Top Tips for Choosing a Writing Sample

by Jan Nussbaum
Assistant Director for Professional Development

Many recent law graduates (and 2L/3L students) struggle with deciding which writing sample to provide prospective employers. The following tips should make it easier to choose:

1. Most employers prefer samples written as part of a law school internship or post-graduate position. Be sure to redact sensitive information and let the previous or current legal employer know that you may be submitting all or part of such a document as a writing sample. 
2. If you don't have such a writing sample, consider writing a memorandum on a topic of interest to you or the potential employer. An unresolved area of the law is always a good topic to write about. Consider doing an informational interview with an attorney knowledgeable about the topic. This will provide you with valuable input for your memo, and another contact for your professional network and a possible mentor.
3. Submit a document that is short in length. How short is short? If an employer does not specify length, 5 to 10 pages (at most) is a good rule of thumb. What if a potential employer wants a writing sample of less than 5 pages? Remember that the sample is to show the employer how well you can write when presenting legal arguments. (Your cover letter illustrates how well you can write a business document.) Thus, feel free to provide only a section or sections of a legal document to comply with page requirements, but be sure to explain this in a prefatory note.   
4. The writing sample, just like your cover letter and resume, should be easy to read - short and succinct sentences should be your mantra. This CEB video by Julie Brook provides helpful suggestions on how to do this:

The Continuing Education of the Bar blog spells out the secret to making any legal writing stronger.

Recent Grad Success Spotlight: Harmony Groves Kessler on Creativity & Flexibility

Harmony Groves Kessler is an independent contract attorney handling dependency youth matters for the law office of Jacqueline Gillespie in Sonoma County.

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by Harmony Groves Kessler (GGU JD 12)

Harmony

The path to finding my first full-time job as an attorney was not traditional whatsoever, but in the end it worked out just right.  Last October, I relocated with my husband from Humboldt County back down to the Bay Area.After getting bar results in November, I had to be creative and flexible about finding job opportunities and creating a network from scratch because of the awkward timing of our move (just before bar results).

While I did a variety of hourly work for attorneys in the Bay Area and completed a Bridge Fellowship, the months dragged on with no reply to heaps of applications. The trouble was everyone wanted an attorney with some experience, but a new attorney cannot get experience unless there is a job available. I had to think outside the box and outside what I thought my path in law would be to move my job search forward.

I decided to open my own practice because I was receiving requests from friends and acquaintances for work on small legal projects, and because I wanted to gain more experience as an attorney to use as leverage for a legal position. I researched the requirements to open a practice through NOLO books and the CalBar.org website.* I negotiated with insurance brokers and received a good rate on professional liability insurance. I printed business cards and put up a basic, one-page website. I was open for business and available to navigate basic issues on diverse topics thanks to my free ONLAW CEB account and my ability to ask questions to the network of attorneys I had built up and other lawyer friends.

After about a month and a half of private practice handling business contracts, small estates and DUI defense, I was hired as an independent contractor for a full-time position as a juvenile dependency attorney (from a Craiglist ad, believe it or not!). The response to the Craigslist ad was very high, but because I had started my own practice, I came to the interview as an attorney in a small private practice with my own insurance (perfect for an independent contractor), instead of as a “newly admitted attorney” waiting for someone to take me on.

I am excited about the work I am now engaged in and able to easily take on work as an independent contractor. I can still take on small matters on the side for extra income in addition to my current position. My path to my current job is not the one I had envisioned, and I will admit that at times it is incredibly frustrating and scary, but it is right for me.

*I have since learned that LCS has resources to help GGU Law graduates start their own solo practice, including the solo law practice workshop video - a 5-hour YouTube video featuring nine GGU Law Alumni solo practitioners of varying years out and practice areas on how to set up and run a solo practice. The video is also helpful to independent contract attorneys.