resume examples lawyer

Resume Worded   |  Proven Resume Examples

• Resume Examples
• Legal Resumes

19 Attorney Resume Examples - Here's What Works In 2024

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..

Attorneys are in demand in just about every sector — from public to private, from real estate to maritime law. While the image most people have of lawyers is probably closer to prime time drama than reality, the job of an attorney is surprisingly diverse. Some lawyers work in the courtroom, prosecuting crimes or defending clients, while others diligently prepare legal briefs, draft contracts, advise clients, and assist in mediation. Most attorneys choose to specialize in a particular area — think criminal law, family law, or corporate law — meaning the exact skills you’ll need will depend heavily on the exact job you’re applying for. No matter what, recruiters will be looking for transferable skills in research, communication, and critical thinking. In most states, you’ll need a law degree to practice as an attorney, as well as passing the prestigious bar exam. Once you do, you’ll be rewarded with hard work and long hours, but also with multiple career options and attractive compensation, with a median salary of over $120,000. In 2023, look for increased emphasis on fields like cybersecurity, diversity and inclusion, and emerging technologies, as well as brand new fields arising from the pandemic and its effects on the labor market.

Attorney Resume Templates

Jump to a template:

• 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

Jump to a resource:

• Keywords for Attorney Resumes

Attorney Resume Tips

• Action Verbs to Use
• Related Legal Resumes

Get advice on each section of your resume:

Template 1 of 19: Attorney Resume Example

As an attorney, you have the crucial role of representing clients in legal matters and providing them with sound advice based on your knowledge and expertise. In recent years, the legal industry has become increasingly competitive, with law firms and companies looking for attorneys who can deliver results and adapt to the ever-changing legal landscape. A well-crafted resume is essential for showcasing your skills and standing out from the crowd, as employers are keen on finding candidates who demonstrate strong work ethic, attention to detail, and expertise in their respective fields. A strong attorney resume not only highlights your accomplishments, but it should also showcase your ability to analyze complex legal issues, communicate effectively, and work well under pressure. This is why it is vital to carefully tailor your resume and make sure you put your best foot forward.

We're just getting the template ready for you, just a second left.

Tips to help you write your Attorney resume in 2024

   highlight relevant legal experience.

In your work experience section, be sure to emphasize your accomplishments and results in previous legal roles. Highlight specific cases you've worked on, including the outcomes, and showcase your expertise in your chosen practice area. This will help demonstrate your abilities and command of the legal field.

   Showcase your attention to detail

Law firms and employers pay close attention to the accuracy and cohesiveness of your resume. Make sure your resume is error-free, well-structured, and tailored to the specific job posting. Include keywords from the job description and focus on your skills and experiences that best align with the requirements and responsibilities of the position.

Skills you can include on your Attorney resume

Template 2 of 19: attorney resume example.

While every field of law is different, some duties and expectations remain the same for attorneys across the board. Lawyers represent clients and provide legal advice, interpret case law, oversee mediations, prepare legal documents, and occasionally appear in court. Whatever your field, you’ll need skills in research, communication, and building relationships, as well as appropriate legal qualifications.

   Tailored to the legal industry/job

It’s crucial to tailor your resume to each specific job you apply for. This doesn’t mean you need to completely rewrite your resume every time — adding a resume title and editing your skills list are two easy ways to make sure your resume is targeted at the position you actually want.

   Use numbers and metrics to highlight legal achievements

Including hard numbers and metrics in your bullet points is the best way to demonstrate the skills an employer is looking for and ensure you’re focusing on your accomplishments, not just your duties. “Handled mediations” is a job description; “handled over 110 mediations with a 95% settlement rate” is an achievement.

Template 3 of 19: Associate Attorney Resume Example

As an Associate Attorney, you'll be responsible for supporting senior attorneys in various legal matters and conducting research to ensure a strong case foundation. With the legal industry becoming increasingly competitive, firms are prioritizing candidates with a comprehensive understanding of the industry and the ability to adapt to evolving trends. Your resume plays a crucial role in showcasing your competencies, legal knowledge, and experience in handling diverse legal matters, making it essential to create a resume that sets you apart in this dynamic industry. To impress potential employers, it's crucial that your resume highlights your legal expertise and showcases your ability to contribute to the firm's success. As hiring managers sift through numerous resumes, yours should be tailored to the Associate Attorney role and emphasize your achievements and proficiency in legal research, analysis, and writing.

Tips to help you write your Associate Attorney resume in 2024

   demonstrate exceptional legal research skills.

As a core competency for Associate Attorneys, emphasize your research capabilities by citing specific examples of research projects you've completed, and detail how your findings contributed to successful case resolutions or informed legal strategy.

   Showcase communication and case management proficiency

In your resume, focus on your ability to effectively communicate complex legal concepts to clients and colleagues, while also highlighting your organizational skills in managing multiple cases simultaneously. Mention any successful cases you've helped manage and notable instances where you simplified legal jargon for clients.

Skills you can include on your Associate Attorney resume

Template 4 of 19: associate attorney resume example.

Associate attorneys work on a contract basis rather than a partnership. They’re often less experienced and may be supervised by a senior or more experienced employee. As an associate attorney, you’ll be called upon to prepare brief and case reports, build relationships with clients, and provide legal support. Your resume should emphasize transferable skills as well as any technical skills specific to your field.

   Use a resume title to customize your resume

Adding a title at the top of your resume is the easiest way to customize your resume. If you don’t have a lot of relevant experience — like if you’re at the beginning of your career or are a career changer — this will also ensure that your resume has the necessary keywords to make it past Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).

   Use a skills section to highlight your attorney and legal skills

If you have a long list of skills, or want to include a mixture of technical skills, techniques, and certifications, it’s a good idea to break it up into different sections. Listing skills this way allows you to include everything you want without sacrificing a hiring manager’s ability to quickly skim your resume.

Template 5 of 19: Experienced Attorney Resume Example

As an experienced attorney, you've spent years honing your legal acumen and negotiation skills. Now, your professional journey has brought you to a junction where your skills, strengths, and experiences become your greatest assets. The legal landscape is constantly evolving with new statutes, regulations, and technological advancements playing prominent roles. These changes need to be reflected in your resume. You'll want to demonstrate an understanding of these trends, alongside a proven track record in legal practice. The legal world, unlike many other sectors, prioritizes a traditional, no-frills approach when it comes to resumes. While creativity is appreciated in your litigation strategies, when it comes to your resume, simplicity is king. It must reflect your ability to distill complex information into clear, concise expressions - a skill invaluable to an experienced attorney.

Tips to help you write your Experienced Attorney resume in 2024

   highlight specialized areas of law.

Over your career, you've likely specialized in certain areas of law. Whether it's corporate, family, criminal, or intellectual property law, you should highlight your specialty and illustrate your achievements in that area. This will show potential employers your depth of knowledge and your capacity to handle specific legal cases.

   Showcase your litigation experience

As an experienced attorney, you've presumably led and won several cases. Detail these on your resume, focusing on victories that had a significant impact. Include specifics about the case, your role, and the positive outcome. This paints a picture of your litigation prowess and indicates the value you can bring to a new firm.

Skills you can include on your Experienced Attorney resume

Template 6 of 19: experienced attorney resume example.

As a senior or experienced attorney, you should be able to demonstrate a strong track record of success, including securing positive outcomes for clients and experience overseeing more junior employees. As an experienced lawyer, you’ll take on more of a management role — making leadership skills essential — as well as more responsibility providing expert legal advice, collaborating with other teams, and drafting important legal documents.

   Demonstrate career growth through promotions in the legal/attorney industry

If you’re applying for a senior-level position, employers are going to be looking for a history of career growth. Highlight promotions by listing the job titles separately under the same company heading, including separate bullet points if the positions were significantly different. Even without a formal promotion, you can demonstrate growth by emphasizing a progression of responsibilities in your accomplishments.

   Emphasize transferable senior and management skills

As you take on more experienced positions, you’ll also be expected to broaden your skill set. As an experienced attorney, you’ll need a wider range of transferable skills, which you can demonstrate through your accomplishments. Developing new programs, managing a team, or supervising junior staff are all great ways of showing leadership and initiative.

Template 7 of 19: Litigation Attorney Resume Example

As a Litigation Attorney, your role will primarily involve representing clients in lawsuits, advocating on their behalf in court, and negotiating settlements. In recent years, the legal industry has seen a rise in the demand for specialized attorneys, with companies placing an emphasis on finding candidates with specific case experience. The importance of a well-crafted resume for this role cannot be overstated, as employers are keen to identify applicants with the right blend of expertise and skillset. A strong Litigation Attorney resume not only highlights your legal experience and successes but also showcases how you approach cases and your ability to adapt to different types of litigation. This helps potential employers understand your value as an attorney and how you can contribute to their organization.

