I don’t supply “model” cover letters for a reason:

A “model” is the antithesis of what any cover letter should be.

Instead, a cover letter should scream:

“I'm different; I’m better; you want me; you want only me!”

Chardonnay.

You might think when I left Biglaw in 2016, the problem would have left me, too.

But it only got worse.

Suddenly, with 24 hours of unscheduled time available to me each day, filling it became all too easy.

Rejection letters lined my wall.

A reporter came to our college career office to do a story about the recession and the bleak hiring market.

The segment aired a few days later on ABC News World News Tonight with Peter Jennings.

🔹 STEP 1

Identify the BIG ISSUES.

Isolate each relevant claim and affirmative defense as a “Big Issue.”

—A CLAIM is a cause of action like battery, breach of contract, burglary, etc. Label the person asserting a claim as plaintiff (P).

I moved cities, bought my own apartment in NYC, and set out to do life as a “career woman.”

(That was what we called women who didn’t marry and just had careers back in 1996.)

Today, you might say I was in full-on, Miley Cyrus, I-can-buy-myself-flowers mode.

It took me a while to consider.

Here is how I responded:

Dear Mary,

You put into words what so many law students—and honestly, so many lawyers—are questioning right now:

“Working on my daughter’s Easter basket. I thought I would send this to you and make you chuckle.

. . . I think I’m going to read it first 🙂.”

Me:

AWWW. What a joyous gift to receive.
Thank you!!! 🙏🏻

So here are all-star 1L oral argument tips, updated for 2025, but first I want to tell you the story of how they came to be.

(Because if you know me, you know I was much more an on-paper advocate!)

“Evergreen” is a term you might recognize from the plant world—it refers to trees that remain green through winter.

But in writing, it means something more: a piece that surpasses its immediate purpose and audience, keeping its usefulness over time.

here’s a radical idea—for law students, but all legal peeps might care—
⬇️

start following Jillian Richardson 👋and Nick Power

 try it for kicks

because i predict your time on linkedin will get more fun fast

When I started helping law students 4 years ago I tried to read everything I could to learn. My daughter was applying to law school at the time, too, so I was really motivated. I asked for advice from lawyers on LinkedIn: what should she do to prepare?

Here are the top 7 tips I’ve distilled for you:

1️⃣ Enjoy it!

(And would that be good or bad?)

👉 Only 24% of 1Ls got their summer job offers through OCI last year!

That’s per a new report from the National Ass’n for Law Placement (NALP).

The report says instead of OCI, it’s been these 3 routes by which most 1Ls (56%) got offers:

Dear 1L,

I created a new IRAC template for you.

(FYI: This is NOT in my book.)

The template shows how I structured my exam essays for EVERY course.

It worked on 3 winning bar exams, too.

It was in the 1L legal writing course, and it was devastating to both my confidence and my GPA.

—I wasn’t prepared.
—I had no guide or mentor to help me.
—I experienced the worst academic time of my life.

I never want anyone else to have to endure the same.

“They don’t teach students the practical skills to be a ‘real’ lawyer.”

Well, that is true in part, but I’ve got a different take when it comes to one skill:

That skill is legal analysis.

Here, it’s the law schools getting it right, and, too often, the “real” lawyers getting it wrong.