(1) If you are typing it; how formal? Should you put a formal address (name of the firm, address, etc) up top, or should you skip that part?
(2) Should you put the full name of the firm (X, Y, and Z LLP) (or just X Y)?
Search the forum, you will find lengthy debates on Thank You notes (email vs. typewritten vs. handwritten vs. none at all).
I would put the name of the firm as X, Y, and Z the first time you use it (without the business entity designation, such as LLP or Ltd.). Then, in subsequent references to the firm in the same Thank You note, I would use its short name if it has one (but don’t make up a short name). Only use a short name if the firm commonly goes by that name.
I do not think a Thank You letter is necessary. That is overkill, and no partner who bills at $500/hour is going to waste his or her time reading it. It should be a short note, albeit still formal. Moreover, the Thank You note is not the place to brag about your experiences - you should only briefly mention that you are a good fit for the firm because of X, and then move on thanking them for their time.
It’s generally recommended against, unless you made some sort of connection with the interviewer.
And actually, I followed up an interview today with a quick email with a link to something that I had mentioned during the interview. The interview was very informal, more of a chat about various things totally unrelated to (a) my resume and (b) the firm. And I felt like we clicked.
In all my other interviews it wouldn’t seem either appropriate or necessary.
Hmmm need some more opinions on this. My school (TTT) heavily encourages thank you notes. We had a mock interview type deal and I sent the guy (partner at a midlaw firm) a short thank you note formalized in a word document afterwards. It was personalized and it referred to some of the stuff we talked about during the interview. His response was very pleasant and he even asked for a copy of my resume “just in case.”
Of course if writing thank you notes is thought of as obnoxious in general I have no problem skipping them.
Email is fine.
Mock interview is different. They’re taking time out of their busy days to help you. Based on asking about a million lawyers, successful 3Ls (i.e. they’ve gone through the process and gotten a job), I’d say the majority view is to send thank you emails to screening attorney once you get a callback (as a courtesy) and then thank you emails to attorneys you interview with during a callback. Keep it short and sweet (1 line thanking, 1 line saying you enjoyed learning about x – something unique from the interview).
Again, this is just based on attorneys and 3Ls I’ve talked to, but it makes intuitive sense to me.