Tips to help you write your Litigation Attorney resume in 2024

In your resume, make sure to highlight your specific litigation experience, including the types of cases you have handled, industries involved, clients represented, and any notable outcomes. This provides employers with a clear understanding of your expertise and demonstrates your success in the courtroom.

   Emphasize your legal research skills

Strong legal research and analytical skills are crucial for a Litigation Attorney. Briefly describing some of the research methods you've employed and showcasing examples of cases where your research led to a favorable outcome can be an effective way to demonstrate your proficiency in this area.

Skills you can include on your Litigation Attorney resume

Template 8 of 19: litigation attorney resume example.

Litigation attorneys work primarily in a courtroom setting, though litigators also cover alternative dispute resolution like arbitration and mediation. As a trial lawyer, you’ll be investigating cases, providing initial assessments, researching relevant case law, gathering witness statements, and representing your clients through the trial process. Excellent verbal and written communication skills are a must, so make sure you choose accomplishments that help those soft skills stand out.

   Bullet points feature strong action verbs relevant to the legal industry

Starting every bullet point with a strong action verb keeps the focus on what you accomplished, not just what you were assigned to do. Use verbs like “coordinated,” “supervised,” and “represented” to highlight your achievements and clarify exactly what your role was.

   Use a concise and targeted skills list

When you’re applying for a specialized position like litigation attorney, including a broad range of skills can hurt you more than it helps. Narrow down a handful of the most important skills or keywords employers are looking for — like Lenstar, LPS, and MS Access — and let those stand out.

Template 9 of 19: Real Estate Attorney Resume Example

As a real estate attorney, your resume should showcase your expertise in property law, transactions, and dispute resolution. The real estate industry has seen significant growth in recent years, so companies are keen to find attorneys with the skills to navigate complex legal issues in this field. Your resume is crucial in demonstrating how you can help businesses protect their investments and achieve success in this competitive market. In this role, your responsibilities often include drafting and reviewing contracts, negotiating deals, conducting due diligence, and advising clients on legal matters relating to property acquisition and disposition. To stand out in this field, your resume should emphasize your strengths and achievements in these areas.

Tips to help you write your Real Estate Attorney resume in 2024

   highlight relevant experience.

As an experienced real estate attorney, you should emphasize your past experience in real estate transactions, litigation, and other property-related legal matters. Include specific examples of cases or deals you managed, and note the outcomes achieved.

   Detail knowledge of laws and regulations

Real estate law requires a firm grasp of local, state, and federal laws and regulations. Demonstrate your knowledge on your resume by mentioning relevant legal statutes, rules, and regulations you've worked with. This shows potential employers that you can provide comprehensive guidance in specific jurisdictions.

Skills you can include on your Real Estate Attorney resume

Template 10 of 19: real estate attorney resume example.

Real estate attorneys deal with the purchase and sale or property, from private home ownership to major corporate buyouts. In addition to preparing and reviewing sale documents, you may be tasked with researching appropriate state and local laws, including those that cover zoning, titles, deeds, and taxes, and with representing your client during negotiations and at closing. To succeed, you’ll need to demonstrate a good knowledge of real estate and contract law.

   Focus on real estate law

If you’re an attorney in a specific field like real estate law, it’s best to keep the focus of your resume on that field as much as possible. That also means it’s better to leave older or less relevant information off your resume to make room for more recent accomplishments, unless you have a specific older achievement that’s particularly impressive.

   Bullet points provide context for accomplishments

Generally, the more information you can fit — concisely — into your bullet points, the better. That means being specific about how the number of cases you’ve handled or clients you’ve represented, the sizes of the firms or teams you’ve worked with, and the timeline of any accelerated promotions.

Template 11 of 19: Corporate Attorney Resume Example

Corporate attorneys concentrate on corporate law. In this position, you will be representing corporations rather than employees or other individual stakeholders. Some of your responsibilities will include drafting and reviewing contracts, working on mergers, and otherwise ensuring that a corporation follows all laws that govern it. You must be an expert in corporate law and will need to show recruiters that you have years of experience legally representing corporations.

Tips to help you write your Corporate Attorney resume in 2024

   focus your skill section on corporate law skills..

Corporate lawyers are usually skilled in many areas of general law. But for your corporate attorney resume, concentrate on listing the skills that are directly related to corporate law. This applicant has done this effectively.

   Give details about your successes.

It is beneficial to give recruiters a clear picture of some of your successes so include key details of cases you won or settlements you negotiated. It’ll help give them a better idea of your experience. If you have represented impressive companies like the 7 Fortune 500 companies that this applicant has represented, make sure to state that clearly.

Skills you can include on your Corporate Attorney resume

Template 12 of 19: compliance attorney resume example.

As the name suggests, your job will be to make sure a company complies with all regulations and laws relevant to them. You will complete legal risk assessments, create legal risk-minimizing strategies, and work with companies to move them into compliance. You will be expected to at least have a bachelor’s degree in law, finance, or a related field. Here is a recruiter-approved resume sample.

Tips to help you write your Compliance Attorney resume in 2024

   include your certifications if required..

Some companies require you to be certified as a compliance attorney so ensure you list your certifications and qualifications clearly.

   Quantify your output.

Show recruiters how much you can do by including figures in your experience section. E.g. it is more impressive to say you ‘audited 18k documents’ than that you audited documents.

Skills you can include on your Compliance Attorney resume

Template 13 of 19: compliance attorney resume example.

Compliance attorneys are lawyers specialized in the rules and requirements of operation within companies, institutes, and organizations. To work in this field, you must attend law school and complete a compliance specialty. Usually, lawyers in this field gain experience through law firms with specific cases related to business compliance. Companies hire these specialists because of their advanced knowledge of legal issues, government regulations, and requirements.

   Emphasize your experience as a lawyer in regulatory compliance

The entire curriculum must focus on compliance since lawyers have a very extensive competitive field covering hundreds of areas. If you want to impress your potential employers, focus your CV on compliance and legal regulations within the business. You can include the related experience to offer a more realistic concept of your talent.

   Add your certifications, courses, and diplomas about your specialization

Finally, attach the evidence to validate your knowledge in the field of compliance. Law schools offer training in this area, which can help you improve your chances of finding a higher-paying job.

Template 14 of 19: Transactional Attorney Resume Example

In this role, you will help your client with any transaction or deal they wish to process. Your client may be an individual or may be a company, whether public or private. Tasks you may be assigned include drafting contracts, drafting other legal documents, giving your clients advice on transactions, etc. You need to have a strong background in the relevant areas of law and a history in transactional law.

Tips to help you write your Transactional Attorney resume in 2024

   include transactional-law-related certifications..

Show recruiters that you have specialized knowledge and skills in transactional law by including relevant certifications like this applicant has done. It will also show recruiters that you are passionate about transactional law.

   Include key achievements in your introduction section.

Grab recruiters’ attention from the very beginning of your resume. Because they may not have time to scrutinize the hundreds of resumes they get, it’s advantageous to include impressive achievements and metrics in the introduction section as this applicant has done.

Skills you can include on your Transactional Attorney resume

Template 15 of 19: family law attorney resume example.

Family law attorneys handle most legal processes that involve family matters. You may be involved with processes like divorce, child custody cases, and adoptions. You may also be tasked with drawing up legal documents like wills and prenuptial agreements. You will deal with very emotional processes and people so you must have excellent interpersonal skills, a lot of empathy, and a strong legal background. Here is a strong resume sample.

Tips to help you write your Family Law Attorney resume in 2024

   focus your skill section on family law skills..

Family lawyers are skilled in many areas of general law. But for your family attorney resume, concentrate on listing the skills that are directly related to family law like alimony, child support, or divorce.

   Include varied family law achievements.

Show recruiters that you have experience dealing with a range of situations that a family lawyer may encounter. So show experience with child support cases as well as divorces or marital abuse cases.

Skills you can include on your Family Law Attorney resume

Template 16 of 19: patent attorney resume example.

Patent attorneys help clients apply for patents and handle any legal issues that may come up due to a patent. You need to be an expert in patent law and intellectual property law. You will need to show this expertise in your experience or your qualifications. Your resume should also show that you have a successful track record of defending clients and winning patent claims and cases. Take a look at this recruiter-approved resume sample.

Tips to help you write your Patent Attorney resume in 2024

   include patent-law-specific industry knowledge..

List the areas of law that you are an expert in that relate to patent law. This applicant has included trademark law and international law among their areas of expertise.

Grab recruiters’ attention from the very beginning of your resume. Because they may not have time to scrutinize the hundreds of resumes they get, it’s advantageous to include impressive achievements, like an impressive case win, in the introduction section as this applicant has done.

Skills you can include on your Patent Attorney resume

Template 17 of 19: entry-level attorney resume example.

