Perhaps you know the Vampire Weekend song?

Well, here’s why you should give a BIG f*ck:

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During my first year on LinkedIn, I posted a recommendation that you use the Oxford Comma—always—when writing in the legal context.

I am feeling a bit wistful as we approach the TWO-full-years mark since I started writing this series to you on LinkedIn.

In honor of the anniversary, I thought we’d mix things up to see how well you’ve really been paying attention. 🙂

Here’s a little quiz based on a selection of my letters from 2024.

The results were unexpected—both good and bad.

Here’s a recap:

🔹 The OFFER (for those who missed)

As you may recall, my offer was to mail a signed copy of my ‘Dear 1L’ book to 3 incoming law students. I shared both on LinkedIn and in 2 Facebook (FB) groups:

Use fewer “to be” verbs.

Here’s what I mean:

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There are 2 kinds of verbs:

1-ACTION verbs
2-TO BE verbs (also called, “state-of-being” verbs).

(I’ve also got a FREE gift 🎁 offer for you,
so make sure to see the end of the post.)

First, here’s why the 900 number means so much to me:

—This is my first self-published and self-marketed book
—I've spent ZERO on advertising or outside marketing support
—No law professor has assigned the book to their class yet

They carried me through the hardest parts of the process, and I am forever grateful.

N.B. There are many others who I have or will thank separately, but the below all post regularly on LinkedIn and merit your follow.

🔹 John Espirian— follow for all things LinkedIn & personal branding

🔹 Jordana Confino— follow for an unending source of positivity;

It could list:

—the firm’s style preferences,
—each partners’ pet peeves, and
—common mistakes to watch for and avoid.

If I had a law firm, I would require all associates to edit their own drafts using the checklist and to fix, correct, and polish the drafts BEFORE they hand them in.

Unfortunately, most 1Ls do it the wrong way.

They:

—read the question,
—try to figure out the answer, and
—write an essay to justify that answer.

Instead, the better way is to do this:

Dear 1L,

I thought of you as I woke today.
A still-dark scene on my window bay.
Forever it took for the sun to arise,
And away it did go then, long before 5.
So while, on exams, you’ve a one-track eye,
Please do this ONE thing for me.
Here is the why:

❤️‍🩹 Up to 40% of you will graduate with mental health problems.

🔹 The very first weekend at the new firm, there was a mandatory, 3-day, all-attorney retreat at some resort that was 3-4 hours away from home.

I was still nursing.

—My heart was still beating as one with my new baby.

—on an empty campus,
—away from family,
—eating dining hall food.

But for many, that’s the plan.

—Home is hours away.
—Exams are not far away.
—There are only so many hours in a day.

And so, students stay.

If you initially say the incident occurred on a “bridge,” don’t later refer to it as an “overpass.”

And if you initially describe the incident as a “robbery,” don’t later call it a “theft.”

Get the gist?

Aunt Minnie is surely going to ask you,
“What kind of lawyer are you going to be?”

And Uncle Ted is sure to prod,
“Where do you plan to work after law school?”

He may even say something like, “I bet you’re going to be at the top of your class; you were always so smart.”

I took the hats out and put them on my desk so I wouldn’t forget.

One hat was pink, pale pink;
the other blue, denim blue.
And no, I was not going koo-koo.

Each hat had a letter on it—P in pink for the plaintiff, and D for the defendant in blue.

1️⃣ STEP 1: Fully justify your body text.

▪️ Set the format for all paragraphs so the text ending at the right margin makes a perfectly straight line.

—When you fully justify, you often cut a few lines of text per document.