Letters of rec from judges... Forum

[justice4alll]

Ok, so i am working for a judge during my L1 summer and he appears to be impressed by my work product. Should i take this opportunity to ask him for a letter of rec? Is it even ok for him to write a generic letter of rec that i could use for almost anything or should i wait and only ask him when it is needed so that the letter can be targeted instead of generic?

[Anonymous User]

Having the same experience. I am working for a federal judge and he seems to really like my work as well as me, and offered to write letters of rec already. My grades are a bit crappy (which I revealed to him), so is there a way to include a letter for him for OCI?

[RVP11]

I've never heard of letters of rec for legal employment. They're called references, and a lot of firms won't even ask for them, or won't call them.

[Renzo]

I've never heard of letters of rec for legal employment. They're called references, and a lot of firms won't even ask for them, or won't call them.

True. Which is why you should put them on your resume if they are really good.

[ggocat]

You can definitely ask. I received a letter from a judge for clerkship applications. At first I received targeted letters, but when I tipped off his clerk that I would be applying to dozens, he sent me a generic letter that I could copy and send out. Some judges strictly do not write letters for clerkship apps but will call. (Ethics rules may be a little tricky when a federal judge is trying to get somebody a job in the federal government).

If you're not talking about clerkship apps, then you don't usually need rec letters--just ask if you can list the judge as a reference.