Writing Sample Ethics Forum

[abiglawyer]

Is it kosher to use a brief/memorandum containing confidential information as a writing sample so long as you redact the confidential stuff?

[k5220]

Best practice is to get permission before doing that

[tyroneslothrop1]

My writing samples are public documents that have been filed with a court but I swap out the name of parties for something generic: Developer Co. v. Subcontractor Co.

[2013]

It’s obviously best practice to get permission, but if you’re discreetly applying for a new job, it should be fine as long as you redact everything and clean it

[objctnyrhnr]

Anybody have any anecdotal evidence that hiring components/people for high level gov or clerk or biglaw even read writing samples?

My hunch is that overwhelmingly they do not.

[nixy]

My experience is that judges and government hiring committees read writing samples (probably only from finalists or second round or the like, but to get the job your sample is getting read).

[Anonymous User]

Anybody have any anecdotal evidence that hiring components/people for high level gov or clerk or biglaw even read writing samples?

My hunch is that overwhelmingly they do not.

I work in bigfed and I am on hiring panels often. I glance at writing samples to see if they’re formatted neatly... otherwise I pay them no mind. Applicants that submit a memo rather than a brief might get a second look, but only because it seems weird to do that for a litigation position. In either case, I’ve never actually read a writing sample. I do, however, read cover letters.

Anecdotally, when applying for my current job, I was asked about my writing sample. I guess it just depends on your interviewers.

[Anonymous User]

Yeah, in both my bigfed job interviews I was asked about my writing sample, and I know that for our recent hires at least some members of the hiring panel read the samples (pretty sure they all read the samples for the finalists). I’m not going to claim everyone read every word of every sample, but they read enough to form an opinion (probably at least of people not autodinged based on other factors).

[Anonymous User]

Anybody have any anecdotal evidence that hiring components/people for high level gov or clerk or biglaw even read writing samples?

My hunch is that overwhelmingly they do not.

Writing samples of clerk applicants were moderately scrutinized in my judge's chambers - rarely for legal substance, but often for prose quality, glaring Bluebooking errors, and the like. It was an easy way to weed through the stack of people who got past the first gate with a good-enough resume before really engaging with the remaining applications.