How To Write A Personal Statement For Law School

Writing a personal statement for law school that stands out from the crowd can seem like an uphill struggle.

However, the important things to remember are that the admissions tutors want to read about you and why you’re passionate enough about law to study it at graduate level to become a lawyer.

Unfortunately, they also want to find out this information in a compelling, intelligent, and enthusiastic manner that will make them want to accept you onto their program.

All applicants to the program want to be a lawyer, so how will you present your own reasons in a unique way that won't make you blend into the background?

What is a personal statement?

Defining a personal statement for law school will give you a better idea of exactly what's required.

The personal statement is a way for law admissions teams (usually consisting of faculty) to learn more about you as a candidate. It is a piece of creative writing that allows you to sell your abilities, skills and experience to others, much like a covering letter for a job application.

Admissions tutors not only want to see why you are interested in their law program, but also what you can bring to them and their university.

Read through the following points to get you thinking about what you might include in your personal statement:

  • What interests, skills, experience and qualifications make you a great applicant for this program?
  • How will you contribute to the field of law through research, seminars, conferences and other opportunities?
  • Why have you chosen a career as a lawyer?
  • Why does this university’s law program appeal to you and how can it help you fulfil your career plans and/or other life ambitions?

Normally you will be asked to write a general statement that isn’t a response to a specific prompt, but law schools may suggest some topics for you to consider, which are always worth looking at.

What are admissions staff looking for in my law school personal statement?

When the admissions faculty look at your personal statement, they are likely to be asking two main questions:

1. Do we want this student on this program?
2. Do we want this student at this university?

These questions can then be broken up further to make it easier to answer them thoroughly:

  • Is the student suited to the law program that they are applying for?
  • Does the student have the necessary qualifications and personal qualities for the program?
  • Is the student conscientious, hardworking and unlikely to drop out?
  • Will the student do their best and cope with the demands of law school?
  • Can the student work under pressure?
  • Will the student be able to adjust to their new environment?
  • What are their communication skills like?
  • Are they dedicated to this program and have they researched it well?
  • Do they have a genuine interest in law and a desire to learn more about it?

These are the sorts of questions you need to answer in your personal statement.

Unfortunately you cannot answer them directly with a simple 'yes' or 'no' -  you need to provide evidence and make it sound believable. This means providing the tutors with examples about why you are such a great candidate.

However, remember that law school admissions tutors are human too, and will have many applications to look through. So even if you think you've answered all these questions well, you may still be turned down.

We'll show you how you can give yourself the best chance of being noticed through your personal statement, and get accepted onto your chosen law programs.

1. Start making notes as early as possible

It should come as no surprise that we recommend you start drafting your law school personal statement as early as possible, so that you have plenty of time to think about your approach, put together a first draft, and then redraft it as many times as you need to.

This way you will have the best chance of writing a successful, well-rounded statement that will get you accepted on to your chosen law school programs.

Remember that this is your first opportunity to introduce yourself to the law school in your own words, so think of your statement as a personal job advert, where you are selling yourself by highlighting your skills, experience and life goals.

Programs want to know more about:

  • Current achievements in your college degree
  • Experiences outside of the classroom that have inspired you to pursue a career in law

The best way to begin putting together a successful personal statement is to sit down and have a brainstorming session. First, think about the following points and jot down some notes:

  • Personal achievements - what relevant attributes and interests make you a special candidate? These can be either inside or outside of the college classroom.
  • Extracurricular activities - have you completed any volunteering work or got involved with any charities or other groups/organisations that help the community? You could also include any leisure or sports activities you participate in during your spare time, providing the skills you gain from these are relevant to the program.
  • Academic success - are there any appropriate projects or other pieces of college work that you scored highly in and are particularly proud of? Have you received any awards or other type of recognition for your studies?
  • Work experience - what professional skills can you bring to the program? How have work placements helped shape you into an ideal applicant?

