On-campus interviewing season is wrapping up at highly ranked law schools across the country, and many law students have already received callback invitations for summer associate recruitment. Some law students have even received offers already. Others haven’t been so lucky, and have been plagued by rejection letters.
Some rejection letters sting a little more than others. Take, for example, this “heartfelt” letter that a student at a top 50 law school recently received:
Hello [Name]
We appreciate your interest in the Palo Alto office of Baker Botts.
As I am sure you understand, we receive applications from many very promising candidates for a limited number of open positions. We often face difficult decisions because we are unable to offer all of the well-qualified applicants a position with our firm. The decision in your case was very difficult. Reluctantly, we are unable to invite you in for interviews at this time.
Please accept our sincere wishes for your continued success.
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“So that’s the famous ‘Texas-hospitality culture’ my interviewer kept gushing about,” says our tipster, who’s already accepted an offer from another firm.
Baker Botts: a firm where no one knows your name — or how to use mail merge.
Have a rejection letter you’d like to share with us? Send it our way via email (subject line: “Rejection Letter”). Feel free to redact your identifying information or mention in your transmittal message that you’d like us to redact.
We may receive more submissions than we’ll have the ability to use. But don’t worry — if we don’t print yours, we promise not to send you a rejection letter.
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Staci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.