For Faculty Advisors

If you are a Faculty Advisor and are interested in the resources that are available for your advisees, please refer your advisees to the website section entitled Investigating the Legal Profession. That section provides career development steps for students considering the legal profession.

Workshops and individual meetings are available to assist students in their investigation of the legal profession. Freshmen and sophomores are encouraged to attend workshops to learn about law school and the application process.

Please contact Professor Karen Graziano at karen.graziano@villanova.edu for additional information and for answers to specific advising questions.

For Recommenders

If you have been selected by a student or an alumnus/alumna to write a recommendation letter for law school, you should work with the prospective law student to prepare a targeted, personalized recommendation letter. The applicant’s participation in the recommendation letter writing process is essential. The applicant should supply you with information that will aid your writing.

Please contact Professor Karen Graziano at karen.graziano@villanova.edu for information about the qualities law schools are seeking in applicants and refer prospective law students to Professor Graziano for instructions on how to approach the recommendation letter writing process. Students and alumni are invited to attend Workshop #4: Recommendation Letters to acquire information about recommendation letters. Consult the Workshop link for a schedule of workshops.

Your recommendation letter is an important part of the application process. Recommendation letters can significantly affect a student’s entrance to law school; therefore, if the prospective law student or alumnus/alumna would not score a very good or an excellent rating by you then you should be candid with the applicant. Law schools not only assess the quality of the recommendation letter, but the law school applicant’s judgment in asking the recommender for a letter. Informing the applicant that in the letter you will address his or her satisfactory work in your course will enable the applicant to decide if he or she should consult another recommender who would discuss the applicant’s excellent—rather than satisfactory—work in a different course. The prospective law student should appreciate your candid response because your recommendation can significantly impact his or her acceptance to law schools.