You need to be well-qualified to win an entry-level attorney position. All firms will need you to have gotten a law degree and some will require you to have already passed the bar to qualify. Make sure you do your research to make sure you qualify for the firms you want to apply to. In terms of what you can expect in the position, you will mostly be assisting more senior attorneys by doing a lot of research and administrative tasks. You can expect to work very long hours and have a heavy workload as you learn and prove yourself to your bosses. Take a look at this recruiter-approved resume sample.

Tips to help you write your Entry-Level Attorney resume in 2024

   quantify your workload capabilities..

Firms are looking for new attorneys who can handle the heavy workload of the position. Prove your capabilities by including metrics or how many legal documents, interviews, and contracts you produced in a limited time.

   Include any legal certifications.

Legal certifications are particularly useful if you have not passed the bar yet. They can put you above your otherwise equally qualified competitors. It also shows initiative and passion for the profession on your part.

Skills you can include on your Entry-Level Attorney resume

Template 18 of 19: immigration attorney resume example.

Immigration attorneys handle cases that involve immigration. The kinds of cases you may encounter include immigration cases, refugee cases, or even citizenship cases. These cases may not necessarily involve you going to court but may involve you assisting in filing legal documents and giving legal advice. You need to be an expert on immigration law in the country you wish to practice in, and you need to be properly certified as a lawyer and have passed the bar exam. Here is a successful immigration attorney resume.

Tips to help you write your Immigration Attorney resume in 2024

   use your technical skills section to show your areas of expertise..

Immigration law is a broad subject and involves many different kinds of cases. Use your technical skills section to list the areas of immigration law that you are especially skilled and knowledgeable in. This applicant is skilled in dealing with deportation cases, citizenship cases, and asylum cases, among others.

   Show immigration law-specific certifications.

It is beneficial to your application for potential clients and employers to see that you have immigration-specific education and certification. It builds confidence in your expertise and abilities in this area of law.

Skills you can include on your Immigration Attorney resume

Template 19 of 19: contract attorney resume example.

As the name suggests, contract attorneys specialize in all legal issues to do with contracts. You may be tasked with drafting contracts, scrutinizing contracts, dealing with contract disputes, and representing your client in court on any contract-related cases. You need to be an expert on contract law and recruiters will expect to see a long history in that area of law. Here is a recruiter-approved resume sample.

Tips to help you write your Contract Attorney resume in 2024

   indicate which area of contract law you specialize in..

Contract law is broad, and many attorneys specialize in certain areas of contract law. If you do, make it clear in your resume. This applicant clearly specializes in patent law as almost all their experience listed is patent law-related.

   Show career progression in the legal field.

Show recruiters that you are a hardworking and successful attorney by showing a steady upward career trajectory. It shows recruiters your dedication to your profession and your impressive success. This applicant began in a law intern position and has grown to a contract attorney position.

Skills you can include on your Contract Attorney resume

As a hiring manager who has recruited attorneys at top law firms like Kirkland & Ellis, Skadden, and Cravath, I've seen countless resumes. The most effective ones showcase the candidate's legal expertise, highlight their achievements, and demonstrate their ability to think critically. In this article, we'll share some key tips to help you create a compelling attorney resume that will catch the attention of hiring managers and increase your chances of landing an interview.

   Highlight your legal specialization and expertise

Employers look for attorneys with specific legal expertise relevant to their practice areas. Highlight your specialization and the depth of your knowledge in your resume:

• Specialize in intellectual property law with a focus on patent litigation and trademark enforcement
• Expertise in corporate law, including mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, and corporate governance
• Experienced in real estate law, handling complex transactions, leasing agreements, and land use matters

Avoid being too general or vague about your legal expertise:

• Knowledgeable in various areas of law
• Experienced attorney with diverse legal background

   Showcase your key litigation and transactional experience

Employers want to see concrete examples of your litigation and transactional experience. Highlight your most significant cases and deals, and quantify your achievements whenever possible:

• Represented a pharmaceutical company in a patent infringement case, resulting in a $50 million settlement in favor of the client
• Led the due diligence and negotiation of a $200 million acquisition of a technology startup by a Fortune 500 company
• Obtained a favorable jury verdict for a client in a complex commercial dispute with $10 million at stake

Avoid simply listing your responsibilities without providing specific examples of your accomplishments:

• Handled various litigation matters for clients
• Assisted with transactional work and contract review

   Demonstrate your legal research and writing skills

Strong legal research and writing skills are essential for any attorney. Showcase your abilities by highlighting your research projects, publications, and writing experience:

• Authored an article on recent developments in data privacy laws, published in the XYZ Law Review
• Conducted extensive legal research on complex antitrust issues for a high-profile merger case
• Drafted appellate briefs, motions, and memoranda for various litigation matters

Avoid simply stating that you have legal research and writing skills without providing examples:

• Skilled in legal research and writing
• Experienced in drafting legal documents

   Include your pro bono and community involvement

Many employers value attorneys who are committed to giving back to their community. Include your pro bono work and community involvement to demonstrate your dedication and well-roundedness:

• Provided pro bono legal services to low-income families through the XYZ Legal Aid Clinic
• Served on the board of directors for a local nonprofit organization focused on affordable housing
• Volunteered as a mentor for high school students interested in pursuing a career in law

Avoid simply listing your memberships in professional organizations without highlighting your active involvement:

• Member of the State Bar Association
• Joined the Local Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division

   Tailor your resume to the specific employer and position

Customize your resume for each job application to showcase your most relevant qualifications and experiences. Research the employer and the specific position to identify the key skills and expertise they are seeking:

• Highlight your experience in intellectual property law when applying to a boutique IP firm
• Emphasize your background in healthcare regulations when applying for an in-house position at a pharmaceutical company
• Showcase your experience with mergers and acquisitions when applying to a corporate law firm with a strong M&A practice

Avoid using the same generic resume for all job applications:

• Submitting a resume that focuses on litigation experience when applying for a transactional position
• Failing to highlight your relevant industry experience when applying to an in-house legal department

   Use a clear and professional format

Your resume should be easy to read and visually appealing. Use a clear, professional format that highlights your qualifications and achievements:

• Use a simple, legible font like Arial or Times New Roman
• Organize your resume into clear sections, such as Education, Experience, and Skills
• Use bullet points to highlight your accomplishments and make your resume more readable

Avoid using overly creative or unconventional formats that may distract from your qualifications:

• Using multiple colors or graphics that make your resume look unprofessional
• Choosing a font that is difficult to read or too small
• Writing long paragraphs instead of using bullet points to break up the text

Writing Your Attorney Resume: Section By Section

  header, 1. use your full name and professional title.

Your name should be the most prominent element in your header, ideally in a larger font size than the rest of your resume. Use your full name as it appears on your bar admission and other legal documents.

If you have a common name, consider including your middle initial to differentiate yourself. Below your name, include your professional title, such as 'Attorney at Law' or 'Associate Attorney'.

John D. Smith, Esq. Attorney at Law

Avoid nicknames or unprofessional email addresses in your header:

• Johnny Smith
• [email protected]

2. Include your bar admission and contact details

As an attorney, your bar admission is a key credential that employers will look for. Include the state(s) where you are admitted to practice law.

Provide your professional contact information, including your phone number and email address. Your city and state can also be included, but a full mailing address is not necessary.

• New York State Bar
• California Bar Association
• [email protected] | 123-456-7890 | New York, NY

Avoid listing multiple phone numbers or personal details like your home address:

• 123 Main St, Apt 4B, New York, NY 10001
• Mobile: 123-456-7890, Work: 098-765-4321, Home: 111-222-3333

3. Highlight a key specialization if relevant

If you specialize in a particular area of law that is highly relevant to the position you are applying for, consider highlighting this in your resume header.

For example:

Jane L. Doe Patent Attorney USPTO Registration No. 12345 California Bar | [email protected] | 123-456-7890 | Los Angeles, CA

However, avoid listing multiple specializations or irrelevant credentials that may clutter your header:

• Real Estate Attorney | Family Law Specialist | Certified Mediator
• Fluent in Spanish and French

Keep your header focused on the most pertinent information for the role you are seeking.

  Summary

A resume summary for attorneys is optional but can be a strategic way to provide additional context about your legal experience and career goals. It's particularly useful if you're a career changer or have a diverse legal background that may not be immediately apparent from your work history alone. In contrast, an objective statement is outdated and should be avoided.

When crafting your attorney resume summary, focus on highlighting your most relevant skills, accomplishments, and areas of expertise. Avoid repeating information that's already covered in other sections of your resume. Instead, use this space to provide a high-level overview of your qualifications and the value you can bring to a law firm or organization.

To learn how to write an effective resume summary for your Attorney resume, or figure out if you need one, please read Attorney Resume Summary Examples , or Attorney Resume Objective Examples .

