💌 Dear 1L,

I’ve recently been making my way through a big stack of your legal writing samples for OCI.

A lot of you are using 7-9 page excerpts from longer briefs you wrote in your spring-semester, legal-writing class.  

Dear 1L,The first interview question you’ll likely be asked is “Tell me about yourself.”

Please don’t recite your resume!

We’ve looked at that already.

Tell us something NOT on your resume. 

Dear 1L,

Add a comma to break apart a sentence when you have 2 actors doing different verbs. Always.

🟢 CORRECT:

A did x, and B did y.

🔴 INCORRECT:

Dear 1L,

🚫 Starting right now, I want you to ban “judgement” from your writing.

🔸 In fact, set your autocorrect settings to make “judgement” a typo.

“But the dictionary says that spelling is accepted,” you might retort.

Dear 1L,

You are misusing the words “comprise” and “compose.”

I concede: I, too, didn’t know the words well during law school.

The “comprise-compose” conundrum comes often in legal writing.

The difference between the two words is not intuitive, 

Dear 1L,

Waiting for results is the worst—especially at this stage of your law career.

Every result may seem like an identity badge.

Where do you attend law school?

What was GPA?

Dear 1L,

I’ve compiled advice and anecdotes from last year’s 2Ls on how to navigate the interviews in OCI (On Campus Interviews).

(All quoted language below comes from prior 2Ls.)

🔷 A. PRE-INTERVIEWS

🔷 Dear 1L — Summer Spotlight 🔷

Pivoting away from the haunting background stories of past weeks, the showcase turns to the hardworking, international world of rising 2L, Alexandra Hulit.

*    *    *

To fund and support her education, Alex spent 6+ years working in retail and customer-service facing positions.

Dear 1L,

Today, I weep.

I almost want to open the phone lines right now to anyone who needs someone to talk to. I am here if you need to.

Write.

Are you ok?

Dear 1L,

I’m keeping a list of recurring mistakes in law-student writing samples.

This one is easy: make sure you know when to capitalize “court.”

*    *    *

🔷 CAPITALIZE SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States)

When working on a big writing project (e.g., a legal memo), we must rest our brains and exercise.

Movement clears the mind. It lets our thinking caps rest.

While the active mind rests, the Subconscious starts working. It starts to make connections.

Ideas come together.

Dear 1L,

Last fall, I received a flood of panicked calls from jobless 2Ls.

Don’t let that be you. Don’t wait till after OCI. Go all-in with networking NOW.  Here, some steps to start on LinkedIn.

✏️ STEP 1:  PERFECT YOUR PROFILE.

Your LI profile is often the 1st place prospective employers go.

*All quoted language below comes from past 2Ls. Some school-specific variations will occur.

* * *

🔷 A. PRE-INTERVIEWS

🔸 Step 1: Decide which firms are your top choices. “Your likelihood of securing an initial interview is much higher for the firms you formally designate at the start of the process.”

Dear 1L,

If you’re someone who routinely writes the phrase “in order to,” I suggest you reconsider.

Almost always, a simple “to” will do.

Try it when you edit your writing this summer.  Run a search for the phrase “in order to.”  Substitute the simple “to.”

🔷 Dear 1L - Summer Spotlight 🔷

This week, I introduce incoming 1L, Jonathan Koehler.

**

Jonathan grew up in a world marred by alcoholism and family failure. Corporal punishment, periodic homelessness, and a steady dose of tongue-lashings taught him to defend himself—with words.