Law School Rec Question
 

I need ya'lls opinion here.

One of the undergrads in the chapter I advise has applied to law school and has asked me for a letter of reference/rec. When he gave me the LSAC form, I told him the same thing all my college professors told me everytime I asked for a letter of rec or reference, which was "you write it and email it to me and I'll make whatever changes and send it on." I told him this and its been over a month now and he hasnt sent me anything. I could very easily ask him or remind him that he needs to send me what he wants me to say, but I dont feel its my responsibility to chase him down. Its his letter of rec, not mine.

Am I in the wrong here? Should I remind him? Should he learn this lesson on his own?

Re: Law School Rec Question
 

Well, I have to admit that I've never had the person I was doing a recommendation for write the first draft, nor would I. I would tell him to send me the form/info, but that's it. My feeling is that if he asks me for a recommendation, then he needs to be willing to live with what I want to say, not what he wants me to say.

But you did ask him to do the first draft, and he's failed to follow up. I'd give him one reminder and then forget about it.

Nope. If he's not responsible enough to make sure you have what you need to write it, then screw him, it's his own fault. If he wants you to do it, he'd better get his ass in gear. LSAC takes awhile to process that stuff, and time is running out.

If he can't get a letter of rec done (and it's not like it's a professor that keeps on saying they're going to write it and never get around to it), then he's really not cut out to practice law.

Re: Law School Rec Question
 

He is your brother.

-Rudey
--It's not hard to find other people to give these "lessons" to.

I would remind him once... maybe there is a lot going on in his life at the moment? Maybe he just simply forgot?

I would give him the benefit of the doubt and just give him a quick reminder (but only 1!) "Hey Johnny, did you still need that rec letter?" or something to that effect

Re: Law School Rec Question
 

Should we really have lawyers out there that aren't responsible enough to follow up on letters of recommendation for their admittance to law school???

When I got my letters, they received sample letters and resumé's. My school takes the letters of rec pretty seriously though.

Re: Re: Law School Rec Question
 

Seriously dude. Just be his homie and call him.

Re: Re: Re: Law School Rec Question
 

Your mom forgot to pay the electricity bill. I'm not gonna remind her so that I can teach her a lesson. She deserves it yo.

-Rudey

Re: Re: Re: Re: Law School Rec Question
 

ugh.


like I told Lifesaver. Be a homie and give her a call.


where you at son?

Re: Re: Law School Rec Question
 

Screw that. Kid's gotta learn the world is a tough place.

I'm leaning towards no reminder.

Re: Re: Re: Law School Rec Question
 

If he thinks the real world is tough, he's going to hate law school.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Law School Rec Question
 

Yes!

I can understand wanting to help a brother out. But you're already doing your part by writing the letter (which likely isn't going to hold much weight either for him, fyi, unless you really know him well, he probably would've been better going with another prof as well). If he can't be responsible enough to make sure all of his ducks are in a row, then it's hard to have sympathy for him. You forget to file something as an attorney, it's likely malpractice.

I would send him an email or give him a call about it, BUT I would probably say "Dear Bobby, You asked me on September whateverth to write you a letter of recommendation. I told you to give the materials to me. It's now December. I don't think I'm going to have time to write a letter for you unless you get the materials to me by tomorrow, and even then, it might not be the best letter you could receive."

I'm stroking back and forth with my fist in a manner resembling a lude act at you guys talking about how hard law school is.

-Rudey
--Stroke, stroke, stroke

To be perfectly honest, he's not EVEN writing the brother the letter. All the advisor is doing is making changes so he doesn't sound bad and then signing his name. The brother was probably offended that his advisor wouldn't take the time to write him a letter for law school. Even though the letters might no have much weight, it is still important. I am going through the law school admissions process now. I asked someone to write me a letter and they did the same thing. I was like screw it! I'll ask someone else who wants to take the time and care about my future to write my letter. If you didn't want to ACTUALLY WRITE THE LETTER or know the person well enough to write the letter, you should have said NO!!!!!!!

Obviously this person thought highly enough of you to ask for a letter! No would have been a better answer. I asked a congressman friend of my family's to write me a letter. He took the time to call me and talk to me about it and then wrote the letter (which was awesome) personalized to me. None of my professors asked me to write something first. I know they get bombarded with requests but, THEIR JOB doesn't end with the final grade at the end of the semester.

As we all know, it is a nerve wracking time trying to figure out what to do with our futures. I am in the real world and it is tough, so help the kid get on his feet.

Ok, that was somewhat touchy for me. So I said my piece and I am done. Sorry if I offended anyone!

You didnt offend me. I know the kid pretty well. I asked him to write the letter because thats pretty much standard practice down here. (I assume this to be the case because of the 10 or so letters of rec I ever had written in college, 9 of 10 of the professors/faculty members asked me to do the same.) Unfortunately, since I run my own company AND advise, I dont have as much free time on my hands as a congressman.

You were right tho when you said if someone had told you to write the letter, you would have said screw it. If thats what he thought, fine. I can absolutely respect that. But he didnt. And its a sign of irresposibility that he didnt inform me one way or the other.