Welcome to my LinkedIn archive.
Categories: Dear 1L, Dear 2L, Legal Writing
By Year: 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021
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Dear 1L: OCI Advice Recap
Dear 1L,
In case you’ve been away, here’s a recap on advice to help you get a job at a law firm.
🔹 FIRST: I’ve added to my website a free, 16-point checklist to help you self-edit your legal writing. You can download from my Writing Law Tutors website. (See link at top of my profile, and DM any questions.)
Dear 1L, Will I make friends at law school?
Dear 1L,
Will I make friends at law school?
Will there be parties and bar scenes?
Or will I have zero time for social life at all?
These are all concerns that swirled inside my head, that July of 1993.
Dear 1L: OCI Writing Samples: 3 Steps to increase the odds yours is well-received by law firms.
💌 Dear 1L,
OCI writing samples: 3 steps to increase the odds yours is well-received by law firms.
1️⃣ CRAFT A COVER MEMO.
Include a short, concise cover memo to introduce your OCI writing sample.
Dear 1L - Advice on OCI Writing Samples
💌 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
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, Here’s a simple step to make your sentences read more smoothly.
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, I’m reviewing dozens of writing samples in advance of law-firm OCI (On Campus Interviews). Many of you are making the same, silly error.
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: Comprise vs. Compose
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: Don’t Let Early Results Define You
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: OCI Interview Tips
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 - Spotlight: Alexandra Hulit
🔷 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: Roe v Wade
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: When to capitalize “court”
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)
Dear 1L, This is a good reminder for all of us:
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: LinkedIn Networking
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.