At first, I hesitated when I got that question—was it even appropriate? (It’s kind of a sensitive topic to me—like asking my weight or salary.)

I also felt embarrassed: “Dear 1L” is never going to be some New York Times bestseller.

They’re an exclusive club, and I’ve definitely never been “in” it.

In fact, before doing what I do now, I failed to get the 3 professor jobs I applied to.

 👉 That made me feel like the entire law-school universe disapproved of me.

—Fears about becoming “a boring adult in a business suit.”

—Fears about starting the serious, “career” part of life.

—Fears about being seen (when, of course, you have no idea yet who you are or what you want your career to be).

It is called “Legal Writing in Color.”

Its mission is to make learning legal writing more accessible, less unpleasant, and a lot more fun.

There will surely be a book at some point;
I have saved the domain;
I’ll seek trademark status for the name.

Family legend says my uncle and he were friends since the ’50s, and when Buffett became CEO of Berkshire Hathaway in 1970-with Class A stock under $50-he apparently gifted my uncle two shares.

But now I wonder, what about what AI says?

So I prompted Perplexity,

“Who is Amanda Dealy Haverstick? Her email is amanda@ dear1L. com.”

The response blew me away (see below).

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.