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9 Attorney Resume Examples That Got the Job in 2024

Best for senior and mid-level candidates

There’s plenty of room in our elegant resume template to add your professional experience while impressing recruiters with a sleek design.

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Attorney Resume

• Attorney Resumes by Experience
• Attorney Resumes by Role

Attorney Resume FAQs

As a successful attorney in 2024, you are a stellar researcher, writer, investigator, and client confidante.

But when it comes time to  write your resume , how are you supposed to fit everything you do into one page? You also have to consider formatting, metrics, and whether to add any optional sections.

We’re here to help you handle your resume and  attorney cover letter  so you can do what you do best: practice law.

Our nine attorney resumes have helped lawyers of different specialties land jobs at top-tier law firms , so they’re perfect for beginning your resume-writing journey. We also have tips and tricks for each resume type to help you rise above the competition and get the attorney job you’ve always dreamed about in 2024.

or download as PDF

Why this resume works

• To make your resume aesthetically pleasing (and easy to read) for hiring managers, use a  resume template  with two font types, separate each section with big headers, and include a splash of color.
• Hiring managers need to see your qualifications quickly, so if you have extra certifications or licenses, include them in a separate section to make them more pronounced.

Entry-Level Attorney Resume

• You can list projects, internships, and any other work experience you have, even if it’s not related to law.
• Feel free to add relevant courses from your law school to highlight your skills even further!
• As a rule of thumb, you must customize your objective for each job to which you apply.
• If you’re going to use the same objective for each application, leave it off entirely and focus on work experience or projects.

Associate Attorney Resume

• This allows you to include at least four bullet points per entry, which is just enough to learn about your accomplishments without overwhelming the reader.
• Always  check your resume  for typos, grammar errors, and other mistakes before you submit it.

Senior Attorney Resume

• Good skills to include on your senior attorney resume are “contract review,” “ethics,” and any specific areas of law you have experience researching.
• Whatever you choose, double-check the job description to ensure you’re providing the correct information. 

Trademark Attorney Resume

• If you’ve never worked as a trademark attorney before, highlight your transferable skills. For example, have you advised clients on how to navigate prospective new legislation? Trademark law is always changing, so  knowing how to research recent litigation is a highly useful skill .
• Use similar keywords and responsibilities to reassure your future employer that you’re fit for the job.

Litigation Attorney Resume

• Don’t downplay your paralegal experience on your litigation attorney resume. It adds a degree of proficiency to your practice.

Real Estate Attorney Resume

• Devote valuable resume space to both your Bar admissions and certifications to demonstrate excellence in your field.

Contract Attorney Resume

• Tailor your  resume skills  section and work experience by including keywords mentioned in the job ad. Include just enough to show your expertise without copying everything word-for-word. Most of all, be honest about the skills you possess.
• Make sure that you list the specific types of contracts you have negotiated and managed, too!
• No matter what content you include, always  check your resume  for errors, including typos, grammatical faux pas, punctuation mistakes, and inconsistencies. Don’t let a few minor issues cost you the job!

Civil Litigation Attorney Resume

• All jokes aside, you can also include metrics related to things other than money. How many cases did you handle? How many clients did you meet? How many contracts or drafts did you review?  Odds are, most of your responsibilities involve numbers !
• Use bullet points and action verbs to cut filler, and avoid using adjectives or adverbs that take up space. 
• Symbols can also help: a $ instead of “dollars” and + instead of “more than” is both simple and effective!

Related resume guides

• Legal Assistant
• Investigator
• Cyber Security
• Security Officer

As an attorney, employers expect you’ll have passed the bar, and depending on the specific type of legal work you’re interested in, you may need more specialized certifications, such as the Certified International Trade Law Specialist or Board Certification in Criminal Law. While hiring personnel will likely request photocopies of your licenses and certifications, you should still list these on your attorney resume since it’s a quick assurance that you’re qualified for the specific role.  

List your highest education first. Start with law school and work your way down to your undergraduate degree (exclude high school). In the education section of your resume, you should list the name of the school along with the location, degree, and when you completed the degree. If you’re recently out of school, consider adding short bullet points that point to academic accomplishments, especially as it relates to legal work. 

No doubt, you’re used to pages of legalese and it’s no sweat for you to make sense of it; however, for your attorney resume, keep it to one page. This is your opportunity to quickly advertise your best law qualifications and accomplishments. Going into detail is best reserved for writing a great cover letter .  

Resume Worded   |  Proven Resume Examples

• Resume Examples

50+ Legal Resume Examples - Here's What Works In 2024

To break into the legal industry, you need a strong resume that highlights your experience in the industry. if you need inspiration, look no further — we've provided a ton of downloadable resume samples that you can use as a starting point for your own legal resume..

Choose a category to browse Legal resumes

We've put together a number of free Legal resume templates that you can use. Choose a category depending on your field, or just scroll down to see all templates.

Attorney Resumes

Attorneys are always in demand, so what better time than now to brush up your skills and update your resume? In this guide, you’ll find resume templates for you to use as examples, as well as industry-specific tips and a walkthrough on how to narrow down the perfect skills and keywords.

Associate Attorney

Experienced Attorney

Litigation Attorney

Real Estate Attorney

Corporate Attorney

Compliance Attorney

Transactional Attorney

Family Law Attorney

Patent Attorney

Entry-Level Attorney

Immigration Attorney

Contract Attorney

Lawyer Resumes

Practicing law continues to be a lucrative field as individuals and corporations alike seek to navigate the increasingly complex legal system. In this guide, we’ll cover three specialties and look at templates you can base your lawyer resume on, in addition to discussing the skills and action verbs you should focus on including.

