Aurora Donnelly is a solo practitioner always looking forward to the next exciting transition.
When I apply for a new assignment or a job that requires a writing sample, I agonize over which one to submit. I take stock of what I have available in the way of samples and I am never satisfied with what I have.
One of my favorite papers, about changes in direct marketing regulations and their effect on that industry, I wrote several years ago and somehow during the switches to new computers, I have lost the paper and I cannot now even find a hard copy of it. But the topic of my paper management skills is a dreary and harrowing topic, maybe the subject of another blog.
This brings me to the first issue regarding a writing sample. It should be current. So it turns out that the lost paper I remember so fondly is probably out of date anyway. See, disorganization is not always fatal. But, to the point, you want to show a prospective employer your best and most current work.
The writing samples I do have never seem appropriate. One is an oral motion for a directed verdict that was granted. The judge asked for a copy of my motion before she ruled in our favor. The problem is that almost every paragraph of the motion names the parties and discloses other identifying information that I have to redact extensively. The pleading ends up looking like censored spy mail from World War II. Not a good look. What I may do, next time I use that piece as a writing sample, is to substitute other names for those of the parties. That should look better.
Make sure that you redact names and other private information in any submission you make. When I discuss this issue with my colleagues, someone always says, “well, the case is public knowledge anyway, so why redact.” Nevertheless, I would, simply to avoid any possible problems.
The other writing sample I use is a pleading from a dissolution of marriage case. When I send this sample with an application, I worry that I will be seen as a family law attorney, which I am not. Even though I have represented clients in many divorce and child custody cases, those cases were incidental to my practice and not an area of law I am now interested in pursuing. I prefer to provide a writing sample that shows my proficiency in the area of law I want to practice, which, ideally, should be the same area of practice as the job for which I am applying.
Another writing sample I have in my files is a motion for summary judgment. The case was very complex and took five years to come to trial and so I worry that the motion is too long and too complicated to follow, absent the reader’s knowledge of what had transpired in the case previously. For practicality, I also have to omit the attachments, which makes the motion even more incomprehensible to a casual reader. I may have to rethink this submission.
Most employers do not want to see a writing sample longer than 10 pages, and some not more than five pages. I doubt that they even read much past the first three or four pages.
I suppose if you have a writing sample that is more than 10 pages you can ask if that would be acceptable, but it is not always easy to communicate with the possible employer when you are submitting an application and I worry that any side issue could derail the application.
Finally, I make sure my name appears on the writing sample, in case it gets separated from the application or letter. Obvious, but easily overlooked.
Best of luck with your submissions.
Attorneys in Transition Event on May 8, 2009
