Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue

I must have received fifty rejection letters in October and November. After all of the compliments, the hollow promises, the tortured lan­guage, one letter seemed to stand out from the rest. It was from the Cleveland office of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, one of the largest law firms in the world, with offices in Atlanta, Austin, Brussels, Chicago, Columbus, Cleveland, Dallas, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, Irvine, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Pittsburgh, Riyadh, Taipei, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C.:

997545-206-060

Dear Mr. Westphal:

Thank you for your inquiry expressing an interest in a summer associate position with the Cleveland Office of Jones Day. We appreciate your interest in the Firm and our practice.

Unfortunately, our current hiring needs do not per­mit us to consider you for a summer position.

Thank you again for your interest in Jones Day and best wishes during the remaining school year.

Very truly yours,
Matthew G. Rafferty

That was a smooth letter, I thought. Thank you for your interest. Unfortunately, we can’t hire you. Thank you for your interest. No bull about keeping the letter on file. No windy explanations. No hollow compliments. This was a form letter that wasn’t trying to be anything other than a form letter.

I appreciated that.

Excerpted from LAW SCHOOL RED INK WHITE COLLAR BLUES
By Kenneth David Westphal
Copyright by First Part Press Ltd
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