Corporate Lawyer

Immigration Lawyer

Junior Lawyer

Employment Lawyer

Real Estate Lawyer

Legal Assistant Resumes

Wherever there are lawyers, you’ll find legal assistants — hard-working support staff working behind the scenes. The position is ideal for people seeking an administrative career or on their way to a law or paralegal qualification. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to land a legal assistant job, including resume templates and tips on essential skills and keywords.

Entry Level Legal Assistant

Experienced Legal Assistant

Policy Analyst Resumes

Policy analysts are problem identifiers and solution builders. They research and interrogate policy, look at the effects of policies, and create/recommend more effective and mutually beneficial policies. As such, they must be strong researchers and creative problem solvers. This guide will help you craft a resume that highlights your most attractive skills and qualifications to get your desired job.

Insurance Policy Analyst

Junior Policy Analyst

Compliance Resumes

Although compliance officers may go unnoticed, they are a solid foundation for ensuring transparent processes in any business. The current demand for these professionals is great for the coming years. Therefore, if you choose this work field, we want to help you write the best resume to apply for these jobs. Take a look at the top 10 compliance resume examples below.

Compliance Officer

IT Compliance Analyst

Corporate Compliance Manager

Regulatory Compliance Specialist

Quality Compliance Coordinator

Compliance Engineer

Compliance Auditor

Legal Compliance Officer

Underwriter Resumes

Being a financial expert isn’t the only thing that magically lands you a job in the underwriting world. A resume showcasing you in the best light will help you get far in your career! If you’re wondering what a successful underwriter resume can look like, all you need is to go through our guide for underwriter resume examples where we provide downloadable resume templates as well as tips to make the best out of your resume!

Loan Underwriter

Commercial Underwriter

Credit Underwriter

Assistant Underwriter

Regulatory Affairs Resumes

Regulatory affairs professionals evaluate pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, agrochemicals, and medical products before they are commercialized. They make sure that these products are ready for consumption and meet regulatory compliance. Remember that these items often play a huge role in people’s wellbeing, so regulatory affairs specialists are the guards of public health. If you have a regulatory affairs specialist and would like to create your resume, we have you covered. This guide will provide you with tips and resume examples templates that you can customize with your own experience and skills.

Regulatory Affairs Manager

Regulatory Affairs Associate (Entry Level)

Contract Specialist Resumes

Our increasingly global workplace has brought along new intricacies in our development of contracts and increased the number of contracts we use. Contract specialists ensure that a company’s contracts are in the best interest of the company and are in line with all laws. Here is a guide to help you create a contract specialist resume that will grab the attention of recruiters today.

Contract Administrator

Contract Manager

Public Policy Resumes

Public policy professionals review, revise, and pinpoint areas for improvement within current public policy. This career path is especially fruitful in today's world, due to the pandemic and subsequent socioeconomic effects of it, talented public policy professionals are in high demand. Some public policy professionals oversee several parts of a public policy team, such as with public policy directors. Other public policy professionals closely investigate singular aspects of public policy by researching and analyzing data to make changes, such as a public policy analyst. This career path holds lots of opportunities to grow. If you want to learn more about how to land a public policy job, keep reading.

Director of Public Policy

Action Verbs For Legal Resumes

• Represented
• Streamlined
• Collaborated

How to use these action verbs?

You might be wondering how to structure your resume's bullet points. An easy place to start is to always use an action verb when speaking about your accomplishments. This list on the left are perfect examples of action verbs you can use when discussing your legal experience. The legal field prioritizes professional communication, so make sure you stress your experience here by including action verbs like "Drafted" or "Presented" — verbs like these show to recruiters that you have strong communication skills, skills that are essential in the legal industry.

Legal Resume Guide

• Attorney Resume Templates
• Lawyer Resume Templates
• Legal Assistant Resume Templates
• Policy Analyst Resume Templates
• Compliance Resume Templates
• Underwriter Resume Templates
• Regulatory Affairs Resume Templates
• Contract Specialist Resume Templates
• Public Policy Resume Templates
• Legal Action Verbs
• All Resume Examples

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Download this ats-compatible resume template in word or google docs format. edit it directly in google docs.,    access samples from top resumes, get inspired by real resume samples that helped candidates get into top companies.,    get a free resume review, get actionable steps to revamp your resume and land more interviews using our free ai-powered tool..

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18+ Lawyer Resume Templates – DOC, Excel, PDF

Handling legal issues is not easy for a fresher law graduate student and an experienced attorney. Besides the tasks, entering a law firm for an entry level assistant, associate, or junior legal plan professional is another challenge you have to go through. Our lawyer resume templates help you apply for any legal position in a real estate, corporate, or court job vacancy. If you have years of experience, you can be a partner or help an advocate by applying a consultant resume templates . Our lawyer templates also have a modern layout and content samples for various legal professions to help boost your CV and other application word documents.

Lawyer CV Template

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Lawyer Resume Templates

• Personal information: Write your name, address, and contact details for communication
• Educational qualification: You need to write about your law degree and other relevant qualification you have in this section. You can also see more on Lawyer Resumes in Pages .
• Skills and Experiences: Your skills and experiences in the law field need to be highlighted in this section. So, make sure you have your relevant experiences based on the job analysis you are looking for.