1. Highlight your legal specialties and key accomplishments

When writing your attorney resume summary, showcase your specific areas of legal expertise and the most impressive accomplishments from your career. This helps employers quickly understand your background and the value you can bring to their organization.

Here's an example of a strong attorney resume summary:

Accomplished real estate attorney with 8+ years of experience handling complex commercial transactions and litigation. Proven track record of successfully negotiating multi-million dollar deals and resolving high-stakes disputes. Skilled in contract drafting, due diligence, and client advisory. Licensed to practice in New York and California.

In contrast, here's an example of a weak summary:

Attorney with experience in various legal matters. Hardworking and detail-oriented with excellent communication skills. Seeking a challenging position at a reputable law firm.

The weak summary is too vague, lacks specific accomplishments, and includes generic soft skills that don't set the candidate apart.

2. Tailor your summary to your target position

While it's important to highlight your overall legal experience, you should also tailor your resume summary to the specific type of attorney position you're seeking. This shows employers that you understand their needs and have the relevant skills they're looking for.

For example, if you're applying for a litigation attorney position, your summary might look like this:

Skilled litigation attorney with 5+ years of experience representing clients in complex commercial disputes. Proven ability to develop effective case strategies, conduct thorough discovery, and achieve favorable outcomes through negotiation and trial. Extensive knowledge of contract law, intellectual property, and employment law.

On the other hand, if you're seeking a transactional attorney role, your summary should focus on your experience with contracts, due diligence, and deal negotiations:

Detail-oriented transactional attorney with a strong background in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and venture capital transactions. Adept at drafting and negotiating complex agreements, conducting due diligence, and advising clients on legal risks and opportunities. Experienced in managing cross-functional teams and collaborating with business stakeholders.

3. Emphasize your professional achievements and impact

While it's crucial to mention your key responsibilities as an attorney, your resume summary should also highlight the impact you've made in your previous roles. This can include successful case outcomes, significant deals closed, or improvements you've made to legal processes.

Here are a few examples of how to showcase your achievements in your summary:

• Secured favorable verdicts in 90% of cases tried, resulting in over $50 million in damages awarded to clients.
• Led the legal due diligence for a $500 million acquisition, ensuring compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.
• Developed and implemented a new contract management system, reducing contract review time by 30% and minimizing legal risks.

Avoid using vague or generic statements that don't provide any real insight into your abilities, such as:

• Experienced in handling various legal matters.
• Proven track record of success.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.

  Experience

Your work experience section is the heart of your attorney resume. It's where you'll showcase your relevant legal experience, key accomplishments, and the skills that make you the best candidate for the job. Here are some tips to help you write a strong work experience section that will impress hiring managers and land you an interview.

1. Focus on your most relevant experience

When writing your work experience section, focus on the positions that are most relevant to the attorney job you're applying for. This might include law firm experience, clerkships, internships, or other legal roles. If you have a lot of experience, you may need to be selective about what you include.

For example, if you're applying for a litigation attorney position, highlight your experience with:

• Representing clients in court proceedings
• Conducting legal research and drafting briefs
• Preparing and responding to discovery requests
• Negotiating settlements and plea bargains

On the other hand, if you're applying for a transactional attorney role, focus on experience with:

• Drafting and reviewing contracts
• Conducting due diligence for mergers and acquisitions
• Advising clients on corporate governance matters
• Preparing SEC filings and other regulatory documents

2. Use strong action verbs

When describing your work experience, use strong action verbs to convey your accomplishments and responsibilities. This helps create a more powerful and engaging narrative. Compare these two examples:

• Worked on legal research for various cases
• Assisted with drafting legal documents
• Conducted comprehensive legal research to support litigation strategy in complex commercial disputes
• Drafted persuasive legal memoranda, motions, and briefs for state and federal court cases

The second example uses strong verbs like "conducted" and "drafted" to create a more compelling description of the candidate's work.

3. Quantify your accomplishments

Whenever possible, use metrics to quantify your accomplishments and provide concrete evidence of your skills and experience. This helps hiring managers understand the scope and impact of your work. For example:

• Managed a caseload of 50+ active litigation matters, successfully resolving 90% through settlement or favorable court rulings
• Drafted and negotiated 100+ commercial contracts, including NDAs, service agreements, and vendor contracts
• Secured over $10 million in settlements and judgments for plaintiffs in personal injury and product liability cases

If you don't have exact metrics, you can still provide context for your accomplishments:

• Argued dispositive motions in state and federal court, securing dismissal or summary judgment in majority of cases
• Advised startup clients on wide range of legal issues, from entity formation to intellectual property protection to employment matters

4. Highlight your career progression

If you've been promoted or taken on increasing responsibility within a role or organization, make sure to highlight that in your work experience section. This shows hiring managers that you've excelled in your previous positions and have the potential to take on more advanced roles.

Associate Attorney, Smith & Jones LLP, New York, NY (2018-Present) - Promoted to Senior Associate in 2021 based on strong performance and client feedback - Manage team of 3 junior associates and 2 paralegals on complex commercial litigation matters - Serve as lead attorney on high-stakes contract disputes, successfully resolving 5 cases through mediation or arbitration

Even if your job title didn't change, you can still highlight your progression by showcasing the new skills and responsibilities you took on over time.

  Education

When applying for attorney positions, your education section is a critical component of your resume. It demonstrates your academic qualifications and helps employers determine if you meet the necessary educational requirements for the role. Here are some key tips to keep in mind when crafting your education section:

1. List your degrees in reverse chronological order

Start with your most recent degree and work backwards. For each degree, include the following information:

• Name of the institution
• Location of the institution (city and state)
• Degree earned (e.g., Juris Doctor, Bachelor of Arts)
• Major or concentration (if applicable)
• Graduation date or expected graduation date

Here's an example of how to format your education:

Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA Juris Doctor, May 2020 Concentration: Corporate Law

2. Highlight relevant coursework and academic achievements

If you're a recent law school graduate or have limited work experience, you can bolster your education section by including relevant coursework and academic achievements. This can help demonstrate your knowledge and skills in specific areas of law. For example:

• Relevant coursework: Constitutional Law, Intellectual Property Law, Mergers and Acquisitions
• Academic achievements: Moot Court Competition Winner, Law Review Editor, Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity

However, avoid listing generic or irrelevant coursework, as it can detract from your resume's impact. Focus on courses and achievements that directly relate to the attorney position you're seeking.

3. Keep it concise for senior-level positions

If you're an experienced attorney applying for a senior-level position, your education section should be brief and to the point. Employers will be more interested in your professional accomplishments and work history. In this case, simply list your degrees, institutions, and graduation dates.

Here's an example of what to avoid for a senior attorney:

Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA Juris Doctor, May 1995 Relevant coursework: Constitutional Law, Intellectual Property Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Academic achievements: Moot Court Competition Winner, Law Review Editor, Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity

Instead, keep it concise:

Harvard Law School, Juris Doctor University of California, Berkeley, Bachelor of Arts in Political Science

Action Verbs For Attorney Resumes

Attorneys need to be proactive, which means your resume bullet points shouldn’t read like a list of job duties. Frame your accomplishments in a positive light by starting with strong action verbs . These let a hiring manager know what you’ve actually done and provide an insight into your strengths as an attorney. For example, using words like “researched” or “drafted” emphasizes your written communication and critical thinking skills, while “prosecuted” and “negotiated” indicate the ability to put together a strong verbal argument. In your bullet points, always lead with the action verb, followed up by your specific role or accomplishment and the impact it had. Try to choose verbs that fit the job you’re applying for, not just the ones you’ve left — even if you’ve never held a leadership role, if you’re applying for a senior position, you should try to start at least one or two bullet points with “led,” “trained,” or “supervised.”

• Represented
• Streamlined
• Collaborated

For a full list of effective resume action verbs, visit Resume Action Verbs .

Action Verbs for Attorney Resumes

Skills for attorney resumes.

Many skills required by attorneys — including communication, building interpersonal relationships, and the ability to work under pressure — are ones that don’t belong on the skills list at the bottom of your resume. These should go in your bullet points instead, with accomplishments and hard metrics to back them up. Instead of saying you have excellent written communication, highlight the number of briefs you’ve prepared or an article you’ve written in a law review. To find the skills and keywords you’ll need to get past Applicant Tracking systems (ATS) and impress recruiters, check out our comprehensive list of skills and keywords compiled from an analysis of over a million job descriptions, or use our free Targeted Resume tool to get personalized feedback on how you can instantly improve your resume.

• Legal Advice
• Corporate Law
• Legal Writing
• Legal Research
• Commercial Litigation
• Civil Litigation
• Criminal Law
• Labor and Employment Law
• Legal Opinions
• Contract Law
• Legal Consulting
• Intellectual Property
• Legal Contract Review
• International Law
• Dispute Resolution
• Legal Document Preparation
• Arbitration
• Administrative Law

How To Write Your Skills Section On an Attorney Resumes

You can include the above skills in a dedicated Skills section on your resume, or weave them in your experience. Here's how you might create your dedicated skills section:

Skills Word Cloud For Attorney Resumes

This word cloud highlights the important keywords that appear on Attorney job descriptions and resumes. The bigger the word, the more frequently it appears on job postings, and the more 'important' it is.

