How to Ask for a Recommendation Letter

A recommendation letter is useful when it is specific and nearly useless when it is not. The difference is mostly decided by you, not by the person signing it, because a referee who is given nothing will write three generic paragraphs in ten minutes. This is how to ask so that you get the other kind.

Whom to ask

Ask the person who supervised your actual work, even if they are junior. An associate who read six of your research notes can say something concrete. A managing partner who met you twice can only say that you were punctual and eager, and every reader knows what that means.

Seniority helps only when the person can also say something real. Given a choice between a vague letter from a well known senior advocate and a detailed one from the junior you reported to, the detailed one does more for you in most situations.

For academic applications, a professor who taught you in a seminar and marked your papers is worth more than one who lectured a hall of two hundred.

When to ask

Ask near the end of the internship, in person if you can, while the work is fresh. Asking eight months later means reminding someone of work they have forgotten, and the letter shows it.

Give at least two weeks before any deadline, more during court vacations and firm busy periods. If you need it in three days, say so plainly and apologise for the notice, rather than hiding it at the end of the email.

Ask in person first, then follow up by email with the material. “Would you be comfortable writing a recommendation for me” gives a graceful way to decline, which is what you want. A lukewarm letter from someone who felt cornered is worse than no letter.

What to send with the request

This is the part most students skip and it is the part that decides the quality of the letter. Send one email containing:

• The dates you interned and whom you worked with.
• Three or four things you actually did, named specifically: the matters, the kind of work, anything you produced.
• What the letter is for, and to whom it is addressed. A letter for a firm application reads differently from one for an LL.M.
• The deadline and the format. Signed PDF, letterhead, uploaded by the referee directly, or handed to you.
• Your CV, attached.

You are not writing the letter for them. You are making it possible for them to write a good one without opening old files.

Sample request email

Subject: Request for a recommendation letter, Ananya Rao, intern June 2026

Respected Ma’am,

Thank you again for the four weeks in your chamber in June. I learned a great deal, particularly from sitting through the bail matters.

I am applying for an internship with [organisation] in January and the application asks for a letter of recommendation. Would you be comfortable writing one for me? If you would rather not, please do say so, and I will understand entirely.

In case it helps, a short reminder of the work I did:

• Prepared chronologies and case notes for three criminal appeals, including the [subject] matter.
• Researched the position on default bail under Section 187 of the BNSS and prepared a four page note with the leading authorities.
• Proofread and tabbed briefs for filing, and sat through hearings in the High Court on most days.

The letter is addressed to [name and organisation] and is due by [date]. They have asked for a signed PDF on letterhead, which I can submit myself, or you may email it directly to [address] if you prefer.

My CV is attached for reference. Thank you for considering this.

Yours sincerely,

Ananya Rao

What makes a letter worth having

A letter that helps says three things. It says how the referee knows you and for how long, so the reader can weigh it. It gives at least one specific example of your work, because a specific example is the only thing that distinguishes you from the other applicants with letters. And it makes a clear comparative statement the referee is willing to stand behind.

A letter that does nothing uses words like sincere, hardworking, punctual and eager to learn, mentions no particular piece of work, and could be about any intern of the last five years. Readers discount these almost entirely, which is why the material you send matters so much.

If you are asked to draft it yourself

This happens often in Indian practice, usually because the person is busy rather than uninterested. Write it honestly, in their voice rather than yours, and keep the claims to what they actually observed. Send it as a draft they can change, and do not be offended if they rewrite it entirely. Never sign anything on someone else’s behalf, and never submit a letter they have not seen in final form.

Afterwards

Thank them when they send it, and tell them the outcome either way. A referee who hears that you got the place is far more willing the next time, and a referee who hears nothing for two years reasonably assumes they are being used.

Keep a copy of every letter you receive, with the date. Not to reuse without asking, but because referees move, retire and become unreachable, and a scanned letter on file is sometimes all you will have.