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Letters of Recommendation Guidelines

General guidelines for your petition for admission letters of recommendation.

Guidelines: Letters of Recommendation

  • Petitioners for admission to the bar by examination must file two letters of recommendation with their petition and not under separate cover 
  • petitioners filing for admission by motion must file three letters of recommendation and not under separate cover
  • Recommendation letters should be written by someone who knows you well
  • Family members or relatives may not write letters of recommendation
  • The attorney who signs your petition may also write one of your letters of recommendation
  • The petition will not be accepted without the required letters of recommendation

Author's Criteria: It is the obligation of each author to:

  • Provide his or her complete mailing address and contact information
  • Date the recommendation letter within six months
  • Sign the recommendation letter
  • Adequately represent pertinent information about the petitioner
  • Assume it to be his or her duty to state the extent of their knowledge of the petitioner
  • State specific facts, favorable or unfavorable, about the petitioner, as they should be made known to the Board of Bar Examiners who are to decide on his or her fitness to be a member of the profession

The Letters of Recommendation must:

  • Be submitted to the Clerk for the County of Suffolk with your bar petition (addressed to the Board of Bar Examiners). Letters of recommendation will not be accepted under separate cover
  • Be written and addressed (not mailed) to the:

Board of Bar Examiners
John Adams Courthouse
One Pemberton Square, Suite 5-140
Boston, MA 02108

  • Be dated (within six months) and signed by the author
  • Include the letter writer's complete address and contact information
  • Be typed on untextured (plain white letterhead is preferred) using 12-point font (no less)
  • Not be identical in content, nor should they be written in memo form

Contact   for Letters of Recommendation Guidelines

Phone

Office hours are 8:30am-4:30pm M-F.

Fax

Fax: (617) 542-5943

Address

John Adams Courthouse
One Pemberton Square, Suite 5-140, Boston, MA 02108

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