How to use these skills?

Other legal resumes.

Attorney Resume Guide

• Lawyer Resume Guide
• Legal Assistant Resume Guide
• Policy Analyst Resume Guide
• Compliance Resume Guide
• Underwriter Resume Guide
• Regulatory Affairs Resume Guide
• Contract Specialist Resume Guide
• Public Policy Resume Guide
• Attorney Resume Example
• Associate Attorney Resume Example
• Experienced Attorney Resume Example
• Litigation Attorney Resume Example
• Real Estate Attorney Resume Example
• Corporate Attorney Resume Example
• Compliance Attorney Resume Example
• Transactional Attorney Resume Example
• Family Law Attorney Resume Example
• Patent Attorney Resume Example
• Entry-Level Attorney Resume Example
• Immigration Attorney Resume Example
• Contract Attorney Resume Example
• Tips for Attorney Resumes
• Skills and Keywords to Add
• All Resume Examples
• Attorney CV Examples
• Attorney Cover Letter
• Attorney Interview Guide
• Explore Alternative and Similar Careers

Download this PDF template.

Creating an account is free and takes five seconds. you'll get access to the pdf version of this resume template., choose an option..

• Have an account? Sign in

E-mail Please enter a valid email address This email address hasn't been signed up yet, or it has already been signed up with Facebook or Google login.

Password Show Your password needs to be between 6 and 50 characters long, and must contain at least 1 letter and 1 number. It looks like your password is incorrect.

Remember me

Forgot your password?

Sign up to get access to Resume Worded's Career Coaching platform in less than 2 minutes

Name Please enter your name correctly

E-mail Remember to use a real email address that you have access to. You will need to confirm your email address before you get access to our features, so please enter it correctly. Please enter a valid email address, or another email address to sign up. We unfortunately can't accept that email domain right now. This email address has already been taken, or you've already signed up via Google or Facebook login. We currently are experiencing a very high server load so Email signup is currently disabled for the next 24 hours. Please sign up with Google or Facebook to continue! We apologize for the inconvenience!

Password Show Your password needs to be between 6 and 50 characters long, and must contain at least 1 letter and 1 number.

Receive resume templates, real resume samples, and updates monthly via email

By continuing, you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy .

Lost your password? Please enter the email address you used when you signed up. We'll send you a link to create a new password.

E-mail This email address either hasn't been signed up yet, or you signed up with Facebook or Google. This email address doesn't look valid.

Back to log-in

These professional templates are optimized to beat resume screeners (i.e. the Applicant Tracking System). You can download the templates in Word, Google Docs, or PDF. For free (limited time).

   access samples from top resumes, get inspired by real bullet points that helped candidates get into top companies.,    get a resume score., find out how effective your resume really is. you'll get access to our confidential resume review tool which will tell you how recruiters see your resume..

Writing an effective resume has never been easier .

Upgrade to resume worded pro to unlock your full resume review., get this resume template (+ 18 others), plus proven bullet points., for a small one-time fee, you'll get everything you need to write a winning resume in your industry., here's what you'll get:.

• 📄 Get the editable resume template in Google Docs + Word . Plus, you'll also get all 18 other templates .
• ✍️ Get sample bullet points that worked for others in your industry . Copy proven lines and tailor them to your resume.
• 🎯 Optimized to pass all resume screeners (i.e. ATS) . All templates have been professionally designed by recruiters and 100% readable by ATS.

Buy now. Instant delivery via email.

  instant access. one-time only., what's your email address.

I had a clear uptick in responses after using your template. I got many compliments on it from senior hiring staff, and my resume scored way higher when I ran it through ATS resume scanners because it was more readable. Thank you!

Thank you for the checklist! I realized I was making so many mistakes on my resume that I've now fixed. I'm much more confident in my resume now.

• • Handled an average of 30 cases simultaneously, maintaining a 95% success rate.
• • Developed and implemented legal support plans for all clients, improving client satisfaction by 40%.
• • Used general counsel experience to mentor 15 associates, increasing their productivity by 25%.
• • Successfully advocated for clients in over 150 trials, mediation, and arbitration.
• • Advised clients on their next actions and case updates, reducing case duration by 20%.
• • Prepared and attended court hearings, arguing motions on behalf of clients.
• • Prepared over 500 legal documents, including motions, pleadings, notices, and discovery requests and responses.
• • Kept up-to-date with changes to over 100 local, state, and federal statutes and laws.

11 Lawyer Resume Examples & Guide for 2024

Your lawyer resume must showcase your educational background and legal expertise. Detailing your juris doctor degree and bar admission is essential. Demonstrate a history of successful case outcomes and specialized legal skills. Highlighting any published work or notable legal presentations can set you apart.

All resume examples in this guide

Corporate Lawyer

Criminal Lawyer

Employment Lawyer

Immigration Lawyer

Litigation Lawyer

M&A Lawyer

Patent Lawyer

Personal Injury Lawyer

Real Estate Lawyer

Trial Lawyer

Resume guide, looking for related resumes, how to write a lawyer resume that gets read from cover to cover, header section for legal resumes, summary: your lawyer resume’s opening statement, professional experience: details and evidence that build a winning application, a briefing of your skills, how lawyers should describe soft skills on their resume, certificates, professional associations and memberships, publications, key takeaways.

Fancy suits, 6-figure incomes, and a deadly combination of wit and cunning that win arguments.

Those are just a few things that come to mind when people think of lawyers.

Unfortunately, free self-help legal sites, virtual law offices, and legal outsourcing are cutting into the industry and forcing law firms to get creative.

Nowadays, you don’t get to the big bucks and fancy suits just because you have a Juris Doctor (JD). You have to prove your worth.

A lawyer’s job, after all, is all about what you can prove.

The competition is also fierce, both for those already in the field and those just starting out.

So to win a job, your resume and application materials have to be solid.

This guide will show you how to:

• Write about your legal achievements without disclosing sensitive client data
• Prove that not all lawyers are bad with technology and show off the legal tools you can use
• Show off what you’ve learned from law school even if you didn’t come from an Ivy school
• Legal Assistant Resume
• Paralegal Resume
• Attorney Resume

Lawyers are known for being articulate, organized, and precise.

Clients and big law firms expect you to digest a lot of information in a short amount of time, keep discovery and client files organized, and be precise in your contracts and arguments.

Your resume may not be used to win a big case but it has to be articulate, organized, and precise too.

The lawyers who will read your resume are busy, and they prefer to read well-organized documents that highlight important information right off the bat. Make sure you format your resume correctly as well. Use easy to read fonts , pick a design that makes the sections easily visible, you can use different colours to make that happen. Also, use margins and headings for your resume . Last but not least, you need the right resume layout . If you are an experienced candidate the reverse-chronological layout might be best for you, because it will highlight your experience. However, if you are not, concider the functional-skill based resume layout that enphasize on skills, or the hybrid layout , which is a special blend of both.

Below are the most important resume sections .

Top 5 sections for a lawyer resume

• Professional Experience
• Licenses and Certification

An effective lawyer’s resume is well-articulated in that it clearly explains the kind of legal work you do and your ‘style’ as a lawyer.

Law encompasses a huge area of life and there are so many ways to be an effective lawyer.

Even within one practice such as personal injury, there are many sub-branches to specialize in like car or motor accidents, slip, and fall accidents , or premise liability.

Some lawyers like to win by finding precedents like the NFL precedent case that resulted in a $765 million settlement and can now be used as a precedent in relevant athlete-related injury. Other attorneys, however, win by going after the opposing party’s argument or credibility.

Your lawyer resume should also be precise enough that there are enough details to paint a clear picture of your qualifications and achievements.

5 things recruiters and law firm partners want to see in a resume

• A header that states your legal practice and credentials
• Experience section that details your qualifications and trackable achievements in and out of the courtroom
• List of technical, job-specific, and soft skills that show how you can be an asset to their firm or business
• Licenses, certifications, and credentials related to your legal practice
• Education: Information about your pre-law and law degree, especially the school you attended.

Now that you have a big picture plan of what your resume should contain, let’s start off with the resume header .

Don’t just write your name followed by “J.D.” and call it a day.

Your resume will be read by lawyers and non-lawyers so spell out abbreviations outside the J.D or J.S.D norm.

There are so many abbreviations like VAWA, DACA, SBA, etc. that it’s hard for even lawyers to keep up with all of them.

In the example above, it’s not clear what kind of corporate law Mr. Smith practiced. Does he handle mergers and acquisitions? Corporate governance and other operational issues? Or something else?