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Legal Resumes

This guide contains some basic suggestions about preparing resumes, and includes samples for you to consult. If you would like to have a Career Development Office attorney-counselor review your draft resume, send it to the career email box, [email protected] . The resume process, from start to finish, can take much longer than you anticipate. Start early, and give yourself plenty of time .

A. What is a Resume?

B. effective resumes, c. writing your resume, d. resume suggestions, e. finalizing your resume.

• Sample Resumes – Students (These are included as a pdf to preserve formatting, an essential element of effective resume-drafting.)
• Suggested Action Words for describing experiences
• “1L Resume Workshop” Presentation (10/2023)

A resume is a marketing device whereby you present the most attractive, true picture of yourself with the goal of convincing an employer to meet with you. During an interview, you may be asked questions about any entries on the document. For lawyers, the resume also is a writing sample that shows your ability to communicate clearly and concisely and your attention to detail.

Your resume is often your first contact with a potential employer and will probably determine whether your qualifications and background warrant an interview or serious consideration for a job. While employers do not usually hire on the basis of a resume alone, they may decide not to interview an applicant on the basis of a poorly prepared or presented resume. Therefore, excellent content and presentation are vital. Employers assume that your resume represents your best work and is indicative of your general work product in terms of clarity, organization, accuracy and appearance.

Most decisions about what to include and how best to present information in your resume are based on your personal assessment of your strengths, the kind(s) of position you are seeking, your own taste and style, and your knowledge of how resumes in the legal profession traditionally look and read. Consider having more than one resume to emphasize different things for different types of prospective employers.

Resumes for public interest organizations. For these employers, a demonstrated commitment to public interest work will be a key factor. Evidence of your commitment can take the form of extracurricular activities, journals, internships, clinics and volunteer work, all of which should be included on your resume. Consider including substantive clinical work or student organization activities (e.g., CARC) in your “Experience” section, where you can elaborate on your tasks and responsibilities. If your experience justifies it, you may consider creating an additional section entitled “Community Service” or “Volunteer Activities” to list your volunteer or community activities that will emphasize the extent of your dedication to public interest issues. In addition, languages can be very important to public interest/public sector employers, depending on the communities they serve or the work you can do for them. Unlike resumes aimed at private sector employers, public interest resumes can go over one page if your experience requires it; however, it is still critical to use concise language and efficient formatting.

Resume Rules. There are a few absolute rules for writing resumes. Your resume must be:

• scrupulously honest;
• conservative (graphically and linguistically, not necessarily politically);
• selective (because your resume is not your whole life history, perhaps not even your entire employment history);
• visually appealing so it will be easy to read rapidly;
• absolutely free of typos, grammatical errors, and inconsistencies.

Difficult Issues. Some items you might include in your resume may reveal political leanings, religious beliefs, ethnicity, disability, and/or sexual orientation, which, depending on the prospective employer, could work against you or in your favor. (This is true regardless of the legality of taking such factors into account.) The decision whether to include such information is a personal one. First, consider how important the inclusion of such information is to you, and whether you would want to work for an employer who would use it in making a decision whether to hire you. If you choose not to include this information, you still have the option of bringing it up in an interview, or later in the hiring process. If you are unsure about whether to include items of this kind in your resume, contact a CDO attorney-counselor.

Accuracy of Resume Information and Verification of Resumes. It is imperative that all information presented on your resume be scrupulously honest and free of embellishment. The potential for misrepresentation of academic or work performance is of great concern to employers; they typically verify this information. Berkeley Law has established practices to ensure the fair and accurate presentation of students in the placement process, including procedures for the verification of statements concerning grades, journal membership, or other law school achievements that a student has made in a resume or other document. By making such statements to an employer in writing, a student consents to the Law School verifying the substance of these statements at the employer’s request. (Berkeley Law’s Registrar will inform the employer whether written grade information is accurate, but will not provide the correct grade information to the employer without the student’s prior consent.)

Any falsification or misrepresentation of law school grades or other records, recommendations, or other qualifications is a violation of the Academic Honor Code.

First, brainstorm. Inventory your background and accomplishments and list everything which helps to distinguish you individually, professionally, and as a student. You might ask for input from family or friends because you may overlook some basic but important areas. Remember to focus on what you bring to the table based on your experience. What will make the employer interested in you?

Name and Contact Information

This information should go in large (font size 14-16) bold face type at the top of your resume. If you choose to include both your school address and your permanent address you should indicate which is which. (Students often include an out-of-area address in order to show that they have a connection to an area outside of Northern California.) Always include your phone number and email address, but only one of each. (Your email address, as well as your voicemail greeting, should be professional.)

List your education in reverse chronological order (law school first). Include basic information on schools attended, degrees received and dates (or anticipated dates) of graduation, and major field(s) of study.

Under your undergraduate school heading, include major and minor areas of study and thesis topics, if applicable. Be consistent. If you use the term “J.D,” then use “B.A.” Alternatively, if you write out “Juris Doctor” then write out “Bachelor of Arts.” Other than law schools, you need not include schools from which you transferred and did not graduate. No need to include your high school. If you acquired a degree which employers might not recognize by its abbreviation, spell out the degree name.

For your law degree, you can either list it as “J.D. Candidate” with your expected graduation date, or you can list “J.D.” and the date as “Expected May 20XX.”

