What Judges Look for in a Recommendation Letter Forum

[Anonymous User]

A partner from my 1L firm asked me to write a draft of my clerkship recommendation letter. Can any current or former clerks provide some traits judges like to see (besides the obvious works hard, very smart, pleasure to work with, great analytical skills)?

[Anonymous User]

writing ability, research skills, intellectual curiosity.

[bruinfan10]

from profs, they often want a comparison among other students--not just "this kid got an A," but "this kid wrote the best exam I've seen in five years." i'm not totally sure what they look for from an employer, but it wouldn't hurt if the partner said you were the best SA in your class or that he's worked with in recent memory. other than that, yeah, the standard stuff you said.

[CanadianWolf]

An honest & thorough evaluation from one who has worked closely with the applicant.

[rpupkin]

An honest & thorough evaluation from one who has worked closely with the applicant.

Yeah. Something personalized and genuine can really help.

Frankly, if the partner wants you to draft the letter yourself, you probably should find another recommender. A formulaic "works hard/writes well/pleasure to work with" letter is basically useless.

[Anonymous User]

An honest & thorough evaluation from one who has worked closely with the applicant.

Yeah. Something personalized and genuine can really help.

Frankly, if the partner wants you to draft the letter yourself, you probably should find another recommender. A formulaic "works hard/writes well/pleasure to work with" letter is basically useless.

This.

I'm a d.ct. clerk and I've been on the hiring side of 2 clerks. It is incredible how 90% of LORs are generic "This person is smart, works hard, and works well with others" without any substance or specifics. IMO, they are totally neutral LORs--they don't hurt or help an applicant's package, unless they are all like that. Then I wonder if this person has truly worked with someone on a non-superficial level.

[ph14]

from profs, they often want a comparison among other students--not just "this kid got an A," but "this kid wrote the best exam I've seen in five years." i'm not totally sure what they look for from an employer, but it wouldn't hurt if the partner said you were the best SA in your class or that he's worked with in recent memory. other than that, yeah, the standard stuff you said.

This is big in our chambers.

[rpupkin]

from profs, they often want a comparison among other students--not just "this kid got an A," but "this kid wrote the best exam I've seen in five years." i'm not totally sure what they look for from an employer, but it wouldn't hurt if the partner said you were the best SA in your class or that he's worked with in recent memory. other than that, yeah, the standard stuff you said.

This is big in our chambers.

This sort of letter used to impress my judge, but he noticed that quite a bit of "rec letter inflation" has occurred over the past few years. He said the following about one well-known law professor: "Every year I get letters from him recommending two or three students, and each student is apparently the best he's seen in ten years."

[Anonymous User]

from profs, they often want a comparison among other students--not just "this kid got an A," but "this kid wrote the best exam I've seen in five years." i'm not totally sure what they look for from an employer, but it wouldn't hurt if the partner said you were the best SA in your class or that he's worked with in recent memory. other than that, yeah, the standard stuff you said.

This is big in our chambers.

This sort of letter used to impress my judge, but he noticed that quite a bit of "rec letter inflation" has occurred over the past few years. He said the following about one well-known law professor: "Every year I get letters from him recommending two or three students, and each student is apparently the best he's seen in ten years."

Ditto in our chambers. Letters of rec. are probably the least important factor we have in hiring unless the professor/employer personally knows our judge and the judge trusts that person's opinion. Still, it doesn't hurt to include that kind of language - we just don't necessarily take it at face value.

They can, however, hurt an applicant if the letter is excessively generic or if it damns with faint praise.

[bruinfan10]

from profs, they often want a comparison among other students--not just "this kid got an A," but "this kid wrote the best exam I've seen in five years." i'm not totally sure what they look for from an employer, but it wouldn't hurt if the partner said you were the best SA in your class or that he's worked with in recent memory. other than that, yeah, the standard stuff you said.

This is big in our chambers.

This sort of letter used to impress my judge, but he noticed that quite a bit of "rec letter inflation" has occurred over the past few years. He said the following about one well-known law professor: "Every year I get letters from him recommending two or three students, and each student is apparently the best he's seen in ten years."

Yeah, we easily weeded those out too. The letters are all on file as you know. So I guess I should have included the caveat that bullshit comparison letters will not help. I doubt a law partner has that kind of track record in chambers though. And re: the overall weight of letters, that varies chambers to chambers a ton, but OP specifically asked about rec letters.

[rpupkin]

from profs, they often want a comparison among other students--not just "this kid got an A," but "this kid wrote the best exam I've seen in five years." i'm not totally sure what they look for from an employer, but it wouldn't hurt if the partner said you were the best SA in your class or that he's worked with in recent memory. other than that, yeah, the standard stuff you said.

This is big in our chambers.

This sort of letter used to impress my judge, but he noticed that quite a bit of "rec letter inflation" has occurred over the past few years. He said the following about one well-known law professor: "Every year I get letters from him recommending two or three students, and each student is apparently the best he's seen in ten years."

Yeah, we easily weeded those out too. The letters are all on file as you know. So I guess I should have included the caveat that bullshit comparison letters will not help. I doubt a law partner has that kind of track record in chambers though. And re: the overall weight of letters, that varies chambers to chambers a ton, but OP specifically asked about rec letters.

To be clear, I wasn't disagreeing with you or ph14. I was just sharing an anecdote. And it certainly doesn't hurt to have a professor or partner say you're the greatest ever; it just might not pack as much punch as the applicant would hope.

[Anonymous User]

Read some letters myself. I like comparison. In the past 5 summers, this was a top 3 SA out of 50.

[CourCour]

When I wrote letters, I tried to give specific examples that matched the quality I was saying my employee/ intern had. For example, X is a creative thinker. I gave him Y assignment. He not only completed the assignment but came up with this creative way to make it even better. In addition to coming up with the idea he did this, that, and the other thing to make the idea a reality.

Think of ways you went above and beyond this summer and attributes they line up with. From what commenters have said about overinflated apps, I think having specific examples of how you have great attributes would help.

[bruinfan10]

To be clear, I wasn't disagreeing with you or ph14. I was just sharing an anecdote. And it certainly doesn't hurt to have a professor or partner say you're the greatest ever; it just might not pack as much punch as the applicant would hope.

I get you. Your point about insincere appraisals was well-taken and I'm sure it happens not infrequently.