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I was the primary author on a motion and response as a 1L SA this summer. The motion and response were obviously both edited by the attorneys at the firm that I was working at, but their changes were relatively small. My name was not on the filing because i was an SA and am not licensed to practice law.

I want to use the response brief as my writing sample for OCI because it is an appropriate length and I feel like it is a much better representation of my actual writing than my LRW memo/brief. The motion was recently granted and the judge's opinion adopted many of my arguments so I feel like it would also be a good conversation piece.

Is it problematic to use a piece of writing like this? Anyone else do something similar in the past?

I'm slightly concerned using 1) a filing where other attorneys are identified as the filers 2) a response to an opposition brief, rather than an initial brief (the initial motion brief is too long).

ETA: To complicate things even more, the motion was filed on behalf of a joint defense group. I am interviewing with one of the firms in the group.

Use a rough draft (or sections of a rough draft), ask for permission, and include a blurb on the cover sheet stating (a) that your writing sample is a draft of a brief that the firm ultimately filed and (b) a short description of what your brief is about. There's nothing weird about this and it sounds like great writing sample.

Is it acceptable to submit an edited writing sample ? Might be a bit suspect since the work product was edited as well as signed & submitted by others, therefore the better choice might be to submit an unedited draft that is 100% your work, in my opinion.

CanadianWolf wrote:Is it acceptable to submit an edited writing sample ? Might be a bit suspect since the work product was edited as well as signed & submitted by others, therefore the better choice might be to submit an unedited draft that is 100% your work, in my opinion.

This. If I were a hiring partner at a firm, I'd want to see the work product of the law student I'm potentially hiring, not the law student plus the senior associate/junior partner, paralegal, legal assistants of the firm that employed that law student.

Rising 3L here. This summer I wrote, argued, and won a motion to suppress. I was the primary author on the motion and brief. My supervising attorney reviewed the documents and added one sentence to the brief (otherwise no substantive edits). Both his and my names are on the filing. Use as writing sample?