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When you're starting to apply for summer positions as a 1L in December and you don't have any law school grades yet...

1. Should you contact firms, judges, public service organizations etc. via email or regular mail (in the post)? If it's better to do the initial contact by regular mail, should you include a line in your cover letter saying something like "I can also be contacted at this email address/phone number..." ?

2. I'm assuming you should send along your resume, but what about your undergraduate transcript? Should you send it, leave it out until you're asked, or only send it if you did very well in undergrad?

Thanks in advance. I'm an incoming 1L and would really appreciate any feedback about how this all works. I guess I could ask my school's career services office when I get there but I'd appreciate any TLS advice I can get

Resume, Writing Sample, Cover Letter.

No transcripts.

i dont have a writing sample and i doubt i'll have one by the time i start mass mailing, since i hope to be doing that before the first semester is over. so i guess just cover letter and resume... via email or actual mail in the post?

You'll have a writing sample from your legal writing class. (Not all employers will want one, but judges tend to.) When I was applying sending hard copies through the mail was appropriate for judges but otherwise email works (unless a specific employer has a different system). Even for the hard copies, your email address should be on your resume so you shouldn't have to say anything about it in your cover letter.

A. Nony Mouse wrote:You'll have a writing sample from your legal writing class. (Not all employers will want one, but judges tend to.) When I was applying sending hard copies through the mail was appropriate for judges but otherwise email works (unless a specific employer has a different system). Even for the hard copies, your email address should be on your resume so you shouldn't have to say anything about it in your cover letter.

Oh right, my email address is on my resume. Does it matter whether I send my resume as a word or pdf file?
Also you say that not all employers will want a writing sample, but does that mean I shouldnt send one unless they ask for it later?

pdf is credited. it's standardized (wrt to editions, and offices that don't use word).

pancakes3 wrote:pdf is credited. it's standardized (wrt to editions, and offices that don't use word).

thank you. should the writing sample be in pdf too? sorry if these are dumb questions -_-

Everything is PDF bro.

Why is your cart so far in front of your horse?

BizBro wrote:Everything is PDF bro.

thanks bro. that makes it easy

Clearly wrote:Why is your cart so far in front of your horse?

im thinking about where i might want to work in my 1L summer and have my resume and some cover letter templates ready for when i can start applying, since thatll be during the first semester when i expect to be busy with school. so thats why im asking these questions now.

Clearly wrote:Why is your cart so far in front of your horse?

Nothing wrong with doing it ahead of time instead of wasting the precious study or free time you'll have as a 1L. Even though things worked out well for me, I still regret doing this stuff too late. Then again, I literally prepared just a few days before the Dec. 1 date.

DJ JD wrote:

Clearly wrote:Why is your cart so far in front of your horse?

Nothing wrong with doing it ahead of time instead of wasting the precious study or free time you'll have as a 1L. Even though things worked out well for me, I still regret doing this stuff too late. Then again, I literally prepared just a few days before the Dec. 1 date.

Of course there's something wrong with doing it ahead of time. 1) it's the last august before law school, you should be doing anything that ISNT law school right now. 2) you don't know what your doing yet, chill and focus on it when school starts. I appreciate the initiative and all, but people should be enjoying their summers

Clearly wrote:

DJ JD wrote:

Clearly wrote:Why is your cart so far in front of your horse?

Nothing wrong with doing it ahead of time instead of wasting the precious study or free time you'll have as a 1L. Even though things worked out well for me, I still regret doing this stuff too late. Then again, I literally prepared just a few days before the Dec. 1 date.

Of course there's something wrong with doing it ahead of time. 1) it's the last august before law school, you should be doing anything that ISNT law school right now. 2) you don't know what your doing yet, chill and focus on it when school starts. I appreciate the initiative and all, but people should be enjoying their summers

taking a little time to think about and prepare these things doesnt mean im not enjoying the summer. yeah i dont know what im doing, which is why im asking some questions here for guidance. and im generally curious how all this works. i know im not going to have everything in place to send out by december or be anywhere close to having that much ready, and thats not really the intention.

Clearly wrote:

DJ JD wrote:

Clearly wrote:Why is your cart so far in front of your horse?

Nothing wrong with doing it ahead of time instead of wasting the precious study or free time you'll have as a 1L. Even though things worked out well for me, I still regret doing this stuff too late. Then again, I literally prepared just a few days before the Dec. 1 date.