A Special Note for Transfer Students : If you transferred here from another law school, put Berkeley Law first, followed by the other law school, for at least your first year at Berkeley Law. If you received honors at the other school, put them under that law school’s section. If you were invited to join law review at your former school and didn’t because you transferred here, indicate that you were invited to join and explain why, e.g., “Invited to join University of San Diego Law Review on the basis of high academic achievement.”

Joint Degree Students : If you are pursuing a joint degree program, be sure to list both schools under your education section.

Honors and Activities. Honors attached to your degree should appear in lowercase after the degree awarded, e.g., B.A., summa cum laude , June 2006. (If the honors are in Latin, they should be italicized.) Other academic honors are listed separately below your degree, along with school activities.

If you have extensive undergraduate honors and activities, you might consider listing only a representative number of them. Make sure it is clear which activities are at which institutions. If you were involved during school with an activity not related to the school, it should go under a different section of your resume.

For law school, list all honors and activities of importance such as law review, participation on other journals, moot court, trial advocacy, clinics, fellowships, scholarships, committees, student organization membership, and academic awards.

If an activity in college or law school was or is especially involved or relevant, consider putting it under the Experience section. For example, if you are a public interest student, your participation in CARC could go under Experience, with a description of the work you did on your asylum case.

Grades, Rank and LSAT Scores. Because Berkeley Law does not use a traditional grading system, students do not have GPA’s. Berkeley Law does not rank its students (except for the sole purpose of clerkship applications), and Berkeley Law faculty policy provides that students must not include any representation or estimate of class rank on a resume or in a cover letter. LSAT scores should not be listed on your resume, as they are designed to predict law school performance only, and are not an indicator of professional performance.

Use reverse chronology. You can list a brief summary of your most important duties, or list the skills you have developed at the job so that the employer can see what you can bring to the table. Your experience is worth including not for what you did, but for what it says about you and what you can do in the future. 

List the name and location of the employer, your title, the dates of employment, and a brief summary of your most important duties. Emphasize law-related work in any area, but do not struggle to make your experience appear more law-related than it really is; many students come to law school with no legal experience whatsoever, and employers know this. Three or four phrases are usually all you need, but elaborate further if you have the space and believe that your duties were especially interesting, responsible, and/or relevant to your legal career.

• If the name of the employer is inadequate to convey the nature of the business, try to incorporate a description of the employer in your job duties, e.g., “prepared marketing materials and sales analysis for start-up company selling online pet products.”
• Avoid insider jargon.
• Use present tense verbs to describe your current job and past tense verbs with all former positions.
• Provide specific information about actions and responsibilities (e.g., budget, percentage of increase in revenues or sales, number of staff supervised, direct work with clients, etc.) Many skills obtained in non-law jobs are transferable to law practice (e.g., attention to detail, meeting deadlines, writing, research and analytical skills, working under pressure, working with individuals from diverse backgrounds, etc.). Try to highlight such skills.
• If you were at one job for a long time, show promotions and increased responsibility, if applicable.
• If you had many part-time or temporary jobs while in school, consider summarizing them, e.g., “Worked part-time during undergrad to finance education.” (Employers will value the fact that you have worked while going to school, particularly if you were still able to do well academically.) For certain jobs, such as in retail or restaurants, or as a ski instructor, it can be appropriate to omit the description altogether, as most people know roughly what this work entails.
• Include summer jobs to avoid time gaps on your resume.
• If a prior job is your only link to a prospective employer’s city, include it.
• Any experience can be relevant, regardless of whether or not it was paid, so if your volunteer or community service is substantial, include it in the main body of your resume, especially if you are applying for public interest positions. Volunteer work can also be presented in a separate Community Service section, or at the end or your resume under a heading such as “Other Information.” Jobs are usually assumed to be full-time and paid unless you indicate otherwise; be sure not to appear to overstate your experience.

Other Categories.

If space allows, you may choose to elaborate on one or more of the following categories, under a heading such as “Other Information” or “Interests and Activities”:

• Languages : If you include languages on your resume, state your level of fluency (e.g., “fluent,” “proficient,” “reading knowledge only” (where your fluency is very limited, it is probably not worth listing the language)). Do not overstate your level of proficiency.
• Publications : You may include a short list of publications on law-related topics, particularly if the area of research is relevant to an employer’s practice. A more extensive list of publications should be compiled as a separate document. Be prepared to discuss in interviews any publications you list.
• Professional Licensing and Affiliations : Include any relevant licenses or certifications (such as a CPA license). Include past and present memberships with your title, if any, and dates. Give the full name of the organization.
• Bar Admission : Bar membership, only applicable to graduates, should appear at the top of your resume, above the Education section. If you have a substantial amount of experience as an attorney, the Experience section of your resume should precede the Education section. If you are registered to take the bar exam or awaiting the results of a bar exam you have written, you can include that information in a cover letter.
• Keep your resume to one page, unless you have substantial working experience prior to coming to law school, or for public interest resumes.
• Do not use abbreviations, with these exceptions: the two-letter state abbreviations and academic degrees.
• List each item only once. If you list Debate Team Captain as a college activity, don’t repeat it under Other Activities at the bottom.
• Make your resume easy to read. The reader should be able to locate your graduation date, duties of employment, etc., by scanning (not reading) your resume.
• Use short descriptive sentence fragments separated by semicolons with strong action verbs to relate your job responsibilities, not sentences. (A list of “ action words ” can be found at the end of this guide.).
• Be specific about what you did at your jobs; avoid vague expressions such as “gained exposure to,” “participated in” or “assisted with.”
• List your job responsibilities in descending order of responsibility and challenge (start with the most impressive and work down to a “catch-all” item, if appropriate).
• Put your references on a separate document, and don’t include “references available on request” on your resume. Employers know to ask for them.
• Avoid extraneous information and try not to convey too many ideas at once.
• Do not include computer abilities, except as part of a job description where you used highly specialized skills.
• Do not include such personal information as age, marital status, etc.
• Do not include anything in your resume you would not want to discuss in an interview.

