How to Write a Letter of Recommendation Request to a Professor or Colleague

Law School Applications

Law School applications can be time consuming and stress inducing. It is crucial that you get stellar law school recommendations from whoever is writing your letters. In order to ensure your recommendations are the best they can possibly be and that they reflect all your strengths in the best possible way, you need to chose your recommenders carefully, give them plenty of time to write the letter, and give them as much information as possible about your background and what law schools are looking for in a recommendation letter. Make it as easy as possible for them to write you a law school recommendation letter.

Be prepared to follow each of the "letter of recommendation" requests below with a phone call or in person meeting to further discuss what you would like the recommender to ask. Don't be surprised if they ask you directly: "What should I write about you?" Be prepared with themes and examples for them that will tie in with the rest of your application and present you as a perfect law school candidate. It is also a good idea to attach your resume to these requests so the person writing your recommendation has accurate knowledge of your experience, as you will present it to the law school.

When sending these requests via e-mail, keep the subject line simple and direct. An example would be: "Recommendation Letter for Law School."

Good luck!

Template 1:This template can be sent to a professor. In this case, the writer had fallen out of touch with the professor, having been out of college for two years. The professor was chosen as someone to write a recommendation because she is now working at the applicant's first choice school and knew the applicant well during college. The applicant received strong grades in this professor's classes and is confident that the professor can attest to her strong academic aptitude as well as her ability to succeed in law school and the legal profession. Fill in your own information where the "xxxx" appear and make sure to customize each paragraph to your experience. My comments appear in [brackets].

Dear Professor XXXX,