See? Much better.

His email also tells people what he does, and there’s an extra link to one of the lawyer directories where he’s listed, so that’s a plus.

Let’s continue strong with an attention-grabbing summary.

Your resume summary is your opening salvo.

It sets the tone for how the judge and jury will look at your argument. The same goes for your resume.

You won’t get any points for writing a boring summary like this:

Write a snappy paragraph that includes your legal specialty, most notable win, and how many years you’ve been in that field.

Lawyers tend to have a strong personality, so it’s also important to show how you can fit in your target firm’s corporate culture.

Battle-tested is a better word than “experienced” as it shows the applicant handled his fair share of cases.

This summary also details the sub-specialties of personal injury law he specialized in, and his attitude towards work.

Nothing turns off a recruiter more than a resume that reads more like a job description.

That’s doubly true for the legal profession where lawyers are judged by their billable hours, cases won, and money claimed for their clients.

• • Mediated housing and property line disputes among investors and landowners
• • Advised clients on their legal rights and options to resolve disputes
• • Organized real estate documents and other evidence for court proceedings
• • Draft loophole-free agreements for commercial lease of land that will be used for office buildings

The lackluster work experience portrayed above lacks quantifiable results . It’s hard to tell what happened as a result of said contracts and advice given to clients.

There’s also no information on the type of law firm, is it a boutique firm or one with international offices?

Big firms have more resources and to some extent, more complicated legal work. As such, it’s easier to break into other big firms if you’ve already been employed in one.

Here’s a better example of a experience section for a property lawyer:

• • Mediated over 56 housing and property line disputes among investors and landowners with one settlement amounting to $23 million
• • Saved property development client from entering into a contract with ambiguous provisions that could’ve cost them over $150K in fees annually
• • Draft commercial lease agreements for local and international properties worth over $58 million
• • Advised investors of duties to tenants to avoid criminal and civil liabilities, while also earning good ROI in line with property appreciation rates

The duties of the lawyer here are the same as those in the resume above, only with results added.

Even if the candidate disclosed the settlement amount and fees saved, he didn’t disclose the client’s name or the exact nature of their business to protect client confidentiality.

Not all lawyers are involved in business transactions though. If that’s your situation, you can always write about the cases you won, your skills in writing court documents, and your creativity in finding the appropriate charges to win your case.

That’s not to say you have to be a lead lawyer to write a good resume. Associate lawyers and even interns have something to contribute too.

For junior and associate lawyers, it’s helpful to include:

• Details of pro bono cases you practiced on
• Number of contracts drafted and reviewed
• The monetary value of those contracts
• Anything else you did to assist the partner mentoring you.

There’s a rumor going around in certain forums that say attorneys are not keeping up with technology.

Wherever you fall on that generational and technological divide, it’s hard to deny that law firms now expect candidates to be competent in certain areas of technology.

Recruitment firm Robert Half surveyed over 200 lawyers in the United States and found that 6 out of 10 based their hiring decisions on the applicant’s technical skills .

When asked which areas they expect lawyers to be competent, they chose:

• Cybersecurity - 48%
• Data analytics - 43%
• eDiscovery - 33%
• Artificial intelligence - 31%
• Blockchain - 17%
• Don’t know - 6%
• Not applicable - 9%

**Multiple responses were submitted

Demand for lawyers with knowledge of eDiscovery software and litigation systems to track evidence, case documents, and all client communications are high.

Some law firms even bring in candidates just to design complex databases to sort, index, and extract tones of data produced during litigation.

All that said, here’s a list of technical skills you may include on your resume:

Hard / technical skills list

• Practice Management Software Programs: Bill4Time, PCLaw, Amberlo, etc.
• eDiscovery Software: Ross, Concordance, Reveal, etc.
• Analytical reasoning
• Legal research
• Drafting and editing court documents
• Interviewing clients and witnesses
• Data analysis

You can also include a separate section for the sub-specialty areas of law you practice. Below are examples from different practices:

Divorce Law Skills:

• Asset protection
• Child Custody
• Child Support
• Domestic Violence
• Grandparent Rights

Personal Injury Law Skills:

• Car Accidents
• Bicycle Accidents
• Worker’s Compensation
• Premise Liability
• Medical Malpractice
• Construction Accidents

Intellectual Property Law Skills:

• Intellectual Property Strategy
• Enforcement Litigation
• Copyright and Infringements
• Commercial Contracts
• Design rights

Bank Law Skills:

• Consumer Lending
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Money laundering
• International Banking
• Regulatory Compliance

Arguing cases isn’t the sole job of an attorney so you need to show some soft skills on your resume too.

Below is an example that would work for many legal fields:

Just write the soft skill you have and describe how it allowed you to do the job better.

Lawyers are expected to have a range of soft skills, not just the ones listed above. Here are other examples:

Soft skills list

• Client Management
• Negotiation
• Organization
• Documentation

It’s true that some law firms prefer candidates from top Ivy schools.

Other law firms prefer graduates from their own alma mater. If a partner from one of your target firms went to your school too, that’s worth mentioning in your education section .

Fresh graduates ought to list their class ranking, bar exam ranking, and GPAs as well if they’re good. Law is a competitive field, so you have to make the most out of every advantage you have.

University of Houston Law Center, Houston, Texas Juris Doctor 2012

Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana B.A. (Public Communication, minors History, and English) 2009

Lawyers have a variety of certifications to choose from depending on their field of practice.

Below are some of the most common:

Top 4 lawyer certificates for your resume

• CIPP/E Certification
• Board Certification in Criminal Trial Law
• Certified Specialist in E-Discovery
• Credit and Compliance Attorney Certification

This section is where you list your bar membership and other associations.

If you only have one membership, like the state where you practice, there’s no need to list it in a separate area.

You can just list the state where you’re licensed to practice at the top of the education section on your resume:

“Bar admissions: Texas” OR “State Bar Texas: 2018”

Listing the year shows when you got your license.

Don’t have a license yet? Waiting for results or waiting to be sworn in?

ABA for law students has a detailed guide on writing about bar admissions. Check it out .

If you’re a member of multiple associations, just list them in chronological order followed by the inclusive years of your membership.

Example: State Bar of Texas, Liaison, Federal Judiciary Committee, 1992 - 1997 Texas Trial Lawyers Association, Member, 1989 - 1995

Articles you wrote about your legal specialty show your argumentative skills and prose. Getting published on a major legal site is also a badge of honor that adds to your credibility.

List those publications on your resume with the complete article title, publication name, and issue year.

Here’s an example way to list one of your published pieces from Price Ainsworth , Associate Attorney at Lorenz & Lorenz Personal Injury Lawyers:

• Don’t neglect technological skills on your resume
• Show quantifiable results in billable hours, settlements won, money savings, and increased productivity
• Be as detailed as possible, without divulging sensitive client information, on your work history
• State your legal specialty on the header, summary, and skills section of the resume. List your practice sub-specialties on the skills section too

Lawyer resume examples

Explore additional lawyer resume samples and guides and see what works for your level of experience or role.

Looking to build your own Lawyer resume?

• Resume Examples

How to Write A Resume Headline (5 Examples You Need to Steal)

How to list patent on resume, how to respond to a job interview request: steps to follow, how to write an australian resume, influencing the recruiter with a resume website, how to film a video resume.

• Create Resume
• Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Preferences
• Resume Templates
• AI Resume Builder
• Resume Summary Generator
• Resume Formats
• Resume Checker
• Resume Skills
• How to Write a Resume
• Modern Resume Templates
• Simple Resume Templates
• Cover Letter Builder
• Cover Letter Examples
• Cover Letter Templates
• Cover Letter Formats
• How to Write a Cover Letter
• Resume Guides
• Cover Letter Guides
• Job Interview Guides
• Job Interview Questions
• Career Resources
• Meet our customers
• Career resources
• English (UK)
• French (FR)
• German (DE)
• Spanish (ES)
• Swedish (SE)

© 2024 . All rights reserved.

Made with love by people who care.

Privacy preference center

We care about your privacy

When you visit our website, we will use cookies to make sure you enjoy your stay. We respect your privacy and we’ll never share your resumes and cover letters with recruiters or job sites. On the other hand, we’re using several third party tools to help us run our website with all its functionality.

But what exactly are cookies? Cookies are small bits of information which get stored on your computer. This information usually isn’t enough to directly identify you, but it allows us to deliver a page tailored to your particular needs and preferences.

Because we really care about your right to privacy, we give you a lot of control over which cookies we use in your sessions. Click on the different category headings on the left to find out more, and change our default settings.

However, remember that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of our website. Finally, note that we’ll need to use a cookie to remember your cookie preferences.

Without these cookies our website wouldn’t function and they cannot be switched off. We need them to provide services that you’ve asked for.

