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Rec Letter from Employee of Family Business

Olympus MonsOlympus Mons Core Member
in Law School Admissions 43 karma

So I have a quick question about whether I should include a letter of recommendation written by an employee of my cousin's law firm. This employee is an attorney and I have worked with him for a few years as a paralegal. We get along well and they taught me a lot.

Obviously I won't have my cousin write the letter, but what do you think about including a letter of recommendation from the employee? I told the employee that they were free to write whatever they wanted and that I had waived my right to see the letter. The letter would be on company letterhead, which has my cousin's last name (also my last name). How would admissions officers look at this? Should I explicitly disclose that it is a family business on my resume and personal statement, or is it obvious since we share a name? I want to be transparent as possible but I'm not sure how to approach this.

I have two other letters written by professors. I was thinking of including this one as a third letter, since I have been out of school for 5+ years.

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Comments

  • andrew.rsnandrew.rsn Alum Member
    831 karma

    Since you worked with this person as a paralegal and they were probably a supervisor of sorts I would say this would be a fine professional reference. However they should write the letter based on their experience working with you when you were a paralegal at the firm. From what I've heard, schools aren't looking for character references but they want to know about your work ethic etc.

    Since the letter is coming from a non-family member, I don't think there will be an issue, regardless of the letterhead.

    If you're feeling really uncertain - I would recommend you reach out to the admissions officers at the schools you plan to send the letter to and explain the situation. Ask if they believe it will be a problem. They're happy to answer questions such as this.

  • Olympus MonsOlympus Mons Core Member
    43 karma

    Okay, that's more or less what I was thinking. They are definitely going to write about the work I've done at the office so no problems there. Thanks for your response!

  • gabes900-1gabes900-1 Member
    855 karma

    I am doing the same.

    I am 4-5 years out of school and have been working as well. I think what you've described is fine. Just make sure that they are detailed and talk about you working with them, instead of you as a person. I feel that generalities about a person would make a person put down a letter in which they are reading.

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