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yay

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writing sample advice

Post by yay » Mon Jun 20, 2016 3:03 pm

Sorry posted this in the wrong forum. I'd appreciate any advice.

In general, I am informed that 7-10 pages is good and that if i have actual work experience, then it's better to use the material while employed than something I wrote in law school.

I have a writing sample from mootcourt (7-10 pages) which received a 87% or B+. I also have a portion of MSJ I wrote for work, which my boss said was very helpful. However, it's no more than 3 pages. Which should I use?

fauxpsych

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Re: writing sample advice

Post by fauxpsych » Mon Jun 20, 2016 4:01 pm

When I interned for a judge last year, she gave me some great advice when I was facing a similar issue.

Unless otherwise stated, the sample does not have to be 7-10 pages of a single work.

In my sample I included a brief internal research memo (that I had permission to use), the fact section of a moot court brief, and an excerpt of the legal analysis section of a decision I drafted (also received permission). I used the first page as a brief table of contents summarizing and explaining the contexts of the 3 types of writing.

Never received any complaints about it and formatting it this way allowed me to display the range of legal writing I was comfortable with.

yay

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Re: writing sample advice

Post by yay » Mon Jun 20, 2016 4:25 pm

fauxpsych wrote:When I interned for a judge last year, she gave me some great advice when I was facing a similar issue.

Unless otherwise stated, the sample does not have to be 7-10 pages of a single work.

In my sample I included a brief internal research memo (that I had permission to use), the fact section of a moot court brief, and an excerpt of the legal analysis section of a decision I drafted (also received permission). I used the first page as a brief table of contents summarizing and explaining the contexts of the 3 types of writing.

Never received any complaints about it and formatting it this way allowed me to display the range of legal writing I was comfortable with.
Thank you for the great advice. Do you happen to have a sample of the ToC page online where you got inspiration from?

fauxpsych

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Posts: 127
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Re: writing sample advice

Post by fauxpsych » Mon Jun 20, 2016 4:58 pm

yay wrote:
fauxpsych wrote:When I interned for a judge last year, she gave me some great advice when I was facing a similar issue.

Unless otherwise stated, the sample does not have to be 7-10 pages of a single work.

In my sample I included a brief internal research memo (that I had permission to use), the fact section of a moot court brief, and an excerpt of the legal analysis section of a decision I drafted (also received permission). I used the first page as a brief table of contents summarizing and explaining the contexts of the 3 types of writing.

Never received any complaints about it and formatting it this way allowed me to display the range of legal writing I was comfortable with.
Thank you for the great advice. Do you happen to have a sample of the ToC page online where you got inspiration from?

Didn't use a sample. Just kept it simple and typed it out myself.

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