And unfortunately, you’re likely to fall into these traps.

—That’s because you haven’t focused on grammar or punctuation for ages.

—Legal writing also requires you to use new words and terms about which you know zilch.

They may say they took a comprehensive pre-law prep course and feel “ready to go!”

They may boast that they’ve already:

 —read the first month’s reading,

Learn them early so you don’t lose points when it counts.

1. In the legal world, we spell the word “judgment” without an “e.”

—> Change your Word settings so they autocorrect “judgement” to “judgment” when you type.

Old law-school deans apparently used to say this to 1Ls on the first day of law school.)

Here’s what I want you to think about today instead:

It’s hard to know a law firm’s true culture before you actually start working there.

But no law student wants to start working somewhere only to find out it’s a mismatch.

You really need to do some detective work first.

A big part of my inspiration all along has been Justin Welsh.

He was the first person whose posts I looked forward to every morning on LinkedIn back in 2021.

I owe ALL of my happy news to YOUR consistent support, and I am so, so grateful. 🙏🏻

My dream is to make Dear 1L the book that EVERY law student reads:

▪️ I reached 1,450 books for the year—a HUGE jump of 47 copies since 6 days ago, when I posted an offer to send a free book to 3 incoming 1Ls.

At first, I was embarrassed when only two incoming 1Ls took me up on my free book offer.

Here’s a timeline to show how we got here & an outline of what new 1Ls can expect:

🟦 HOW WE GOT HERE

1990-2019. NALP* was in charge & set a strict schedule.
(*National Association for Law Placement).

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).