Character letter from an employer

What an employer can tell the judge

An employer can describe the person’s working life with facts no one else has: how long they have worked for you, what they are trusted with, and how they show up. Defense lawyers count employers among the writers whose letters they value most.

Your letter also speaks to the person’s support. A steady job, and whether it will still be there, are facts a judge can weigh.

Letterhead and your role

Use company letterhead if you have it. Legal aid guidance recommends letterhead for employers, and it shows the judge where you work without extra words.

In your first lines, say your name, your job title, the company, and how you know the person: whether you hired them, manage them or work beside them. If you are writing as a coworker rather than a manager, say so, and keep to what you have seen at work.

What to include

The most useful employer letters are specific about the person’s work.

• When the person started and what their job is now.
• How they have done the job: attendance, reliability and what you trust them with.
• Any promotions, training or extra responsibility you have given them.
• A specific moment at work that shows who they are.
• That you know why they are in court, in a sentence or two.
• Whether their job will be kept open, if that is true and you are able to decide it.

Saying you know about the charge

Say briefly that you know why the person is in court. Federal defender offices tell writers to make clear they know the charge; a letter that seems unaware of it carries less weight.

If the charge touches on work, such as theft from an employer, say plainly what you know and what you have seen since. Don’t argue about the case or make it sound smaller than it is.

Holding the job open

If you will keep the person’s job open or take them back, say so plainly and only if it is true. A judge may take that offer into account, so don’t promise more than you or your company can keep.

If the job depends on something, such as a valid driver’s license, say what it is. If you can’t promise a job, leave this part out rather than hint at one.

Write it yourself

Write the letter in your own words. In 2026 a judge in Ireland dismissed an employer’s reference as computer-written, and judges in other countries have said such letters give them little to go on.

Give the signed letter to the person’s lawyer, with your phone number or work email under your name. If you’d like help, our questions take you through each part and lay out your answers as a one-page letter.

Questions