Of course there's something wrong with doing it ahead of time. 1) it's the last august before law school, you should be doing anything that ISNT law school right now. 2) you don't know what your doing yet, chill and focus on it when school starts. I appreciate the initiative and all, but people should be enjoying their summers

I'd argue there's more downtime during your 0L summer where you're outright bored (assuming you aren't working) where doing anything serious is somewhat of a relief, compared to free-time as a 1L, where you have to either sacrifice study time or down time in order to do something else that's serious.

It's not like OP cancelled his plans with friends or a vacation to do this...

DJ JD wrote:

Clearly wrote:

DJ JD wrote:

Clearly wrote:Why is your cart so far in front of your horse?

Nothing wrong with doing it ahead of time instead of wasting the precious study or free time you'll have as a 1L. Even though things worked out well for me, I still regret doing this stuff too late. Then again, I literally prepared just a few days before the Dec. 1 date.

Of course there's something wrong with doing it ahead of time. 1) it's the last august before law school, you should be doing anything that ISNT law school right now. 2) you don't know what your doing yet, chill and focus on it when school starts. I appreciate the initiative and all, but people should be enjoying their summers

I'd argue there's more downtime during your 0L summer where you're outright bored (assuming you aren't working) where doing anything serious is somewhat of a relief, compared to free-time as a 1L, where you have to either sacrifice study time or down time in order to do something else that's serious.

It's not like OP cancelled his plans with friends or a vacation to do this...

thats pretty much my mindset for doing this. also could you answer my previous question please --> since not all employers would want a writing sample, should i not send it until asked? or should i write something in my cover letter like "i can provide a writing sample upon request"... although i guess if they really wanted one theyd ask even if i didnt write that ??

I can't really answer that question as well. I only sent resume, cover letter, and after they all eventually asked them, transcripts, but aside from a couple of bites (one personalized response from recruiting that never panned out and an interview with a different firm), I totally struck out mass mailing. (However, the two 1LSAs I got were from website applications; so the point is apply any way possible.)

Who would have known if a writing sample would have been helpful? To be fair though, I know for a fact most employers don't even read your cover letter and at best, may skim it for typos, so I'm going to wager against the comparative effectiveness of including a 5-10 page writing sample.

DJ JD wrote:I can't really answer that question as well. I only sent resume, cover letter, and after they all eventually asked them, transcripts, but aside from a couple of bites (one personalized response from recruiting that never panned out and an interview with a different firm), I totally struck out mass mailing. (However, the two 1LSAs I got were from website applications; so the point is apply any way possible.)

Who would have known if a writing sample would have been helpful? To be fair though, I know for a fact most employers don't even read your cover letter and at best, may skim it for typos, so I'm going to wager against the comparative effectiveness of including a 5-10 page writing sample.

oh i see. thank you for the detailed reply. if you dont mind sharing, what websites did you apply from?

fisheatbananas wrote:

DJ JD wrote:I can't really answer that question as well. I only sent resume, cover letter, and after they all eventually asked them, transcripts, but aside from a couple of bites (one personalized response from recruiting that never panned out and an interview with a different firm), I totally struck out mass mailing. (However, the two 1LSAs I got were from website applications; so the point is apply any way possible.)

Who would have known if a writing sample would have been helpful? To be fair though, I know for a fact most employers don't even read your cover letter and at best, may skim it for typos, so I'm going to wager against the comparative effectiveness of including a 5-10 page writing sample.

oh i see. thank you for the detailed reply. if you dont mind sharing, what websites did you apply from?

Just check the firm's website for application instructions. If they say apply online, don't be a rebel and send an email, even if you have a connect at the firm (they can just tell recruiting in person anyways). If they say email a contact, email the contact. If nothing else, check the firm/office's nalp page, and email the listed contact.

Off hand, I have no idea who has what procedure. Just too many apps to count.

ok, i thought you were talking about a general site something like nalp. i see.

So UG transcripts are generally not needed for 1L summer applications? If accurate, that is a relief to hear.

re: ug grades, some ask for them, some don't

some firms will want law school grades, they'll ask you to send them when they come in

Brut wrote:re: ug grades, some ask for them, some don't

some firms will want law school grades, they'll ask you to send them when they come in

ok, thanks. should i say something like "my first semester grades will be available in late january" ? or is that too unnecessary

side question please.

if a law firm has multiple offices around the country should you apply to just one location or is it ok to mail several of the locations?

fisheatbananas wrote:

Brut wrote:re: ug grades, some ask for them, some don't

some firms will want law school grades, they'll ask you to send them when they come in

ok, thanks. should i say something like "my first semester grades will be available in late january" ? or is that too unnecessary

Do you think it's prudent to tell a recruiting contact whose job is to hire law students when grades will become available?