SAMPLE COVER LETTER #2: FIRST-YEAR STUDENT
123 Main Steet
New Haven, CT 06511
(203) 555-1212
December 15, 20XX
Deborah Davis
Staff Attorney
Farmers’ Legal Action Group, Inc.
46 E. 4
th
St., Suite 1301
St. Paul, MN 55101-1109
Dear Ms. Davis [or Dear Deborah Davis]:
I am a first-year student at Yale Law School seeking a summer internship at the Farmers’ Legal Action Group. I
worked for your former
classmate, Tara Lewis,
at the College of Agr
iculture and Life Sci
ences at Cornell
University. She recommended that I contact you knowing that your organization works on the issues that most
interest me. Born and raised in the Midwest, and I plan to return this summer and after graduation.
FLAG’s work on behalf of family farmers and their communities is extremely appealing to me. I understand that
through litigation, Congressional testimony, publications, and training events, your attorneys and staff have
helped thousands of farmers to remain solvent and protect their farms. Your service on behalf of minority farmers
fighting discrimination in agricultural policies is of particular interest, though I would gladly work in any of your
focus areas. I am drawn to your organization because I have a long-standing interest in agriculture, which is why I
pursued an undergraduate degree in plant breeding. Although I find my scientific background provides a terrific
framework for understanding farmers’ concerns, since my undergraduate days my interests have turned more to
include the social, legal, and policy issues surrounding the farming industry.
My agriculture-related experience as well as my burgeoning legal skills will be of service to your organization.
As an undergraduate, I studied and conducted research to assist in developing novel breeding methods which are
commercially appealing and environmentally sustainable. During a year as a visiting student in Australia, I
studied international agricultural techniques, policies, and laws which culminated in a thesis-length examination
of global wheat production. That work led me to law school. Here at Yale, I am adapting my analytical and
writing skills to law through coursework and membership on the Yale Law & Policy Review. I am particularly
keen to lend my research and writing skills to the work of the YLS Environmental Law Clinic this spring term.
Enclosed you will find my resume, a legal writing sample, a reference list, and my undergraduate transcript, as
you have requested in your job posting. I will forward you my law school transcript when it is available in
January. Please note that first semester classes are graded on a credit/fail basis.
I look forward to the opportunity to speak with you further and would be delighted at the chance to interview with
someone in your office. I will contact you at the beginning of January to see whether an interview might be
arranged. For your information, Yale would fund my work at your office if you do not have funding for summer
interns. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Sample Student
Sample Student
Enclosures