Want an example? We use these cookies when you sign in to Kickresume. We also use them to remember things you’ve already done, like text you’ve entered into a registration form so it’ll be there when you go back to the page in the same session.

Thanks to these cookies, we can count visits and traffic sources to our pages. This allows us to measure and improve the performance of our website and provide you with content you’ll find interesting.

Performance cookies let us see which pages are the most and least popular, and how you and other visitors move around the site.

All information these cookies collect is aggregated (it’s a statistic) and therefore completely anonymous. If you don’t let us use these cookies, you’ll leave us in the dark a bit, as we won’t be able to give you the content you may like.

We use these cookies to uniquely identify your browser and internet device. Thanks to them, we and our partners can build a profile of your interests, and target you with discounts to our service and specialized content.

On the other hand, these cookies allow some companies target you with advertising on other sites. This is to provide you with advertising that you might find interesting, rather than with a series of irrelevant ads you don’t care about.

Lawyer / Advocate Resume Examples & Writing Guide for 2024

Embarking on your legal career journey, a robust lawyer resume is your powerful advocate in the job market. In this guide, we'll dispense essential tips, present compelling examples, and provide impactful resume samples to help you craft a resume that can sway any jury.

Like a tailored defense, your resume needs to showcase your skills, demonstrate your experience, and highlight your victories. And our guide will help you to do that, and more. 

Keep reading to: 

• Get inspired by successful lawyer resume examples
• Pick a resume format that emphasizes experience 
• Showcase your experience and specializations in your resume summary
• Highlight your diverse skill sets as a lawyer
• Prioritize your strengths and accomplishments as a lawyer in your work experience section
• Use powerful action verbs throughout your resume
• Accurately list your educational credentials as a lawyer
• Add relevant extra sections to make your lawyer resume shine
• Avoid common mistakes in a lawyer resume
• Pair your resume with a relevant cover letter
• Explore the average salary and job outlook for lawyers
• Access top job search resources for lawyers

Professional lawyer resume example

Why does this lawyer resume example work?

• Conciseness: The resume is crisp and to the point, ensuring that hiring managers can readily locate the essential details. This brevity fosters an effective, convenient reading experience. 
• Comprehensive education section: Academically, the candidate shines. They've not only detailed their high grades and distinctions but also included their broad participation in extracurricular activities, showing a well-rounded candidate capable of balancing multiple commitments. 

What could be improved?

• Lack of quantifiable achievements: The resume falls short when it comes to demonstrating measurable impact within the work experience section. While it states the candidate's responsibilities, it misses an opportunity to show their direct contribution to positive results or successful outcomes, which is crucial for creating a standout resume.

Litigation assistant resume example

Why does this litigation assistant resume example work?

• Powerful resume summary: The summary does a superb job of outlining the Litigation Assistant's qualifications, accomplishments, and skills at a glance. It gives a comprehensive snapshot that entices hiring managers to keep reading.
• Proficient in relevant tools: The candidate's command over crucial computer skills and tools used in the industry is highlighted, reinforcing their capacity to perform key tasks efficiently. 
• Absence of quantifiable achievements: The work experience tends to be more descriptive rather than demonstrating impact. It misses out on quantifying achievements which could otherwise underline the candidate's effectiveness. Although the Employee of the Month award is mentioned, the relevant work to earn this could be outlined with numbers or direct outcomes. For instance, stating the volume of legal research handled or quantity of legal forms prepared could make the content more impactful.

Public defender resume sample

• Detailed skills section: This resume shines in showcasing the candidate's comprehensive skill set. From computer and language skills to interpersonal abilities, these skills assert the candidate's diverse competencies crucial for a Public Defender's job.
• Quantitative work experience: The work experience shines with quantifiable achievements, giving it a definitive edge. Whether it's the number of cases handled or interns trained, these details help hiring managers gauge the scope and impact of the candidate's work.
• Sequence of personal information: The resume could improve its flow by placing personal contact details closer to the top, right after the candidate's name. This makes it readily accessible for hiring managers and follows a more conventional order.

1. Pick a resume format that emphasizes experience

When choosing a resume format as a lawyer, you want to select the format that will best emphasize your experience in the field. In this case, your two best options are the reverse-chronological resume or the Curriculum Vitae (CV) . 

The reverse-chronological resume puts the primary focus on work experience, listing your most recent position first and working backward from there. This is the most common resume format and allows you to prioritize your key responsibilities, skills, and accomplishments that you gained from past experiences. 

The CV is a long-form resume that consists of multiple pages. This format is most commonly used within academic or scientific fields. However, for lawyers with 10+ years of experience, the CV gives you the best opportunity to list your extensive background and work history to the fullest extent. 

Typically, an employer will indicate in a job posting whether or not they expect to see a multi-page CV. Always pay attention to these details and make sure to include the proper documents and materials within your application. 

Try our AI Resume Writer and have your resume ready in minutes!

2. showcase your experience and specializations in your resume summary.

Your resume summary is an essential component of your resume, as it helps to introduce you as a professional to employers. 

A well crafted resume summary should include:

• Professional persona: A brief portrayal of your professional identity
• Core skills: Highlight of your most noteworthy abilities
• Key areas of expertise: Clear and concise outline of your specializations

Let's take a look at two contrasting examples:

Bad lawyer resume summary example

Lawyer seeking an attorney position with an established law firm. Skilled in client relationship management. Good negotiation abilities and experienced in corporate law. 

What's wrong with this example? In this example, the applicant provides very few details that offer specific insights into their professional career. To improve this summary, the applicant needs to offer more quantifiable examples regarding their experience and focus more on their specializations. 

Good lawyer resume summary example

Detail-oriented Lawyer with over 7 years of experience working in corporate law. Specialized in corporate taxes and financial planning, with deep knowledge of evolving government regulations. Highly competent in successful negotiations of substantial corporate contracts. 

Why is this better? This corrected example offers a much higher level of specificity and detail. The applicant establishes their years of experience as well as their specialization in corporate business and affairs. They go on to highlight their negotiation strengths, giving the summary a nice finishing touch that will compel employers to read on.

3. Highlight your diverse skill sets as a lawyer

Working as a lawyer requires you to have many different kinds of skills , from general abilities such as legal research to more complex and specialized areas of expertise. 

Listing your skills on a resume is paramount for several reasons:

• Demonstrates competency: Your skillset attests to your abilities, showing you're competent in your field.
• Aligns with job requirements: By outlining relevant skills, you align yourself with the role, proving to hiring managers that you're a perfect fit.

Your lawyer resume likely encompasses both technical and interpersonal skills. But why stop at listing them? Instead, make them shine. Link each skill with an achievement or case where that skill was instrumental. 

Here are 10 examples of technical skills and 10 examples of interpersonal skills that are key to include on a lawyer’s resume:

Best technical skills to put on your lawyer resume 

• Case Analysis and Research
• Legal Due Diligence
• Data Analytics
• Client Advising and Consultation
• Extensive Written and Verbal Communication
• Preparation of Legal Documents
• File Organization and Management
• Law Interpretation
• Court and Trial Proceedings
• Industry Specializations (Environmental Law, Tax Law, etc.) 

Effective interpersonal skills for your resume

• Active Listening
• Empathy and Compassion
• Negotiation
• Time Management
• Organization
• Confidentiality
• Dependability

Remember, your skills are your stage to show how you can deliver results. They are more than just a list; they serve as a bridge between your experiences and the job-for-grabs. So, make sure they are well-represented and well-connected in your resume.

Find out your resume score!

4. Craft a strong work experience section as a lawyer

A key step in perfecting your lawyer resume involves effectively detailing your work experience and key projects . This section provides a critical opportunity for you to underline your proven track record and showcase the contributions you've made in your previous roles.

Here are some tips on how to format and construct this part of your resume:

• Use bullet points: These enable you to break down and clearly depict your tasks and achievements.
• Include relevant details: Share what role you held, where, and when. Also illustrate the projects you undertook and their outcomes.
• Employ dynamic verbs and powerful adjectives: Words like "managed," "supervised," and "implemented" speak volumes about your influential role.
• Use quantifiable accomplishments: Whenever possible, quantify your accomplishments. It signifies the scale of your work and the impact of your contributions. Whether it's the number of cases managed, the percentage improvement in the firm's success rate, or the size of the team supervised, these details help paint a vivid picture of your professional prowess.

Bad work experience entry example 

Lawyer | XYZ Law Firm New Orleans, LA | June 2015 to January 2020

• Handled various legal cases and worked with interns.

Why does it fall flat? This example lacks specificity and doesn't reveal any quantifiable achievements. "Handled" is a weak verb in this context and "various legal cases" is overly vague. Furthermore, it doesn't clearly define the candidate's interaction with the interns. 

