Career Development Office - Pre-Law Advising

Letters of Recommendation

Letters of Recommendationsubmitted through LSAC (which they must be) are submitted through the CAS or Credential Assembly Service, superficially called LOR (Letter of Recommendation Service). You should have prepared on average 2 letters (from PhD faculty, preferably), on professional letterhead, sent directly to LSAC. Enter the data online and print off the form, then bring that form to your letter writers with the supplemental materials listed below.

When asking for letters, make sure you are considerate and professional, make an appointment to meet with letter writers well in advance of the application deadline. Ask them, "Do you feel you know my work well enough to write a positive letter on behalf of my application to law school?" Provide information about your background to assist him/her in writing a detailed letter:

a 'reminder' cover sheet describing your academic relationship, including courses you have taken, research you have conducted, your experience as a TA, etc. including a list of dates when recommendations are due
a copy of your transcript
a draft of your personal statement (if available)
a resume
copies of exams or papers written in his/her class
recommendation forms from CAS or the law schools
stamped envelopes addressed to the LSAC or to the schools

Waive your right of access since you may find writers unwilling to write letters if applicants have access to them, and some admissions committee members may discount disclosed letters. If you have not been notified that your application is complete by about one month before a deadline, speak with those writers who have not sent letters yet to remind them politely of the approaching deadline. After you have received decisions, send thank-you letters to your recommenders, and let them know where you have been accepted and where you intend to enroll.

Recommenders send letters directly to the CAS, which then forwards up to four letters to law schools to which you are applying. You can specify that targeted letters be sent to specific schools; otherwise, general letters will be sent to every school to which you apply.

Letters will be maintained for five years from the time you register for CAS or from the time you take the LSAT, whichever comes last.

To read more on letters please visit: http://www.lsac.org/Applying/letters-of-recommendation.asp