How to Redact Sensitive Information From Legal Writing Samples

When sharing legal writing samples for job applications, portfolio submissions, or professional development purposes, attorneys must remove all information that could identify the client, the matter, or the parties. This is not optional. MRPC Rule 1.6 on confidentiality prohibits revealing information relating to the representation of a client without informed consent, even after the representation ends.

What to remove from a legal writing sample

The following categories must be addressed before sharing any work product as a writing sample:

• Client name and all aliases. Every instance, including in the caption, body, signature block, and any embedded references.
• Opposing party name. Same scope as client name.
• Case number and court. The combination of case number and court can identify a public filing in minutes.
• Specific dates. Filing dates, hearing dates, and event dates can narrow a matter to a small window of identifiable cases. Substitute "[date]" or a generic reference.
• Financial figures. Settlement amounts, damages calculations, and contract values often appear in court opinions and can be searched.
• Judge's name. The assigned judge, combined with date and subject matter, can identify a matter even with parties removed.
• Identifying facts. Specific injuries, business locations, industry context, or any other fact that is distinctive enough to identify the matter even without names.

Replace all of these with bracketed placeholders: "[Client]", "[Opposing Party]", "[Case No.]", "[Court]", "[date]". This signals to the reader that the document has been sanitized, which is itself evidence of professional judgment.

Check metadata and embedded content

A Word document with parties' names removed from the body may still contain the client's name in the document title, author field, company field, revision history, tracked changes, or comments. Run Document Inspector in Word (File, Info, Check for Issues) before converting to PDF. In the PDF, check the Document Properties panel for author, subject, and keywords fields.

Headers and footers frequently contain client names or case captions. Review every page's header and footer, not just the body text.

When to get consent instead of redacting

For some writing samples, the best approach is getting the client's written consent to share the work product without redaction. The ABA professional responsibility guidance addresses consent requirements for disclosure of client materials. If the matter is closed, the client has moved on, and the document demonstrates unique skills, consent may be preferable to a heavily redacted sample that loses its persuasive detail.

If consent is not available or practical, a thoroughly redacted sample is the appropriate alternative. The sample should still demonstrate the skill being showcased even with identifying information removed. If redaction makes the sample incoherent, choose a different sample.

RedactifyAI can accelerate the initial detection pass across all identifier types including names, dates, case numbers, financial figures, and addresses, leaving a reviewer to make the judgment calls about context-specific facts. Try RedactifyAI free with 50 pages per month at no cost.