This is a good article by Mary Sherwood Sevinsky about how to cultivate, choose, and request a reference. In the legal industry references are often requested and desired, especially for legal staffing positions, but candidates often don’t put enough thought in to who they ask to be a reference.
We don’t necessarily agree with Ms. Sevinsky’s advice to obtain letters of reference – we rarely see those unless someone has been let go from a firm or company and the reference letter is to dispel any thought that it was for lack of skillset or cultural fit. But it would behoove any paralegal, legal assistant, or contract attorney to take Ms. Sevinsky’s advice to heart about how to cultivate and choose references, and to keep a list ready to be called on whenever asked by potential employer to provide one.