It started with a cold DM on LinkedIn.

And that DM started unremarkably:
It was a pre-law college student seeking experience in the legal world who wanted to know if I was aware of any internship openings or had any ideas, advice, etc.

Standard fare.

What’s the most important comma for clear legal writing? It’s beyond dispute. Follow this Rule:

Two

Independent

Clauses

Take

A

Dear Rising 2L,

Until now, you likely have not experienced many, if any, formal job interviews with BigLaw lawyers. Here’s what to expect and 5 suggestions to help prepare.

IN ADVANCE

When I review your writing, one of the first things I do is reword almost all sentences that start, “However, . . .”

“But starting sentences that way is grammatically correct,” you might protest.

And you’d be right. Even so, I suggest you limit your use of this sentence-starter.

Dear Rising 2L: If you use your 1L memo or brief as a writing sample for job applications, you have some work to do. Here are 7 key steps:

1️⃣ Incorporate the final corrections and edits from your TA & professor.

Dear Rising 2L: It’s best to include a short, concise cover memo with the writing sample you send to prospective employers.

Why? Because it’s a golden opportunity to set the stage and to start “making friends” with your Reader.

Learn this lawyer lingo:

IN-HOUSE COUNSEL:

This term refers to lawyers whose employer is an entity (such as a corporation or organization) that is not “in the business” of providing legal services to clients. In-house counsel typically serve one and only one client: their employer.

I must have seen more than 100 law-student resumes over the past year. Often I see them after a law-school career office has reviewed, and after everyone thinks the resume is “final.” Here’s the problem:

I still catch formatting errors and see other obvious areas for improvement.

Here are 3 fixes for every legal resume:

Every year when law-firm recruiting season starts, law students start buzzing about the enormous starting salaries at Big Law firms. (It’s $215,000+ in NYC now, I understand.)

A heavy dose of reality is needed.

At my 10-year high school reunion, I spoke with a classmate who’d gone straight from college to a T14 law school, and then to a top-ten, “white shoe” firm in NYC. He’d just finished three full years as an associate there.

Dear Rising 2L,

👉 You know LinkedIn is the first place any prospective employer will look you up. (And they will look you up.)

You’ve got early OCI* coming up (*on-campus interviews).

Don’t make it hard for law firms to find you.

Dear Legal Writer,

As a junior legal writer, you likely tend to use “Therefore” and “Thus” too often. And you probably always put them at the start of sentences, followed by a comma.

That can make for some pretty plodding prose.  👎

This post is for all in my network. It explains how to shorten and change the wording of your name in your LinkedIn address.

You should follow the below steps and then add your personalized LinkedIn address to the top of your resume, with your email address and phone number.

Dear Rising 2L:  Please see this video I made just for you.

Dear Rising 2L,

I have a tendency to do something bad that caused me to bomb a job interview. It’s a weakness of mine, and I didn’t keep it in check. If you have this same tendency, don’t let it ruin your interviews.

***

Dear Legal Writer, Lindsey Lawton and I partner today to bring you this tip on a common sentence-starter that’s tripped folks up lately:

“As __, . . .”

For example,

“As a lawyer, . . .”
“As plaintiff in a tort case, . . .”
“As the judge of record, . . . “