Resume Style. Resume styles vary, as presented by the samples found at the end of this guide.

In addition to using physical layout, take strategic advantage of the various ways to highlight important information, such as bold face, capitalization, italicizing, and underlining. Be completely consistent with the choices you make (e.g., all educational institutions in boldface, all job titles in italics), all the way down to the way you use commas, periods and spaces. For legal resumes, it is most typical to use Times New Roman font (or another similar serif font) in size 11 or 12. Look for a pleasant balance of text and white space on the page. While margins can be smaller than the standard for a term paper, you should allow at least .7″ all around.

Proofreading. Once you have your resume set up as you want it with content and layout, proofread it carefully. Look for inconsistencies in style as well as actual typos. Do not trust yourself as the only proofreader; enlist the aid of at least one other person. If you discover a typo, you must redo your resume, even if it has been already been printed; no typo is insignificant.

A few technical notes.

• If you send your resume electronically, it is preferable to convert it to a PDF file first; this way your formatting and any document history are invisible, and you can control exactly the way your resume appears and prints.
• Email addresses in your contact information should be text, like your phone number, not a hyperlink.

Sample Resumes (These are included as a pdf to preserve formatting, an essential element of effective resume-drafting.)

  Return to Contents   

Lawyer Resume: Free Template & Guide

Defending legal clients or prosecuting criminals can be time-consuming for a Lawyer. Save time and energy by using our personalized resume templates. Make sure you win your case when your resume is standing trial.

Lawyer Resume Example MSWord® Download our free Lawyer Resume template in Word to get the verdict you need from a job recruiter.

Pursuing a career in law is a beastly undertaking . There are countless reasons why this is so, but we can start by pointing out two main ones:

• You need to study insanely hard to earn a law degree from a good university
• You need to be extremely good at your job , as people’s lives and careers will depend on you

In order to get a lawyer’s position though, you first need to market yourself in order to get the job . For this reason, you need a stellar lawyer resume to set you apart from the rest. Therefore, we’re here to help with just that!

In this resume guide, we’ll outline various tips to help you write the perfect resume that we hope will get you a barrage of job offers ! 

Lawyer Resume Sample

Before we head straight into the details of how to formulate each section of your lawyer resume, let’s cover the basics first .

By that we mean taking a look at a good lawyer resume sample. Go ahead and see what you document should look like and include. 

Later, you can use one of our many downloadable resume templates to put yours together.

[Jessica Hue]

[Bay Area, California | +1-555-455-555 | [email protected]]

K and L, Attorneys at Law | New York, NY

Corporate Lawyer

2018 – Present

• Have litigated 170+ cases, including complicated civil and commercial litigation that covered a wide range of legal issues.
• Represented 50+ clients in negotiations regarding mediations, arbitration, and settlements.
• Overseen over 30 associates, provided mentorship and guidance on litigation, settlement, and trial strategies.
• Coordinated counsel to improve consistency by 63% in legal positions for cases that span in multiple jurisdictions.
• Developed litigation, settlement, and trial strategies, increasing wins by 46%.
• Advised 32 clients on procedures related to mergers and acquisitions.

Junior Corporate Lawyer

2015 – 2018

• Interacted with 15+ court clerks, attorneys, and legal staff for procedures in over 20 lawsuits.
• Involved in providing solutions for 17 financial disputes and insolvency problems.
• Prepared 7 commercial claims and counseling labor litigations.
• Assisted eight human resource staff members in updating databases, labor contracts for 100+ employees, and termination of 50 employees.

Legal Undertakings, Co. | San Diego, CA

Legal Assistant

2012 – 2015

• Assisted 16 lawyers with arbitrating disputes, appraising inventory, and filing legal pleadings.
• Met with 50+ clients in order to obtain preliminary information before senior attorneys became involved.
• Gathered research data that increased the positive likelihood of winning by 18%.

Education  

San Francisco State University , San Francisco, CA

Master of Judicial Science ; Major in Legal Studies

• Corporate Law
• Legal Research
• Dispute Resolution
• Legal Writing
• Legal Advice
• Joint Ventures
• Privacy Law
• Negotiation
• Microsoft 365
• Intellectual Property

You didn’t finish a law degree by cutting corners. Let’s go into even more detail of what you should and shouldn’t include on your resume, how to organize it, and, finally, how to phrase it, we’ll go over every resume aspect separately.

We’ll start with the essential aspect— the resume structure , or more specifically, the resume format.  

What’s the Best Lawyer Resume Format?

There are several different types of resume formats that are more applicable to different industries. But, not all of them are ideal for every position. 

