More on Law Firm Rejection Letters: The Best One I Heard

Posted by Alan Childress

Jeff’s post on succinct or painful rejection letters reminded me of a story by a colleague of ours at Tulane who, as a law student seeking a law firm summer job, once received a rejection letter from a firm that she later tacked on her office door (the letter, not the firm).  It is also a cautionary tale in removing metadata.  The letter was standard in every way, even commenting that the firm had an unusual number of qualified applicants that year, these decisions are difficult, and the rejection does not mean the candidate does not have outstanding credentials or should avoid applying again in the future.  The firm forgot to remove the document name at the bottom of the Word document, duly printed out on their letterhead:  kissoff.doc.

Readers, hear of any other great rejection letters or faux pas?  Getting rejected from a place you never applied to does not count.  I think we all have stories of getting rejection letters out of the blue from law firms, judges, and law reviews despite the fact that we never actually applied.  Please post your story, or one you’ve heard, in Comments.