How long should a writing sample be law school?

Asked by: Miss Marina Heidenreich DDS  |  Last update: August 15, 2025
Score: 4.6/5 (61 votes)

The writing sample should be five to ten pages in length, unless otherwise indicated by a particular employer. If you have selected a longer sample, you can provide an excerpt from the sample and add a cover page that provides the appropriate context, as described below.

What is a good length for a writing sample?

Writing samples should be five to ten double-spaced pages in length, excluding any cover page. A cover page (see example below) explaining the assignment is always recommended rather than providing the entirety of an assignment that is longer than 10 pages.

How long is the LSAT writing sample?

Under standard testing conditions, you will have 50 minutes to complete your LSAT Argumentative Writing sample — 15 minutes for prewriting analysis and 35 minutes for essay writing.

What should a law school writing sample look like?

Share your best legal writing.

Examples could include: moot court brief; upper year seminar paper or research project; memo, letter, administrative comments, or advocacy piece from an internship or externship; clinic work sample; or journal note. o Remember that your sample should (usually!) be only 5-10 pages.

How long should a writing sample be for college?

If no desired length is given, choose a writing sample that is two to five pages long. If you'd like to highlight a section of a longer paper, be sure to include your best two to five page selection.

5 Tips to Ace the LSAT Writing Sample

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How long should a writing sample be legal?

The legal writing sample is an integral part of the hiring process for lawyers. Here are tips for preparing the best sample of your legal writing skills. The writing sample should be five to ten pages in length, unless otherwise indicated by a particular employer.

What if my writing sample is too long?

If you want to use a paper that is longer than five pages, provide an excerpt with a notation at the top that tells the employer that it is an excerpt from a _(number)-page paper on ___(topic)___ and where in the paper this excerpt is from.

Do law schools see your writing sample?

Once completed, reviewed, and approved, your writing sample will be shared with the law schools to which you have applied. Test takers will be required to have an approved writing sample in their file in order to see their test score or have their score released to law schools.

What to redact for a legal writing sample?

Make sure you redact any confidential or sensitive information. someone else, neatly cross out sections that are not your work. Alternatively, you can attach only your sections and explain in the cover sheet that the sample is only a section of a brief that was written by you.

How long is the writing sample for judicial clerkship?

Typically judges prefer no more than 10-15 pages, so if your preferred writing sample is longer, send a discrete section. It can be a memo from a summer job, a portion of a moot court brief, or a part of a journal note. Attach a cover page with your name and contact information.

What makes a good LSAT writing sample?

While your writing sample has no word limit, you should aim to be as clear and concise as possible. Most writing samples on the LSAT are between two and four paragraphs long. Ensure you prioritize quality over quantity.

Can I take the LSAT writing in my bedroom?

If testing remotely, make sure you'll have access to a quiet, well-lit, private, enclosed room for the entire time you're taking the test. You cannot move testing areas after you complete the room scan and begin the LSAT.

How long are law school exam essays?

Law school exams are usually racehorse exams

Generally, an essay fact pattern will be one to three pages long.

What is a reliable sample size?

For populations under 1,000, a minimum ratio of 30 percent (300 individuals) is advisable to ensure representativeness of the sample. For larger populations, such as a population of 10,000, a comparatively small minimum ratio of 10 percent (1,000) of individuals is required to ensure representativeness of the sample.

How long should a writing sample be on Reddit?

10-12 pages should be fine.

What is a reasonable length for a writing pen?

The average length of most types of pens is between 130 and 140 mm or about 5.11 to 5.51 inches. This is the case for fountain pens, ballpoint pens, and a portion of gel pens.

How long should a writing sample be?

How long should a writing sample be? Samples should be concise and succinct: one to four pages are usually sufficient. In many cases, reviewers are primarily interested in how well you convey your ideas (structure and grammatical accuracy) as opposed to content.

Is a Sharpie good for redacting?

Considering the price, the Sharpie Permanent Marker does a pretty good job redacting your sensitive information.

What counts as a legal writing sample?

Possible writing samples include: A memorandum from your legal writing class. statement of facts, the table of contents, and your argument, or a section thereof. You should indicate that sections have been redacted for length.

How long should my LSAT writing sample be?

How long should my LSAT writing sample be? While there's no strict word limit, most responses are between 300-500 words, so 1-2 pages long. Your LSAT writing sample should be as longs as necessary to present a clear and persuasive argument in response to the prompt, typically spanning a few well-organized paragraphs.

How many pages a day do you read in law school?

Not count- ing legal research and writing assignments, most first year law students meet with three classes on average per weekday. Thus, an average reading load could range from thirty-six to over seventy-five pages of reading on "school nights" - well over 2,000 pages of dense reading a semester.

Do law schools look at Instagram?

Law schools often look at your social media presence when reviewing applicants' candidacy. You don't have a lot to gain, but so much to lose by posting inappropriate things to social media. Use this helpful law school application social media checklist to make sure you are covered!

How recent should a writing sample be?

Make sure it is up to date

You also want to demonstrate that you have recently had to use your writing skills—if you send an employer a writing sample from several years ago, they may assume that you have not done any writing since then.

How many pages is a writing sample?

Employers typically look for a 5 to 10-page writing sample.

Do writing samples need citations?

Remove any privileged or sensitive information. Do not use anything too old. Submit only your own work. Be sure to cite your sources (A short bibliography does not usually count towards your total number of pages.)