Writing a cover letter to someone you have already spoken to Forum

[wolverine10]

For our OCI some firms require cover letters. Two of them are to the recruiting manager of a firms I have previously had an informational interviews with. Should I acknowledge this in the letter or should I just write a normal cover letter? I feel like I should say something like "it was a pleasure speaking with you on such and such date" but not totally sure.

Thanks in advance.

[rinkrat19]

My instinct is to write a mostly normal cover letter, but definitely acknowledge that you A)remember that you already talked to this person and aren't just whipping out form letters and B)have a particular lasting memory of your encounter with them. "I enjoyed having coffee with you a few weeks ago and appreciated not only your valuable interviewing advice, but also hearing about your experiences climbing Mt. Washington." Or whatever. The "interviewing advice" gives them credit for their professional knowledge and assistance, and the personal bit is more likely to trigger their memory of the prior meeting with you.

But someone else can weigh in and disagree.

[wolverine10]

Yea I planned on writing a mostly normal cover letter. I normally start with "My name is X and I will be a 2L at Y law school in the fall" but I think it would seem odd if I didnt even acknowledge meeting this person somewhere in the beginning before going into the rest of the cover letter.

Thanks for your opinion

[rinkrat19]

Yea I planned on writing a mostly normal cover letter. I normally start with "My name is X and I will be a 2L at Y law school in the fall" but I think it would seem odd if I didnt even acknowledge meeting this person somewhere in the beginning before going into the rest of the cover letter.

Thanks for your opinion

I think starting it with that is still fine. You're reminding them who you are. You'd probably still introduce yourself to them that way in person, with your name and year/school before you mention that you've met them before.

[BostonLove]

Yea I planned on writing a mostly normal cover letter. I normally start with "My name is X and I will be a 2L at Y law school in the fall" but I think it would seem odd if I didnt even acknowledge meeting this person somewhere in the beginning before going into the rest of the cover letter.

Thanks for your opinion

I would start with this and then in the first paragraph (or wherever you discuss why you are interested in that specific firm), mention meeting them for coffee. Obviously write it to fit your letter and the situation, but you could say something along the lines of 'I am highly interested in Firm X's abc, which I further researched after you mentioned it during our informational interview on date.' Basically, include it in the same way that you would include meeting others at the firm. I also suggest not being cryptic or assuming the reader remembers/knows something at all in case the person to whom the letter is addressed is not the only one that reads it (or they forget specifics).