Should legal writing samples be double spaced?
Asked by: Jerry Conroy V | Last update: October 6, 2025Score: 5/5 (37 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.
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.
5 Steps To Write a First Class Essay: PROFESSOR EXPLAINS
How do you display writing samples?
Consider adding visuals to your writing portfolio that capture the context of your work. Whether they're symbolic photos or images that truly correspond with your samples, consider imagery that relates to your writing and engages your readers. Just be sure that they don't detract from your copy.
What is a sample format?
The sample format is the number of bits used to describe each sample. The greater the number of bits, the more data will be stored in each sample. Common sample formats are 16 bits and 24 bits. 8-bit samples are low-quality, and not used often. 20-bit samples are not commonly used on computers.
Should a legal writing sample be double spaced?
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 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.
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.
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.
What does a writing sample consist of?
A writing sample is an example of how well you summarize complex ideas, research papers, editorials, critiques (be sure to omit names), articles, journals, etc. Make sure that what you send in with your internship or job applications best exemplifies the spectrum of your writing abilities.
Can a writing sample be edited?
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.
Should writing be double spaced?
Writing style guides
Most style guides, like MLA and APA, use double spacing. When you are proofreading your essay, be sure to check what line spacing is the requirement for a given style guide. Using the wrong spacing may be an honest mistake, but some strict instructors may end up deducting points for doing so!
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.
Can you use an essay as a writing sample?
Schoolwork Sample
My clients are students, and schoolwork is often the most immediate writing sample they can think of. You would take an essay or short piece written for a school project and submit it as a sample.
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 be for Masters program?
About Your Writing Samples
The samples should total about 15 typewritten, double-spaced pages, or about 3,500 to 4,500 words, in the concentration of interest. Samples do NOT have to be a single, lengthy piece of writing.
Does a writing sample need sources?
Submit only your own work. Be sure to cite your sources (A short bibliography does not usually count towards your total number of pages.)
Are legal documents double-spaced?
Spacing and numbering of lines. The spacing and numbering of lines on a page must be as follows: (1) The lines on each page must be one and one-half spaced or double-spaced and numbered consecutively.
What are good legal writing samples?
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.
Should submissions be double-spaced?
Double-spacing your lines makes the manuscript easier to read and mark up. Do not add an extra space between paragraphs. Alignment: Your words should be aligned on the left-hand side of your page, but not justified. The right-hand side of your page will not be uniform.
What should my sample format be?
What should my sample rate and bit depth be? For music recording and production, a sample rate of 48 or 96 kHz at 24 bits is great.
How do you format a sample space?
A sample space can be represented visually by a rectangle, with the outcomes of the sample space denoted by points within the rectangle. The events may be represented by ovals, where the points enclosed within the oval make up the event.
What is the standard sample size?
A good maximum sample size is usually 10% as long as it does not exceed 1000. A good maximum sample size is usually around 10% of the population, as long as this does not exceed 1000. For example, in a population of 5000, 10% would be 500.