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I'm going to try and be fairly vague here, so I apologize if this is confusing or anything. So I have a close relative who is the CCO/Senior-VP of a large corporation, who is a client of a large firm attending OCI at my school. I actually had a chance to chat with one of the firm's department chairs prior to beginning 1L, mostly regarding law school generally, what school to choose, as well as a bit of conversation about the firm itself. My relative asked me to let her/him know when I'm applying to the firm (which I guess would be soon through OCI bidding?), but would it be a dumb move to somehow mention the connection in my cover letter? I think I risk sounding like a name-dropping dick if I do, but part of me thinks it couldn't hurt to mention that I had a chance to speak with her/him regarding school/work and how I found it very insightful and would greatly enjoy working there?

If there is some reason I shouldn't be posting something like this please tell me, and I will remove it.

cover letter for what? if they are coming to oci...?

Reach out to uncle to remind him that you will be interviewing with them and ask if he would be able to put you in touch with that lawyer agian. At the least you say you want to learn more about firm x. At most you may get a CB.

toothbrush wrote:cover letter for what? if they are coming to oci...?

Reach out to uncle to remind him that you will be interviewing with them and ask if he would be able to put you in touch with that lawyer agian. At the least you say you want to learn more about firm x. At most you may get a CB.

Yeah I'm not expecting the world or anything. Symplicity has a slot for a cover letter submission, I assumed that meant the employer had requested them, no?

emarxnj wrote:
Yeah I'm not expecting the world or anything. Symplicity has a slot for a cover letter submission, I assumed that meant the employer had requested them, no?

Oh okay so that is a question outside of what I know. From what I understand though, you don't need a CL for OCI since it's a lottery anyway. Maybe if your school has pre-select? I'm not sure.

If I were you I would reach out to uncle and let him know you have an opportunity to interview with x firm and would love to be in contact with Y associate/partner again beforehand.

toothbrush wrote:

emarxnj wrote:
Yeah I'm not expecting the world or anything. Symplicity has a slot for a cover letter submission, I assumed that meant the employer had requested them, no?

Oh okay so that is a question outside of what I know. From what I understand though, you don't need a CL for OCI since it's a lottery anyway. Maybe if your school has pre-select? I'm not sure.

If I were you I would reach out to uncle and let him know you have an opportunity to interview with x firm and would love to be in contact with Y associate/partner again beforehand.

That makes sense. I'm actually going to see him this weekend I think, so I can mention it, though he usually brings it up. I thought the idea of cover letters for OCI seemed strange, and from what I've read on here most firms don't even want them, but I figured I should complete all the fields.



Another OCI question...my current writing sample would likely just be some crap I wrote for LRW, which I had a less than favorable grade in. I will probably have something a bit more substantive from working my current internship, but I doubt it will be before bidding closes. Do I just submit whatever I had from 1L, but then I could bring copies of something more recent as well assuming I actually get interviews?

That's probably too pushy - I'd be put off if I read that in a cover letter, and most people probs would be. Him putting in the word is enough to make a maybe a what the hell why not.

I actually had a chance to chat with one of the firm's department chairs prior to beginning 1L, mostly regarding law school generally, what school to choose, as well as a bit of conversation about the firm itself.

Citing this conversation with this attorney is totally appropriate to put in a cover letter. Mentioning your relationship with a client is probably not.

DELG wrote:

I actually had a chance to chat with one of the firm's department chairs prior to beginning 1L, mostly regarding law school generally, what school to choose, as well as a bit of conversation about the firm itself.

Citing this conversation with this attorney is totally appropriate to put in a cover letter. Mentioning your relationship with a client is probably not.

Yeah, something about citing a private conversation feels wrong, thanks for confirming. Any idea of how to word this other than just saying "P.S. pls hire me X pays you guys alot of money"

PepperJack wrote:That's probably too pushy - I'd be put off if I read that in a cover letter, and most people probs would be. Him putting in the word is enough to make a maybe a what the hell why not.

Yeah, I suppose could make the reader think I'm basically trying to go over his head. I'll be leaving it out.

emarxnj wrote:

DELG wrote:

I actually had a chance to chat with one of the firm's department chairs prior to beginning 1L, mostly regarding law school generally, what school to choose, as well as a bit of conversation about the firm itself.

Citing this conversation with this attorney is totally appropriate to put in a cover letter. Mentioning your relationship with a client is probably not.

Yeah, something about citing a private conversation feels wrong, thanks for confirming. Any idea of how to word this other than just saying "P.S. pls hire me X pays you guys alot of money"

These aren't things you put in writing.

Mentioning the partner who you got a chance to talk about is appropriate to the extent that conversation made you more interested in the firm (ideally for articulable reasons). The goal is for recruiting to ask him about the convo, at which time your relative's juice might help when the partner says, "hire that guy for business dev reasons."

DELG wrote:

emarxnj wrote:

DELG wrote:

I actually had a chance to chat with one of the firm's department chairs prior to beginning 1L, mostly regarding law school generally, what school to choose, as well as a bit of conversation about the firm itself.

Citing this conversation with this attorney is totally appropriate to put in a cover letter. Mentioning your relationship with a client is probably not.

Yeah, something about citing a private conversation feels wrong, thanks for confirming. Any idea of how to word this other than just saying "P.S. pls hire me X pays you guys alot of money"

These aren't things you put in writing.

Mentioning the partner who you got a chance to talk about is appropriate to the extent that conversation made you more interested in the firm (ideally for articulable reasons). The goal is for recruiting to ask him about the convo, at which time your relative's juice might help when the partner says, "hire that guy for business dev reasons."

Cool, thanks.