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Every Job-Search Document Is a Writing Sample

You will spend much of your legal career writing documents for both internal and external consumption: pleadings, briefs, memoranda of law, contracts, leases, licenses, settlement agreements, regulations, regulatory comments, legislation, etc. This is why legal employers put such a high premium on writing ability.  You need to be sensitive to this when crafting job-search documents.

Implicit in this fact of legal life is that typos, misspellings, poor syntax, bad grammar, mixed tenses, non-parallel constructions, etc. are absolutely to be avoided. They are often the kiss of death to your job prospects. Make certain that (1) you spell-check your application, and (2) someone whose English skills you trust also reviews your documents before they leave your desk or computer. Savvy employers have zero tolerance for even one such error.