoms don't care about a big name on the letter. But what if I get a letter from a first-year associate (class of 2015)? Would that look strange? This guy happens to be a former LSAT instructor, so he probably knows what a good LOR should say...

Thoughts?

What maroon175 said. You're set, since you have two potentially great recs from professors. Academic references are definitely valued over professional ones - law schools want to see how good of a student you are, not how good of a lawyer you might be. If you really want to get that employer rec, ask the associate/attorney with whom you have the closest relationship. It doesn't matter how junior or senior he/she is - the quality of the recommendation is what counts. And only bother submitting it if the school allows for more than 2 recs; otherwise, stick with your professors.