Law School Letters of Recommendation: Potential Sources

I didn't decide to go to law school until the end of my junior year. I (thought) I did everything that I could to get ready. I studied hard for the LSAT, kept my grades up, and did lots of research and campus visits to determine which law schools I was most interested in. But I neglected one of the most important parts of a law school application, my letters of recommendation.

Planning for letters of recommendation should ideally start as soon as you begin college. If you are a freshman or sophomore in college, you still have some time to make good connections. Try to network and meet with your professors. Professors are probably the best source for letters of recommendation because your college professors can speak about your work ethic, study habits, and educational goals, and this is what law school admissions committees care about.

If you're a junior or senior in college, and you haven't made any contacts with your professors, you're like me. When I started college I was an English major, and I didn't plan on going to grad school. I figured that when class was over, I could go home, and I didn't have to worry about making friends with any professors. This got me through college just fine, but when I decided to go to law school, I suddenly discovered that I needed at least three letters of recommendation. I had done well in many of my college classes, but I went to a large public university and most of my professors didn't even remember my name, so they couldn't write very good letters of recommendation on my behalf.

If you're already in the application process, it's too late to make contacts with professors, but don't worry, because there's still hope. Although I decided to apply to school at a point where it was really too late to make good connections with my professors for the purpose of getting recommendations, I did manage to pull some decent letters of recommendation together. The following is a list of some possible sources of good letters of recommendation.

Supervisors or Directors from Volunteer Positions. When I decided to go to law school, I immediately started doing volunteer work at the local rape crisis line. I completed a lot of training and volunteer work at the local rape crisis line. I asked one of the directors at the crisis line if she could write a letter of recommendation for me. She was more than happy to do so, and she even provided me a second copy of the letter so I could see what she had written. She was able to discuss my work habits, dedication, and my career objectives. These references can be especially good if your work or volunteer work relates to your career objectives. For example, my work with sexual assault victims related to my desire to pursue a career in criminal law.

Former Supervisors or Employers. Although I hadn't spent a lot of time hanging out with my professors in college, I had spent a lot of time working. Assuming you've built a good relationship with your former employers, you can ask them if they would be willing to write you a letter of recommendation based on your work ethic and performance. I did so and got a great letter from my boss. You should ask someone who is able to really talk about your work habits and abilities, however. Try to avoid asking anyone for a recommendation unless you've worked for them for awhile. Make sure they know you and are familiar with accomplishments.

Pastors or Priests. When I was looking for letters of recommendation, I heard this suggested source a lot, and I would generally not recommend it, unless you have done a substantial amount of volunteer work in connection with your church and your pastor can discuss your strong points in relation to that. If you just show up for church every week, I wouldn't recommend asking your pastor to write a letter of recommendation for you. Come on. It's like asking your grandma to write a letter of recommendation. Most pastors or priests can find good stuff to say about everyone, it's part of their job. Admissions committees know this, so I'm not certain that a letter of recommendation from a pastor will be particularly strong.

Former teachers. If you have a close relationship with a high school teacher, and you have no connections with any college professors, you could consider asking your teacher to write a letter of recommendation for you. This is less impressive than a letter of recommendation from a college professor, but your high school teachers can also discuss your work and study habits. In my case, I graduated from a very small school, and my former English teacher knew me very well. Her credentials were less impressive than a college professor, but she was able to offer a much more personal and detailed letter of recommendation than any of my college professors could.

There are also some letters of recommendation which I would recommend avoiding.

Attorneys. If you're related to an attorney, or if you are a close friend of an attorney, you probably shouldn't have them write a letter of recommendation for you. Admissions committees look for letters of recommendation that demonstrate why you are a strong candidate for admission to law school. Admissions committees will not be impressed by who you know or whether you have relatives in the legal field. On the other hand, if you have worked for an attorney in the past (as a paralegal, secretary, etc.), and you want to go to law school, this could be a great letter of recommendation, as long as the letter discusses your work habits and career objectives.

Prominent Members of the Community. I had a close friend who applied to law school the year after I did. She didn't have very good grades or a very high LSAT score, but she kept assuring everyone that she was going to get into a great law school because she had a rich uncle who was very well-known within the state and he was going to write a letter of recommendation for her. Once again, admissions committees are evaluating applicants' letters of recommendation to see if they are strong candidates for law school. Knowing someone who is rich does not make you a good candidate. Furthermore, if you're asking someone to use their influence to tell an admissions committee to let you into law school, the committee is likely to pick up on this, and they may be offended. You don't want to offend the admissions committee. This does not help, no matter how rich your uncle is. If you happen to have worked with or shared your career objectives with a prominent member of the community, then go for it. Ask them to write you a letter. But make sure they talk about your strengths and abilities. (The girl with the rich uncle did ultimately get into law school, but she did not get into any of her top choice schools).

In addition to the sources above, you can brainstorm for more sources of good recommendations. Just remember to choose someone who has a close, professional relationship with you, who can speak about your strengths and abilities that relate to your potential for success in law school. Good luck!