Letters of Recommendation
LSAC's Letter of Recommendation Service (LOR) is offered as a convenience to Credential Assembly Service (LSDAS) registrants, recommendation-letter writers, and law schools. Use of LSAC's LOR service is optional unless a law school to which you are applying states that its use is required. This service allows you to use your LSAC.org account to have your LORs sent to law schools based on each school's requirements or preferences. Identify your recommenders, print out your prefilled letter of recommendation forms, and give the forms to the appropriate recommenders. Your recommender must sign the letter, insert it in his or her own envelope along with their letter of recommendation form, and send it directly to LSAC. LSAC will send your letters to law schools as assigned by you. You must assign each letter to each school to which you want it sent. Use of LSAC's LOR service is optional unless a law school to which you are applying states that its use is required. [LIST OF LAW SCHOOLS AND THEIR REQUIREMENTS.]
When you go to the LOR area of your LSAC.org account, you will be asked to provide the names and contact information of your recommenders, and to select the number of letters that each recommender will submit. (The number will be "one" if it will be a letter to be sent to all of the schools to which you will apply.) Identifying your recommenders ensures that your letters can be quickly matched and routed when received by LSAC. Identify your recommenders, print out your prefilled Letter of Recommendation forms, and give the forms to the appropriate recommenders. Your recommender must sign the letter, insert it in his or her own envelope along with your Letter of Recommendation form, and send it directly to LSAC.
When assigning specific letters to specific schools, you MUST use the LOR screens to provide a brief description of the intended use or content of each letter and to specify the school to which the letter should be sent. (If you neglect to specify a school for a letter, the letter will not be sent to any school.) The description will appear on the prefilled LOR form that you must print out and give to each recommender. Your recommenders should check the description on the form to make sure they attach the letter that matches that description. They will need to sign each letter, insert it in an envelope along with your Letter of Recommendation form, and send it directly to LSAC. All letters received without an accompanying form or without the recommender's signature will be returned to the recommender. The accompanying form is an essential part of processing, as it ensures an accurate match of your letter to your account.
NOTE: Letters are matched to your file by the "L" number on the form, not by the description. If your recommenders are sending more than one letter for you, please be sure to emphasize the importance of attaching the correct form to the corresponding letter. For example, a form that names a specific law school must be attached to the letter addressed to that school; a form for a letter described as "general" must be attached to a letter that does not refer to any specific law school. Law schools receive both the LOR form and the letter, so write your descriptions carefully.
When you select "assign letter" next to the school's name, a box showing that school's preferences for LORs will appear. It is important to make sure you know each school's preferences so that you can direct your letters appropriately for each school (you can also check law school preferences by clicking on the link above). Depending upon where your letters are in processing, you may have the option of changing your mind and reassigning your letters if the change doesn't exceed the maximum number of letters that will be accepted by each school.
Examples of Possible Letter Descriptions
- A student who interned for the EPA might ask a professor to write a specific letter about that experience, targeted to a specific law school (Smith) that offers an environmental law specialty. The description would read: Smith Environmental Law Pgm. The letter would be assigned only to Smith School of Law.
- A professor might be a law school graduate and want to recommend the applicant to her alma mater. The description could read: For Smith School of Law.
Copies of letters of recommendation processed by LSAC will be sent according to each school's specified schedule; i.e., some schools want LORs when the initial law school report is sent, some will take them when certain number of letters have been received, and so on. These schedules allow law schools to most efficiently use LORs in their admission process. Law schools may change their schedule for receiving law school reports and LORs at any time.
You and your recommender will be notified by e-mail when LSAC has received each letter, so encourage your recommenders to provide their e-mail addresses. You can monitor the progress of your letters in your LSAC.org account.
When you print out your letter of recommendation forms from your LSAC.org account, the form will be barcoded and prefilled with your information and the recommender information. Mail or give this form to your recommender. The form will ensure accurate matching of the LOR to your account.
LSAC will accept copies of letters from undergraduate school credential services or career planning offices. The LSAC Letter of Recommendation form must accompany each letter. When the form is completed by the school's service, the lower portion can either be filled in with the recommender's name and address, or—if the recommender's address is not available—with the recommender's name and the address of the school's service.
Letters sent to LSAC remain the property of LSAC and will remain active for the life of your file. Letters will be neither returned to nor copied for the candidate.
You may access your online file to determine the status of letters in your file. Check Letters of Recommendation on your home page.
Remember to do the following:
For all letters:
- Provide the names and contact information of all your recommenders.
- Print recommender forms to ensure quick matching and routing at LSAC.
- Indicate the number of letters each recommender will submit, and describe them.
- Select your law schools and specify the letters that should be sent to each one using the ID numbers. You must assign letters or they will not be sent.
- Look at the school specific information boxes and be sure to follow each school's requirements.
- Review your LOR specifications early in the application process so that you can redirect letters if necessary before LSAC sends them to a particular school.
Campus Credential Service
Some college and university career offices have preprinted forms to assist with collecting recommendations from professors and other recommenders. If you are using a campus credential service, submit your Letter of Recommendation Form(s) to the service. When identifying your recommenders in the Letter of Recommendation Service, do not enter your campus credential service. Instead, enter the name and contact information for each of the individuals from the campus credential service from whom you wish to submit letters of recommendation to LSAC. The e-mail or mailing address you provide for your recommender will be used to send a confirmation to the recommender when LSAC receives the letter of recommendation. You should contact the campus credential service to verify what address or e-mail address you should use. You must print out a Letter of Recommendation form for each of the recommenders you entered. Submit all of the forms to the campus credential service. Be certain they understand that each of the Letter of Recommendation forms must be submitted with the packet.
