How To Create A Distinguishable Lawyer Cover Letter

If a resume is what sells your skills and accomplishments, the cover letter is what sells you to the employer. Most lawyer cover letters writing mistake is to not make one at all. However, for lawyers and recent law graduates, it is not just necessary to create professional looking, sophisticated, and straight-to-the-point cover letters, but one that makes them stand out as well. Resumes cannot tell every major point and part of your background. Therefore, it is the cover letter’s purpose to include details and specifics that cannot be adequately incorporated in the resume.

Paragraph 1: Define Your Purpose

A lawyer cover letter’s first paragraph is what introduces you and describes your purpose. Most importantly, it should have the specific requirements to entice and encourage the employer to read the rest of your cover letter and what it says about you. Every HR staff screens and reads hundreds of lawyer resumes and lawyer cover letters every day, and to make you a distinguishable applicant, you have to mention what sets you apart from the rest. Mention what you learned in your previous positions, what make you good at your job, or why you think you would be a good fit for the position. Conduct some research about the company or the firm, and write about how you are qualified for the position and how you can be a future asset to the company.

Paragraph 2: Describe What You Bring to the Table

The second paragraph of the lawyer cover letter should detail and outline the skills and accomplishments that are relevant to the position or company you are applying for. The general tendency of is to send out the same resume and cover letter to all employers. However, while sending tailored resumes and cover letters demand a lot of time, they are usually the ones that receive a positive response. Have you ever read the article about the law applicant that sent out 1,000 applications and netted zero interviews? While the market may have had something to do with it, chances are that applicant sent the same 1,000 resumes and cover letters to these potential employers. Perhaps if those same resumes and cover letters had been modified to match an employer, the result might have been a little different. While sending lawyer resumes and cover letters can be a numbers game; numbers alone do not make the difference. It’s also about the quality of the application materials, a fact that is too easily forgotten by job applicants.

Paragraph 3: Don’t Forget to Close

The third and the last paragraph of the lawyer cover letter should reiterate interest in the position, and why you are the perfect fit. This is an opportunity for you to “close” the deal. While should also be polite in showing your gratitude as a closing sentence, the gist of the final paragraph is to provide an employer one more reason to consider you for the position. Still unsure about how to put your bets foot forward in drafting a lawyer cover that distinguishes you from the rest? There are professional services that can create an effective and impressive lawyer cover letter for you. Unlike making your own cover letter, these professional services are adept in making the distinguishable and noteworthy lawyer cover letter that employers want to come across amidst the piles of other common-looking ones.


By: Leslie White

Date: 04/13/23