ALSBers,

How's this for an example of less than optimal word choice by a 
student (and a prelaw student, at that):

I emailed an officer in my school's Prelaw Society and asked him if 
the organization had the funding to pay for dinner for a guest 
speaker who would be driving some distance to speak to the prelaw 
students.

He replied with the following email:

"We Defiantly have enough to compensate her, also ask if she would 
rather do a video conference with Skype if she doesnt want to drive. 
But we defiantly have the funds."

(And yes, the first instance of "defiantly" in his email is capitalized.)

I wrote back to him and said I think he meant to say "definitely" 
rather than "defiantly," and I suggested he might want to be more 
careful in selecting words in the future, especially in personal 
statements on law school applications, cover letters for jobs, thank 
you letters after job interviews, not to mention law school exams, 
etc.

I can just imagine the reaction of a law school admissions committee 
if an applicant wrote in his or her personal statement that "I 
Defiantly want to attend your law school" !

Dan

Daniel Andrew Henschel Levin, JD, MBA
Associate Professor of Business Law
Minnesota State University, Mankato
College of Business
Mankato, MN 56001
507.389.1827
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SSRN Author Number 31379