Before we delve into the different resume format types to choose from , let’s cover some layout and design basics, applicable to every candidate out there:

• Divide the different sections clearly
• When possible, use bullet points
• Use numbers —percentages, people, cases—in order to add credibility to your claims
• Choose a professional font, size it appropriately (11 or 12pt) and bold your headings
• Leave margins , so that the document doesn’t look too cluttered
• Keep several templates at hand—different job positions warrant different lawyer resumes

What all of these points do is they emphasize the importance of the candidate’s presentation.

You may need to tailor your resume for each new position you apply for, depending on the job vacancy. Try to cater to every company you apply for with a smart layout and design.

Lawyer Resume Format Options

Let’s go over the three principal types of resume formats that you can choose from: a reverse chronological format, a skills-based format, and a combined format.

• The reverse chronological resume starts off with the summary or objective, moves on to the experience starting with the most recent position and working backwards, and is then followed by the education and skills sections. This format is the best way to put your most recent achievements at the forefront.
• The skills-based resume format accentuates all professional skills immediately after the summary or objective and leaves all other sections further down in the resume. It is best for skill-oriented job vacancies and more inexperienced applicants .
• The combined resume format also starts off with an objective or summary but then combines both the skills and education/experience sections, playing up the applicant’s strengths. 

When it comes to writing a lawyer resume, the most recommended resume format is reverse chronological as it’s the clearest and most legible format of the three.

Once you’ve settled for one of these resume styles, it’s time to pay closer attention to organizing and filling out the sections that make up your document. Let’s get going. 

How to Write a Lawyer Resume Summary or Resume Objective?

The best place to start is at the beginning—with your lawyer’s resume summary or objective .

This text is a few sentences long and comes at the beginning of your lawyer resume. It serves to introduce you to your potential employers and give a punch to your entire application.

The summary or objective simultaneously gives your lawyer resume some personality, but it also accentuates your drive and ambition.  

There is a slight difference between a resume summary and an objective, though. 

While a resume summary is more suited for experienced candidates who have an entire past career to summarize, an objective is better for new applicants , with high hopes and ambitions.

An Example of a Lawyer’s Resume Summary

In order for you to do that, let’s first have a look at a lawyer resume summary sample.

Corporate and criminal lawyer with 24 years experience regarding all aspects of legal proceedings, while representing clients and their legal rights in criminal and civil cases. Handled and supervised more than 45 civil lawsuits every year with claims ranging from $3,000 to $110,000.  Won 97% of all represented cases by compiling and presenting sufficient and acceptable facts, precedents, and legally nuanced data, aligned with existing laws.

This applicant knows they’re good and they value their quality . They emphasize their particular achievements over the years, using fixed numbers to back their claims. 

A summary like this will increase your chances of securing a job interview

However, even if you lack a particular job experience, you can still impress with your objective.

How to Write an Entry-Level Lawyer Resume Objective

There is a rule of thumb when writing an entry-level lawyer resume objective— be confident .

There’s a reason why you’re applying in the first place—you already have some legal knowledge, and you’ve probably volunteered or worked as an intern at some company. 

Rely on such experiences in your objective to propel yourself as a suitable candidate. Most of all, be sure to discuss your ambitions and what you can offer the firm. Let potential employers know that they’re dealing with a future successful lawyer . 

Entry-Level Lawyer Resume Objective Example

Let’s have a look at examples of lawyer resume objectives for candidates starting out in the profession.

Extremely focused, committed, confident, and dedicated Associate Lawyer with a strong sense of ethical values, a passion for the truth, and a thirst for justice, seeking to uphold and utilize the full strength of the law to help those in need find trust and solace in our judicial system. My objective is to combinine acquired legal expertise, foundational practical experience, negotiation skills and customer service abilities to benefit your clients.

This person clearly has a drive and they can’t wait to excel in their career as a lawyer. This sort of motivation and dedication is of paramount importance when seeking to impress future employers in law firms .

But this is just the start. The following section is a completely different beast to tame and encompasses something much more physical and practical— professional experience .

How Should You Describe Your Lawyer Experience?

The experience section of your lawyer resume will shed light on your professional achievements, abilities, knowledge, and ambitions. Moreover, it deals with the hard facts.

Here, you should clearly state where you worked before, how long you worked there, what role you had, and everything that you achieved during your prior employment. All facts can be checked by your employer, so do not be tempted to lie on your resume in this section.  

If you need more real examples of how to describe your previous professional experience, you can check other legal field related resumes such as our paralegal resume guide or legal assistant resume template .

In order to excel in writing good lawyer resume experience sections, you need to abide by the simple rule: back every fact with numbers.  

This can include the number of subordinates you managed during a project, the percentage of case wins, the yearly improvement of the company, etc. 

Clear expression and good organization are also essential. You need to articulate yourself in an immaculate manner without sugarcoating any information.

Experience Section Examples

To illustrate our advice above, here is a lawyer resume example for the experience section:

Lawyer | Soni & Preg Law Associates

New Orleans, LA | July 2017 to June 2021

• Managed 37 corporate lawsuits per year , and represented clients on cases encompassing fraudulent schemes and criminal cases. 
• Developed fortified litigation approaches for 9 civil cases that could not be solved through negotiation.
• Influenced the increase of the firm’s success rate from 87.4% to 96.5% by implementing innovative case management strategies. 
• Satisfyingly represented clients in criminal and civil court proceedings.
• Led and supervised a team of 14 legal assistant interns , delegating necessary word-processing and management tasks to them.
• Gave clients advice about their legal rights in various sorts of disputes.
• Organized and summarized case documentation for court proceedings.
• Mediated and enforced the proper regulations in legal disputes, counseling clients about the law, their rights, and the possible legal options to resolve said disputes.

