SELECTING WRITING SAMPLES: Making Every Word Count

From the Purple Sheet, 9/4/09; by Bonnie Williams, Assistant Director

Every year, students grapple with employers’ requests for writing samples: What is a good writing sample?  When should I provide my writing sample?  How long should it be?  The following information should help students answer these and other writing sample questions.
What is a good writing sample?  A good writing sample has several attributes.  First, a good writing sample is a legal writing sample.  Writings produced before law school or non­legal pieces written during law school do not demonstrate your legal writing abilities.  Second, a good writing sample is persuasive, so in choosing between a memorandum or brief, pick the brief to demonstrate your written advocacy skills.  Third, a good writing sample is a real-world sample: if you have a choice between an LRW memo or brief and something you wrote for a legal employer, choose the real-world sample.  Finally, choose something recent.  If you’re a 3L, you should not be using LRW assignments.   Employers may wonder whether you’ve written anything legal in the last year or whether your writing simply hasn’t improved since your first year.  You don’t want to be burdened with either implication.  To summarize, select a writing sample that is: recent, legal, persuasive and real-world, to the extent possible.
If you do not have anything to use except LRW material, choose the best written item you have.  Make sure it is clear, concise, coherent and logical.  When assessing your writings, ask whether your writing meets the reader’s needs.  If it’s a memorandum, did you answer the reader’s question?  If it’s a brief, does your argument support your premise?  Have you organized your writing as effectively as possible?  Is your analysis clear?
When should I submit my writing sample?  Submit a writing sample when the employer asks for one, no sooner.  A good rule of thumb is to take your writing sample to your initial interview and offer it to the employer.  Do not be offended if the interviewer does not accept your writing sample at this stage: many wait until callbacks to accept writing samples. Never submit a writing sample unsolicited.
How long should my writing sample be?  To give the employer the opportunity to fairly assess your writing, provide five to ten pages unless the employer specifies otherwise.
Miscellaneous writing sample comments/tips:
1.  Consider asking employers what type of writing sample they’d like to see.  That’s probably the best way to ensure a fit between what they seek and you provide.   
2.  Provide your own work.  Excise any portions that are not yours.  If a supervising attorney has edited a substantial portion of the material, it is not your work.  Check with your supervising attorney before you use any writing sample from his/her office.
3. Don’t use law review articles: you’ve spent hours polishing, editing and revising these; the amount of time you spend on scholarly papers does not reflect real world conditions and employers know this.  Use a sample that approximates legal writing in the real world.
4.  Keep it simple.  Employers don’t want to wade through a writing sample dealing with complex issues.
5.  Excerpt long samples.  An appellate brief may be your best work but is typically too long for a writing sample.  Use statements of facts/summaries of arguments to provide contexts, then include one or two well-written arguments.
6. Excise confidential material.
7.  Don’t bind your writing sample.  It makes it very hard for employers to handle and store.  Your binding will most likely be torn off for filing purposes, so don’t waste your time and money.
8. Attach a cover sheet with your name and contact information at the top (same as on your cover letter and resume) and a very brief one- or two-line explanation of your writing sample. This is a good way to provide context for your reader.
9. Your sample must be error free: no typos, spelling or grammatical errors.