Nobody Likes Writing Cover Letters
The public defender cover letter is an important first step in getting hired. That being said, I HATE WRITING COVER LETTERS. At the end of the day, wouldn’t this suffice?
Dear Employer,
I really want this job. I’ll be really good at it. I want to work for you specifically. Please interview me.
Sincerely,
Rising Law Student
Unfortunately, not. Yet, this is basically what a cover letter is all about, right? You are expressing your desire to be hired for a position. You are outlining all the reasons why you will be a good hire. And of course, you want them to interview you, so you can impress this upon them even further in person.
So how do you do that? Let me show you how to write a solid public defender cover letter.
Who Are You Writing Your Cover Letter To?
The first thing you need to do is figure out who you are writing the letter to. Don’t put in “To Whom It May Concern” “Hiring Manager,” or “Sir or Madam”.” Find out who will be reading your letter by calling the public defender’s office that you are applying to. It’s a simple conversation: “Hello, my name is Jane Smith and I am a law student at Harvard. I am applying for a position with your office and wanted to make sure I knew the correct person to address my cover letter to.”
Now, they may have an attorney’s name for you, they may tell you to address it to the “Hiring Committee,” or they may tell you to address it to someone in their human resources department. Either way, if your cover letter letter has the correct person, and everyone else has “To Whom it May Concern,” you are already ahead of the pack because it becomes clear that you took the extra time to perfect your application.
Why this Matters
You also may be one of the only people to do this, which means that your name is already hitting someone’s ears before your application comes in.
People talk, and it is not uncommon to hear from support staff at the proverbial water cooler, “Hey hiring committee member. I spoke to the nicest law student on the phone today asking who to address their cover letter to. They were from Harvard. I believe her name was Jane Smith.”
When Jane Smith comes to her interview, she will already have a head start if support staff like her just from a single call. Don’t forget, public defender offices don’t just want someone who is qualified, they want someone that will be a positive addition to the stressful environment of their office.
Now that you have gotten past “Dear Attorney Jones,” let’s get to the body of your public defender cover letter. The key is to keep it to one page, have four paragraphs, and keep each paragraph to no more than 5 lines.
Hiring committee members have a lot of material to go through. For each applicant there is a cover letter, a resume, a transcript, and usually a writing sample. I see a two-page cover letter, or even a one-page letter with diesel paragraph, my eyes glaze over. Right or wrong folks, this is reality.
Don’t forget that the attorneys reviewing your application have heavy caseloads and may only be reviewing your cover letter and resume minutes before you walk in the door.
The First Paragraph of Your Public Defender Cover Letter
Don’t start your letter by saying “I am a rising 2L at Harvard Law School.” 90% of letters say this and I could not be more turned off as a hiring committee member. What does that mean anyways? I know where you go to law school from your resume and I know you are moving on up, otherwise you wouldn’t be applying for a job. Right?
Start with something that will both grab my attention and tell me who you are. For example, “I believe that now more than ever, indigent persons in our criminal justice system need committed attorneys who will work tirelessly on their behalf and defend their rights. It is the reason that I went to law school and it is the reason that I am writing you today, asking for an opportunity to join your ranks. I believe that my (insert prior experience description/or statement about your skills and dedication if not experience) will be an asset to the Bronx Defenders and its clients.”
See? Isn’t that better than, “I’m rising 2L from Harvard Law and I am excited for the opportunity to join your office. Blah. Blah. Blah.”
The Second Paragraph of Your Public Defender Cover Letter
Now for the hard part. The meat of your letter. The ever so important, and often poorly written, middle paragraph. This is what I like to call the “morals” section of your letter. This is the real reason you want to become a public defender.
It’s not because you want to be a trial attorney; that’s a given and if not, rethink your career choice. It’s not because you want to be rich; you won’t be! It’s not because you think rape should be legal; you’re not a sociopath. Right? (Please say, “right.”)
You are applying to become a public defender because of a life experience, or multiple life experiences. Something brought you here. Something made you want to enlist as a soldier in Gideon’s Amy.
You are applying because of deeply held beliefs about inequality amongst the rich and the poor.
P.S. if you are looking at me with a blank stare at this point, stop wasting your time. Leave this site and Google “career counselor,” because this ain’t the job for you.
As I was saying, you want the middle paragraph to be the section where the hiring committee falls in love with you. Where they say, “Wow, this person’s commitment to indigent defense is really genuine.”
The Third Paragraph of Your Public Defender Cover Letter
Your third paragraph is the “why here” paragraph. You have some qualifications. You are genuine about wanting to be a public defender. Why do you want to come to the Bronx as opposed to Boulder, or San Francisco? Check out my post about different types of public defender agencies.
The Fourth and Final Paragraph of Your Public Defender Cover Letter
Your closing paragraph is your three-sentence re-pitch. You reword the second sentence in your first paragraph. You summarize your middle paragraph. And for your third and final sentence, “I look forward to hearing from you and thank you for your time.”
That’s it! Ok, it’s complicated and I didn’t write it for you. I know, what good is this site then? The problem with those cookie cutter sites is that everyone uses them and they all sound the same.
If I think a candidate is just applying to every public defender office in the country, I approach their application with less enthusiasm. When I see someone who, even with rough edges, clearly wants to do this work, they have my attention!