The provided example presents an applicant who has had significant law experience and knows how to present it in a short, striking, yet easily comprehensible way. 

Using numbers and percentages, as well as professional terminology and important keywords , they’ve made a lasting impression on potential employers.

Entry-Level Lawyer Experience

At this point, entry-level applicants may start to worry about how to manage the experience section without much or any experience at all. 

Luckily, there’s no need to fret since employers know that everyone has to start somewhere and that applicants for the position will come from all walks of life and experience levels.  

When creating your lawyer resume, feel free to fill your experience section with achievements from volunteer work, school or university projects related to law activities , and relevant practical coursework .

The key is to present these experiences as valuable to the role —because to you, a passionate, ambitious lawyer—they were.

If you have completed, or are currently completing, an internship , you can list this just as you would any other work experience entry. Jut make sure you job title includes ‘Intern’.

Is Your Education Section Primed? It Should Be

Yet another essential part of your lawyer resume is the education section.

Unlike previous sections, this is one that every applicant should easily fill out. The important issue is how.

For starters, know which information is irrelevant enough to exclude . No need to mention that you were part of the uni rumba dance team for 2 years!

Focus on the important information, and make it easily visible; outline the years that you studied , when you enrolled and when you graduated, the title you earned , and the n ame and location of your college .

This aside, you can even mention your GPA score or some other extra achievements. These can be helpful if you’re an entry-level applicant with no practical work achievements yet.

Have you won any awards at college that would be relevant to the job ? If so, and you are a less experienced candidate, add another bullet to this section.

Lawyer Resume Education Section Examples

To be as clear as possible, here is an education section example you can trust:

Juris Doctor | Stanford University

Stanford, CA

• Graduated Cum Laude in May 2021

Master of Juridical Science, Major in Legal Studies, Minor in History | New York Law School

New York, NY

• Graduated Summa Cum Laude in June 2017

B.A. in Economics and Business Administration | Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

• Graduated Summa Cum Laude in July 2015
• President of the Environmental Law Society 2013-2015

Colleges with a good reputation, impressive qualification titles, location, and titles earned—these can all make a difference in your resume’s education section. 

The Best Lawyer Skills For Your Resume

In your lawyer resume, mention both technical and communication skills . When practicing law, the division between these two types of skills aren’t always rigid, but they are necessary!

A good skills section is an invaluable part of your lawyer’s resume . You need to know which skills to put at the forefront, and which to avoid mentioning due to their irrelevance. 

This will mostly depend on the particular lawyer job you’re applying for. 

Are the employers looking for a criminal law employee? 

If so, analytical skills , persuasive writing, presentation, and strong oral communication skills will have to be at the top of your list.

Be aware that you can mention both technical and communication skills . With lawyers, the division between these two isn’t always rigid, but it can be helpful in organizing your thoughts more clearly. 

Also, hard and soft skills differ from one another , and if you have a lot of both—and you should—it’s best to first list the hard and then the soft skills you have. 

Keep the following skills in mind when writing your lawyer resume skills section:

Soft Skills

• Adaptability
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Commercial Contracts
• Corporate Governance
• Oral Argumentation
• Oral Communication
• Due Diligence
• Conflict Resolution
• Problem Solving
• Critical Reading and Thinking

Hard Skills

• Criminal Law
• Contract Law
• Entertainment Law
• Civil Litigation
• Commercial Litigation
• Persuasive Writing
• Data Analytics
• Data Privacy

Even if you’re not able to list every single one of these (in fact you shouldn’t, ideally you should list max. 10 skills that are most relevant to the job you’re applying for), bear them in mind as these professional skills, as well as people skills are incredibly important for your lawyer resume.

Do You Need to Add Other Sections for an Effective Resume?

To round things out, you’ll preferably want to fill in the “Other” section of your resume as well. Usually, these come last in your resume, regardless of the format you chose. 

Here, don’t include irrelevant information, like regular visits to the gym. Instead, use this section to mention other significant aspects of your career that you couldn’t feature in any of the previous sections.

Think of professional certifications you studied for , acknowledgments you have, conferences you attended, awards you received, volunteer work you did, etc. This is the place where you show how much you love practising the law and how good you are at being rewarded for it.

Relevant hobbies and interests can be included in your resume too , such as debating societies, law journal subscriptions, podcasting on legal process developments, etc.

“Other” Sections for Your Lawyer Resume

Good lawyer resume samples for the “Other” section should include:

Certificates:

• Immigration Lawyer Bootcamp (2015), examination pass and merit

Conferences:

• San Francisco Lawyers United Conference (2017), presentation and submission of research

Feel free to add or subtract any achievements, awards, and events; this section serves to personalize your application using your main law-related interests and achievements!

Closing Argument

Having covered every step of the way, you should now have a fairly good idea of how to write the best lawyer resume for the job you apply for. 

Go through some of our modern resume templates to find a good design that suits you , review our samples and t horoughly examine every job vacancy you’re applying for in order to know what they’re looking for.

If you are applying at various different companies that have different requirements in terms of your resume, do your best to tailor your information each time , so all its versions fit the employer’s demands.