Next, build up some vocabulary that will allow you to establish a comprehensive, yet coherent statement that represents a true reflection of yourself and portrays you in the best possible light.

Try using the following words as category headings and see if you can put at least two or three words in each:

  • Communication - e.g. speaking, writing, collaborating, explaining, discussing, listening.
  • Research - e.g. analysing, collecting, investigating, interpreting,examining, collecting, evaluating, concluding.
  • Creative - e.g. imagining, designing, illustrating, original, envisioning, artistic, inventive.
  • Leadership and management - e.g. coordinated, delegated, responsible, teamwork, directed, assigned, negotiated.
  • IT and Technical - e.g. networking, programming, web development, hardware, software, operating, engineering.

Other headings you might wish to use include:

  • Clerical/Administrative
  • Training, Media
  • Financial and
  • Human/Public Relations.

Feel free to add any of your own headings that you feel are relevant to your application, too.

Hopefully you should now have a nice long list of keywords that demonstrate all of your skills and personal qualities. For each one, write down:

  • How you have demonstrated this skill or trait - try to think of a specific experience that provides evidence you possess this skill. Remember, your personal statement will be much more solid and believable if you backup everything with examples.
  • When you began to develop it, e.g. high school, college - again, try to be as specific as possible.
  • How it will benefit you during the program - tutors will want to see how your skills will make you a successful law student.
  • How you might use it once you have completed law school - think beyond your program and show your commitment to becoming a lawyer by demonstrating how you plan to use your skills and attributes in law later on.
  • Any related skills or traits you hope to gain during your time at law school - recognise that there are still areas you could improve on, and tell the admissions faculty how the program can help you with these.

At this stage you should have a whole host of skills and personal qualities that you can demonstrate through a particular experience. Now you need to begin constructing actual sentences with all the information you have gathered.

2. Avoid cliches and jokes

It helps to write an opening paragraph that will grab the admission tutor’s attention straight away.

This means avoiding overused cliches such as “I’ve always wanted to be a lawyer since I was a child” or “Becoming a lawyer means I can make a real difference in the world”.

A good way to do this is to start by conveying an experience that tells a relevant story, e.g. your interest in law was sparked by a friend's parents divorce.

As this will form the opening to your personal statement, choose your experience carefully - the more personal it is, the more engaging your statement is likely to be.

Think about the following once you have decided what to write about:

  • Does the story offer the law school genuine insight to your personality, and if so, how?
  • Will the reader get a sense of enthusiasm for law?
  • Does it explain why you have chosen to pursue a career as a lawyer?
  • Are your long-term career plans or professional hopes indicated?

It's best to avoid jokes or any sort of humour in your statement, as you don't know how this will be taken by the admissions tutors.

The rest of the first draft of your personal statement should follow a similar pattern, with further skills addressed using specific examples from your past.

Remember - show, don’t tell the admissions staff why you should be accepted on to their law program.

The final paragraph should form a memorable conclusion that will again attract the admission tutor’s attention and make you a memorable candidate. As mentioned earlier, you need to stand out from the crowd if you want to have a chance of being accepted.

If you're struggling to put together your first draft, take a look at some example law school personal statements to help get your creative juices flowing.

Our graduate school personal statement style guide will also help you to avoid common mistakes made by applicants.

3. Tell a story

Your personal statement should tell an engaging, informative and personal story about yourself.

This might involve describing a personal challenge, personal achievement, hobbies or an experience that has changed your life and/or the way you think.

You could also talk about a personal project or pursuit that has contributed to your personal growth or goals.

Try not to go into too much detail when talking about experiences, events etc. You should be spending most of your essay explaining how it has helped make you the persona you are today.

4. Be honest and genuine

You don’t have to be trying to cure cancer to impress the law school admissions tutors.

You can show your passion and enthusiasm in lots of everyday activities from your life.

You can even write your personal statement about a mistake or a weakness. Just make sure you explain how you managed to overcome it and what changes it made to you as a person.

