Should legal writing samples be double-spaced?
Asked by: Elody Bartoletti | Last update: April 26, 2025Score: 4.4/5 (6 votes)
Most employers will specify how many pages or how many clips they want. If they don't, then submit 2-5 pages of writing, usually double-spaced (unless it is a clip). This can be a combination of one or more writing samples.
Can writing samples be single spaced?
In a fiction submission, a writing sample usually consists of the first ten to fifty double-spaced pages of your manuscript, or the equivalent in single-spaced pages, as manuscript formatting can be difficult to reproduce in an email or submission tracker form.
How many pages is a legal writing sample?
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 makes a good legal writing sample?
Legal Reasoning—A writing sample must demonstrate your legal reasoning and analytical skills, i.e., apply law to facts, and distinguish cases on their facts. Thus, an academic survey of case law or a note that summarizes a recently published decision is not the best choice as it does not include legal analysis.
Should professional writing be double spaced?
Line spacing in business writing
The professional business letter format suggests using single spacing for the body text, with an extra empty line between paragraphs.
12 Frequently Asked Questions About Legal Writing Samples
Is legal writing single or double spaced?
Opinions published by the U.S. Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the California Courts of Appeal still use two spaces after each period.
What line spacing is legal writing?
Set the “line spacing” to the proper setting. The body of most legal documents should be double-spaced. And set the spacing “before” and “after” to “0 pt.” Click “OK” when done. This will ensure that you don't have extra space between your paragraphs.
How many pages 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.
Do law schools look at the writing sample?
How Much Does the Writing Sample Matter? To a busy admissions officer, your LSAT writing sample is worth little more than a glance. It will go unnoticed unless it is so incoherent, inappropriate or incompetent that it casts doubt on the authenticity of your application or your suitability for law school.
Is it okay to edit a writing sample?
Many employers will request an “unedited” writing sample. This means that the work must be substantially your own and should not have been edited by another person. You may personally edit any document, including one that was produced at a law-related job.
What size font should I use for legal writing?
Font size also matters for legal documents.
Courts only require that the font is legible. Most courts and lawyers recommend using a 12-point font for legal documents. That's large enough for anyone to be able to read and still small enough that you can fit plenty of information on a single page.
Should I include references in a writing sample?
You will want to ask the program their preference, but usually references do not count unless they explicitly say they do. Images do count and could be included, but also make sure they aren't taking up a lot of your space needed to show your ability to think and write.
What are the three types of legal writing?
As different as these documents are from each other, they all fall into one of three categories defined by the lawyer's primary role when writing them: (1) planning and preventive writing, (2) predictive writing, and (3) persuasive writing.
Should papers be single or double spaced?
Your papers should always be double-spaced. The reason for this is that double-spacing makes your paper easier to read. Double-spacing also makes it easier for your professor (or an editor) to make corrections or add comments.
How long should a legal writing sample be?
Writing samples should be five to ten double-spaced pages in length, excluding any cover page.
How to format a writing sample?
- Use 1-inch margins, 12 point font. Use one font for the whole document, please, and choose something readable like Times New Roman.
- Prose should be double spaced; poems should be single spaced.
- Put page breaks between your poems and, if you are submitting multiple stories or essays, between each story.
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.
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.
Can you use Grammarly on LSAT writing?
(This is so you can download the required proctoring software.) Before you launch LSAT Argumentative Writing, be sure to shut down all non-essential applications. This includes disabling any grammar-checking extensions (e.g., Grammarly, Microsoft Editor, etc.).
What would be considered a writing sample?
- Research papers from a job or class.
- Narrative papers from a job or class.
- Other writing assignments.
- Blog posts.
- Press releases.
- Articles or other contributions.
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.
How long should a writing sample for grad school be?
The writing sample should be 20 to 30 pages for PhD programs, or 15 to 20 pages for MA programs, excluding bibliography or appendices.
Is legal writing double spaced?
In legal writing, should you include a single or double space after a period? A quick Google search will reveal that a single space after a period is the current norm. However, there are still strong proponents of a double space, their argument typically being that a bigger pause after a sentence increases readability.
Should legal documents be single or double spaced?
Frequently, courts require paragraphs to be double-spaced. Be sure to check with your jurisdiction on spacing requirements. On the other hand, for contracts, estate plans, and other documents not filed with the court, consider single-spacing to improve readability.
What is legal writing format?
Whether they call it IRAC (Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion), CRAC (Conclusion, Rule, Application, Conclusion), or CREAC (Conclusion, Rule, Explanation, Application, Conclusion), all lawyers write in the same way: by laying out the issue to be discussed, the legal rule relevant to the issue, the analysis of the ...