Remember to keep your resume up-to-date with each new role or responsibility you take on to save yourself time later too.

With these tips in mind, we hope you land that dream interview soon!

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Resume Advice & Samples

Resume advice and samples.

Section Menu

• Draft your resume with the reader in mind.
• Understand that a resume is a sales tool, not an autobiography.
• Make it visually clean and clear. What will an employer see in 30 seconds? 5 seconds?
• Consider a “resume wardrobe” – different resumes for different employers.
• Be scrupulously honest. Exaggerations or misrepresentation will damage your reputation and professional relationships.
• Be prepared to talk about every word of the resume at an interview.
• Keep your resume to one page.
• Use a standard font such as Times New Roman or Garamond.
• Select a font size of 11 point or 12 point.
• Create margins no smaller than .5 inches on all sides.
• Use bold, underlining, and italics consistently to enhance readability.
• Make deliberate style choices, then stick to them throughout.
• Ensure your resume is error free.
• Follow our advice, “ Resume Formatting: How to Use Tabs & Styles ” to give your resume a professional look.

Resume Construction

• Include your name, mailing address, cell number, and Yale email address.
• If you do not have a mailing address in New Haven, that is fine, as mailing addresses are becoming optional.
• Add your permanent mailing address to emphasize ties to that area when applying to positions nearby.
• List your gender pronouns if you wish.

Education Section

• List degrees in reverse chronological order.
• Include all courses of study: past, present, and future.
• List each educational institution, location, degree, and degree date (expected date if currently enrolled).
• Do not include high school or LSAT score.
• Think strategically about how much space you devote to each degree. What message are you sending to employers?
• Include at your option with a strategic mindset.
• YLS awards few Honors.
• Moot court/mock trial awards and paper prizes are Honors.
• List Yale Law Journal as an Honor, due to the competitive admission process. List other journals as Activities or create a separate Journal sub-section under Yale Law School.
• List those that are not based solely on financial need and are awarded through a competitive process.
• If space permits, provide a very brief description of the selection criteria.
• Examples: Tilman Scholarship; the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans; and the NAACP LDF Earl Warren Civil Rights Scholarship.
• List scholarship or fellowship awards that are associated with summer or post-graduate employment with the position in the Experience section.
• Do not list need-based scholarships and fellowships, including SPIF funding, summer Mary McCarthy funding, and Kirby Simon travel grants.
• List the following positions as Activities or in the Experience section: Coker Fellow, Research Assistant, Deans’ Advisor, Student Representative, Peer Advocate, Tsai Leadership Program Fellow, and CDO Student Advisor.
• Use this section to emphasize relevant skills and interests including research and writing skills, oral advocacy, teamwork, and leadership.
• Narrow the list, if necessary, by selecting only one of several activities that are of the same genre.
• If applying for public service positions, include as many of your service-related activities as space permits to demonstrate your commitment to service.
• Move particularly relevant, intensive, or skills-enhancing activities to the Experience section. Example: clinics.
• Be clear about the timing of future commitments, however, describing the exact timing of past activities is not strictly necessary.
• Create a Study Abroad sub-section in your undergraduate education listing.
• Create a Thesis sub-section in your undergraduate education listing. Include especially if the topic relates to the law.

Experience Section

• List experiences in reverse chronological order.
• Include experiences to which you have committed, but not yet begun; describe using future-tense verbs.
• Dates can be general (e.g., Summer 20XX).
• Omit job titles if unimpressive or do not clarify your responsibilities, however, be consistent about including/excluding titles throughout.
• List experiences that demonstrate knowledge and skills in areas relevant to legal employers, especially research, writing, and analysis.
• Emphasize professional skills including organizational ability, leadership, initiative, creativity, communication skills, common sense, and intellectual ability.
• List both paid and unpaid experiences.
• Include work associated with a scholastic experience, including legal clinic experience, research for a professor, and extensive work for a student organization.
• Rewrite past descriptions written for different industries and audiences. Eliminate jargon and terminology unfamiliar to a general audience.
• Summarize smaller or less relevant positions to fill gaps. E.g., “Held various positions as salesclerk, server, and receptionist while in college.”
• Be prepared to discuss significant gaps at interviews.
• Think strategically about the amount of physical space devoted to each experience. More space = greater emphasis.
• Use action verbs and rich detail in descriptions. E.g., “researched and wrote memoranda on issues of jurisdiction and venue,” rather than “involved in assisting attorneys in the researching and writing of…”

Optional Sections

• Languages: List if relevant and/or skill level is high. May be useful to delineate written vs. spoken proficiency. Be scrupulously honest regarding skill level.
• Think strategically about employers’ impressions. Publications show writing skills, but a long list of publications may signal interest in an academic career which may not be well received by non-academic employers.
• Consider selective list or summary if publication list is long.
• Use Bluebook citation format.
• Be clear about co-authored pieces.
• Interests: Include a few special interests that may be compelling and serve as icebreaker topics during an interview.
• Other skills: list only relevant skills, eliminating those which are universal (e.g., MS Word) or unrelated to legal employers’ needs (e.g., C++ programming).

Do Not Include

• Objective or introductory statements.
• Personal information (e.g., marital status, parental status).
• Salary requirements.
• “References available on request.”

Think Ahead to Your Next Resume

Develop your skills and knowledge through career-related experiences

• Summer employment
• Student organizations
• Research Assistant positions
• Leadership positions

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