Letter from Lani Guinier to William W. Greenhalgh RE: E. Barrett Prettyman Fellowship

Correspondence
November 21, 1984

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Matter
- Lani Guinier Correspondence
Case
- Lani Guinier Correspondence
U.S. state
- General
Collection
- Legal Department General
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- 6f9c3a31-e692-ee11-be37-6045bdeb8873

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Legal Department General, Lani Guinier Correspondence. Letter from Lani Guinier to William W. Greenhalgh RE: E. Barrett Prettyman Fellowship, 1984. 6f9c3a31-e692-ee11-be37-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/af010939-ba62-4ce0-9fae-4e3cd715f191/letter-from-lani-guinier-to-william-w-greenhalgh-re-e-barrett-prettyman-fellowship. Accessed November 23, 2025.

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Les&IE&renseH,

November 21, 1984

Mr. William W. Greenhalgh, Director
Legal Internship Program
Georgetown University Law Center
500 New Jersey Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C.20001

RE: E- Barrett Prettyman Fellowship

Dear Professor Greenhalgh:

I write to recormnend Ms. Joan Gibbs for an E. Barrett
Prettyman Fellowship in Criminal Law- Joan worked for
LDF as a 1aw clerk this summer. She worked under my
supervision primarily on the appeal of a federal habeas
case.

Joan is one of the top four or five law students with
whom I have worked at LDF. She ranks on a par with, and in
some ways outdistances, 1aw students from Harvard, Yale
and Columbia. She is a serious, committed person with a
passionate interest in the criminal justice system and a
profound appreciation of its limitations. Yet, she avoids
-ynicism and constructively channeJ-s her prodigious energies
into significant scholarly efforts.

Joan is exceptionally talented as a writer. Her writing is
clear and lucid, reflecting both her journalist's background
and a well-organized, analytical style. Unlike many law
students who are either too eager to reach the "right" con-
clusion or too impatient to follow through and reason out
an issue, Joan has an unusual abitity to develop painstakingly
her arguments.

As a researcher Joan is extremely thorough without being
inefficient. She quickly identifies the significant lines
of authority but is not satisfied until she thinks about
the relevant implications of each case. Her ability to extra-
polate from the reasoning of the cases she reads is extremely
sophisticated. When time was short and I was unable to read
all the cases she cited, I never hesitated to rely on her
analysis and judgrment.

Contribulions are deductible lor U.S. ineome tar purposes

The NAACp LEGAL 0EFENSE E EDUCATIONAL FUND is nol part ot the National Association lor the Advancement ol colored People although it

wai tounoeO oy it and shares its commitmenl to equal righti. LDF has had lor over 25 years a separate Board, proqram, stall, olllce and budget.

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC.
g9 Hudson Street, New York, N.Y. 10013o(212) 21S.1900

Mr. William lil. Greenhalgh -2-

Joan is thoughtful, hard working, and
reconmend her without regervation.

Novernber 2L, 1984

extremely mature. I

I'Glr

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Letter from Lani Guinier to William W. Greenhalgh RE: E. Barrett Prettyman Fellowship

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