Also, it's important to remember that you don't lie in your personal statement.

Admissions tutors can usually tell and they will check your statement, especially if you are invited to interview.

5. Remember your life plans

You want to go to law school so you can get a job in the law sector - but why?

Think about why law school is the next crucial step in your career goals and your future in general.

Your reasons for going to law school should underpin your personal statement.

For example, perhaps you want to be a lawyer because you want to bring the correct level of justice to crimes committed, or because you want to help people who are in a situation less fortuante than yourself.

6. Be specific

Don’t try to fit your life story into your personal statement. Keep your essay focused on a particular theme, thesis, or even moment in time.

Part of the challenge is that you’re limited in space, so you have to be both succinct and efficient with your writing.

This means not rehashing other information that is already in your application. You’re only going to be able to highlight one or two things about yourself, so be think carefully about what those things are.

And if you start with a story, make sure you tell the admissions tutors what happens at the end. Don’t leave them wondering!

7. Grab the tutor's attention

Unlike your undergraduate college application essay, you may need to be more concise in your personal statement for law school. However, this doesn't mean it has to be dull.

You still want to tell a story that allows the admissions staff to get to know who you are. Remember - you are competing against hundreds of other applicants, so tell a unique story that nobody else can.

Start your personal statement with an attention-grabbing anecdote, a surprising fact, or an interesting line about yourself in your own, unique voice (don't try to copy a different style of writing or someone else's voice).

As mentioned earlier, In particular, jokes and other attempts at humor can easily get lost in translation, so be careful.

8. Revise, revise, revise

Once you have completed the first draft of your personal statement, you will need to analyse it critically and evaluate how it might be improved.

Read through it carefully and ask yourself the following questions to help you highlight its strengths and weaknesses:

  • Is the opening paragraph interesting enough to make you want to read further?
  • Have you provided specific examples for all of the skills and personal attributes mentioned?
  • Have you talked about your work and/or voluntary experience in detail, and how this will be useful during the program?
  • Is your statement engaging throughout? If not, how could you change the vocabulary, sentence structure and/or content to improve this?
  • Is your statement focused enough that it explains why you have chosen to pursue a career in law, rather than a related one such as Dentistry or Pharmacy?
  • Are there any spelling, grammar or formatting issues that need to be fixed? Check the word or character count, and make sure you have addressed all the points you have been asked to (if necessary).

When you've made some notes and answered these questions, go back and make the appropriate amendments. Hopefully your statement now reads better and is more engaging.

9. Get feedback

It’s often hard to be objective about your own work, especially when you have spent so much time looking at it, so it’s always a good idea to show your statement to at least several other people if possible.

Ask them to comment on the strengths and how it could be improved (it’s best to give them a printed copy and let them write on it).

Read through all the feedback and take it all on board - are there any common areas people have noted that could be improved?

Next, go through each point and see if it would make the statement better overall. If you feel it doesn’t, don’t incorporate that particular suggestion into your new draft.

Although other people’s views are essential here, it’s also important that you are happy with the statement. Never let someone else rewrite your statement - it should only be your own writing.

Don’t underestimate how long this part of the writing process can take - you may go through many cycles of drafting and asking for feedback, so again, try to start writing your personal statement as early as possible.

10. Make sure it's error-free

Write as many drafts as you feel are necessary, until you have a polished statement that you are completely happy with sending off to your selected law programs.

Check carefully for any spelling and grammar mistakes, as these errors are likely to be noticed and will make you look incompetent.

Don't just rely on a spell checker for this - you should read your final statement several times to ensure it makes sense, and analyse it thoroughly with your own eyes.

Also check that your statement meets any word or character limits, as well as any other requirements outlined by the graduate school.

If you don't, it will look like you couldn't be bothered to read the application process and you may be rejected straight away.

Good luck with your law school applications!

Further information

For more tips and advice on applying to law school, please see: