It’s official trademark status for Dear 1L!

I don’t quite know yet where I’m taking any of this, but it makes me feel proud to be building something that’s helping so many people.

Your support has meant the world to me. Thank you. Writing to you has brought me great joy.

Dear Rising 2L,

Until now, you likely have not experienced many, if any, formal job interviews with BigLaw lawyers. Here’s what to expect and 5 suggestions to help prepare.

IN ADVANCE

Dear Rising 2L: If you use your 1L memo or brief as a writing sample for job applications, you have some work to do. Here are 7 key steps:

1️⃣ Incorporate the final corrections and edits from your TA & professor.

Dear Rising 2L: It’s best to include a short, concise cover memo with the writing sample you send to prospective employers.

Why? Because it’s a golden opportunity to set the stage and to start “making friends” with your Reader.

Dear Rising 2L,

👉 You know LinkedIn is the first place any prospective employer will look you up. (And they will look you up.)

You’ve got early OCI* coming up (*on-campus interviews).

Don’t make it hard for law firms to find you.

Dear Rising 2L:  Please see this video I made just for you.

Dear Rising 2L,

I have a tendency to do something bad that caused me to bomb a job interview. It’s a weakness of mine, and I didn’t keep it in check. If you have this same tendency, don’t let it ruin your interviews.

***

Dear Rising 2L, This legal resume tip explains how to make all your date entries line up perfectly, flush with the right margin.

Instead, I know, you’ve been tabbing and spacing over, trying to get it “just right” so your dates look straight.

Well, they don’t.

Dear 1L (Rising 2L?),

It seems cruel. Your “reward” for finishing the hardest year of law school is staying around to do an onerous Bluebook test and—yet another—big legal-writing project.

I would be SO tempted to skip the whole thing.

Dear Matt,

Marrying you was the best decision I ever made.

What an extraordinary life journey we’ve had together.

Happy, happy 25th Anniversary—

I am so excited for another 25, and more!

By the time I graduated law school, I had had enough of men.

I moved states, bought my own apartment in NYC, and set out to start my life as an independent “career woman.”

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

“What will the economy mean for law-firm job offers after this summer—and beyond?”

That’s a common question I’ve gotten from a lot of you lately. (And same query as to other legal jobs.)

The concern seems to stem from the last bad recession in 2009, when many started 3L with deferred offers, or none at all.

For some of you, these decisions will come at an age where, for the very first time, you’re making “adult” choices all on your own, too.

What kind of law will you practice?
At what kind of employer will you work?
And in what city will you live?

Dear 2L,

My thoughts on how to stand out when you reach out to a lawyer by way of LinkedIn:

🔹 1: Read a little about the lawyer first.

What does their firm website say about them?

Dear 2L,

When you are just starting to “network” in the big, legal world, it may be a bit intimidating. You may feel like you’re asking for help, or for a favor, from the person you reach out to.

—Reaching out to anyone “cold” takes guts. You really have to put yourself out there.