The Thank You Note: How Legal Professional Should Follow Up

You've just returned from a wonderful meeting, and achieved everything you hoped you would, and then some. You asked thought-provoking questions, and the employer provided a ton of useful answers, ideas, and recommendations. He also offered to introduce you to other people. You took careful notes during and after the meeting, so you remember the details of what he said about the people he's referring you to, and the main points of your conversation.

The meeting lasted more than an hour, and you're welcome to let him know how things are going. Now it's time to recognize his generosity with a gracious, sincere thank-you note.

Writing the Letter
Follow the grabber-definer-convincer-concluder model to structure a good response.

Grabber: This consists of your appreciation for the employer's time, sage advice, and excellent referrals. You may want to say that your meeting confirmed the glowing recommendation you received when you initially were referred to her. Of course she will keep reading to see what else you have to say!

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Definer: This is where you paraphrase, comment on or further develop one or two ideas that were central to your conversation. You may want to provide further support for an idea, correct a misimpression, or otherwise show that you were paying close attention and appreciate her input. You don't have to agree with every point she made.

Convincer: Here you describe what you have already done or plan to do to arrange meetings with people she has referred. You'll also outline how you'll follow up on ideas discussed in your meeting.

Concluder: Close by restating your appreciation in different words and your intention to keep her posted.

You can use this simple model as the basis for almost any thank you note. In three weeks or so, you might send a second note. See the sample note below.

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Typical Follow-up note after informational meeting:

January 30, 2008

Dear Frank,

Thank you for taking the time to meet with me yesterday to discuss my interest in the internship at the Housing Rights Center I can't begin to tell you how valuable I found your advice in becoming a lawyer. I appreciated finding out about the organization’s ongoing endeavors in protecting housing rights of low-income inhabitants. Our discussion yesterday has furthered my interest in working for the internship this summer.

Please let me know if I can provide with additional information. Thank you again for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you.

Appreciatively,
John Smith