Good work experience entry example from a lawyer resume

Lawyer | M&J Law Associates New Orleans, LA | June 2015 to January 2020

• Managed more than 25 corporate lawsuits per year , representing clients on cases such as fraud schemes and criminal cases. 
• Assisted in raising firm’s success rate from 89.7% to 93.9% by implementing new case management strategies. 
• Supervised a team of 10 legal assistant interns , delegating necessary word-processing and organization tasks to them.

Why does this work? It's specific, uses strong verbs and interesting adjectives, highlights key achievements, and provides a clear picture of the role and responsibilities. 

All in all, the work experience and key projects section is where your previous roles come alive. It's not just a snapshot of your past; it's your stage to demonstrate how you can bring value to your next role. Make it count.

5. Use powerful action verbs throughout your resume

Action words , also known as power verbs or action verbs, are the backbone of a compelling resume. Simply stated, they inject energy and clarity into your resume, making your responsibilities and achievements distinctly evident.

Here's why action words are important:

• They convey initiative: Action words demonstrate that you're a doer and a mover — someone who takes command and gets things done.
• They add precision: These words precisely detail what you've done in your previous roles, giving the hiring manager a clear perspective of your capabilities.
• They reflect dynamism: Action words add vigor and variety to your resume, preventing it from sounding too passive or dull. 

Here are some powerful action verbs ideally suited for a lawyer's resume

• Collaborated
• Consolidated
• Implemented
• Interpreted

When crafting your attorney resume, imagine each bullet point in your experience section as a mini commercial for yourself. Using a powerful action word is like starting the commercial with a bang — it engages the reader and adds momentum to your narrative. Don't underestimate the power of a solid verb — it lifts your resume from average to attention-grabbing.

6. Accurately list your educational credentials as a lawyer  

As a lawyer, you are required to have earned a degree through a law school program and pass the bar examination in your state of residence. These credentials are extremely important to include accurately in your resume’s education section . 

Here's why education matters on a lawyer's resume:

• It indicates your background: Your educational details help employers understand your knowledge base and skills. 
• It shows your qualifications: Especially in roles like a lawyer, having the correct qualifications is essential. 
• It reflects your dedication: Completing your education in a field shows commitment and perseverance, traits cherished in any role. 

Education section example

Juris Doctor Stanford Law School, Stanford, CA | 2017 – 2020

• Focused coursework: Corporate Law, Criminal Law 
• Academic achievements: Graduated cum laude, Dean's List all semesters 

Showcasing relevant coursework, projects, or achievements can illustrate your commitment to learning and problem-solving, both essential in law. Remember, how you list your education can be as crucial as what you list under it.

7. Add relevant extra sections to make your lawyer resume shine

In the world of law, where expertise and credibility are essential, incorporating relevant extra sections into your lawyer resume can make a significant difference.

While your education and legal experience hold substantial weight, additional sections provide an opportunity to demonstrate your well-roundedness and dedication to serving the community.

Consider including one or more of the following:

• Volunteer legal services
• Publications
• Speaking engagements
• Professional memberships
• Language proficiency
• Awards and recognitions

Extra section example

Volunteer Legal Services

• Provided pro bono legal representation to individuals with limited financial means.
• Managed a wide range of cases, including family law, landlord-tenant disputes, and immigration matters.
• Advocated for the rights of underprivileged clients, ensuring access to justice and fair legal outcomes.
• Collaborated with a team of legal professionals to conduct research, draft legal documents, and prepare for court proceedings.
• Received recognition for outstanding service and commitment to providing legal assistance to vulnerable populations.

In summary, your lawyer resume's core lies in education and experience, but its charm comes from the additional sections. These areas, highlighting volunteer work, memberships, or language prowess, offer a holistic view of you as a professional and as an individual. Enhance your main act with these extras — they might just tip the scale in your favor.

8. Avoid common mistakes in a lawyer resume

Ensuring your lawyer resume is free from common mistakes is vital. After all, as someone in the legal profession, precision is expected of you. Here are some pitfalls to avoid:

• Overcomplication: Lawyers often deal with complex issues, but that doesn’t mean your resume should be complex. Keep it straightforward and easy to understand. 
• Lack of specifics: Be detailed about your accomplishments. Using quantifiable achievements helps employers grasp the scope and impact of your work.
• Typos or grammatical errors: These can signal lack of attention to detail. Proofread your resume multiple times, and consider having a trusted colleague or friend review it as well.
• Passive language: Use action verbs to describe your activities and achievements. Passive language can make your experiences seem less impressive.
• Irrelevant information: Stating hobbies or personal details not relevant to the job can dilute the professional content of your resume. Stick to information that shows why you're a solid candidate.

By steering clear of these common errors, you can make sure your resume serves as a compelling testament to your professionalism and competence. Don't let avoidable mistakes stand between your craftsmanship and that coveted job interview.

9. Pair your lawyer resume with a relevant cover letter

While a resume provides an overview of your professional journey through skills, experiences, and education, a cover letter offers a personalized narrative, tying these elements directly to the job and the company's needs.

The inclusion of a cover letter with your lawyer resume is generally a good idea, and here's why:

• Personal touch: A cover letter gives you the chance to add personality to your application, showing hiring managers who you are as an individual.
• Tailored fit: It allows you to directly address how your skills and experiences fit the specific job requirements, making the relevance clear and compelling.
• Motivation: The cover letter is the perfect platform to demonstrate your interest in the company and the role, showing that you've done your research and are genuinely interested.

But when should you include a cover letter? Always, unless the job advertisement specifically asks you not to. Some job postings may state "cover letter optional," but it's usually beneficial to include one anyway. It's another chance to impress and set yourself apart from other candidates.

In essence, while your resume says "this is what I have done," your cover letter says "this is why it matters to you." Use the two in tandem to make a rounded, resonant impression.

Let your cover letter write itself — with AI!

10. average salary and job outlook for lawyers.

The career outlook for lawyers tends to be both promising and lucrative. According to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), lawyers earned an average salary of $145,760 per year in May 2023.

This financial reward is complemented by a positive job growth projection. The employment of lawyers is expected to surge by 8 percent from 2022 to 2032, which is a faster pace than the average growth rate for all occupations.

Furthermore, the field is projected to provide ample opportunities for aspiring lawyers. There are approximately 39,100 openings for lawyers projected annually, on average, over the next decade.

Such statistics indicate a favorable environment for individuals planning to pursue or continue a career in law. As the demand for legal services remains in a foreseeable positive path, choosing a legal profession can be a sound career choice.

11. Useful job search resources for aspiring lawyers 

If you're embarking on your legal career journey, you need to equip yourself with top-tier resources to streamline your job hunt and connect with the right opportunities. So, suit up and explore these trusted resources to aid in your job hunt:

• Legal job sites:  Platforms such as Lawjobs , ABA Legal Career Central , and Simply Law Jobs provide listings specifically tailored for the legal industry.
• LinkedIn:  Beyond being a general job hunting platform , it provides networking opportunities and insights into law firms and job trends.
• Legal associations and organizations:  Professional entities like the American Bar Association (ABA) or the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) often provide job postings, career services and networking events.
• Law school career centers:  Almost every law school has a career services office that offers job listings, resume help, and career advice to its students and alumni.
• Legal recruiters and headhunters:  Specialized recruitment agencies or independent recruiters in the legal field can provide personalized job search support.

Keep these resources on your digital bookmark bar as you tread your legal career path. Remember, engaging in the job hunt is as dynamic as a trial, and every connection could be your winning evidence.

Lawyer / Advocate Resume FAQ

Your qualifications, legal skills, and experience should be emphasized. Ensure to include any significant cases you've worked on, your specialized legal expertise, and relevant internships or legal clinician experience.

Showcase examples where excellent verbal or written communication was central to the successful outcome of a case. Participation in debate clubs, public speaking events or published law articles can also underscore your communication skills.

Highlight academic achievements, law school-related activities such as Moot Court or Law Review, and any internships or voluntary legal work. Show your passion for law and readiness to learn and grow.

Stick to clear, professional language. While demonstrating your knowledge of legal terms is important, overusing jargon can take away from the clarity of your resume.

Absolutely! Tailoring your resume shows the employer that you've invested the time to understand their specific needs and how you can meet them. Customize your objective statement, skills and experiences to match each job description.

Julia Gergelova

Julia is a professional writer, translator and graphic designer. She holds degrees in translation and interpretation, and has international work experience from a number of different countries in Europe as well as China and Panama. Julia formerly taught academic writing and as a graphic designer contributed to outlets such as  The Business of Business . She has a passion for lifelong learning and good coffee.

All legal resume examples

• Law Clerk / Legal Clerk
• Legal Administrative Assistant
• Legal Secretary

All lawyer / advocate resume examples

Related lawyer / advocate cover letter examples

Resume guides

How to write a professional resume summary [+examples], how to put your education on a resume [+examples], how to describe your work experience on a resume [+examples], let your resume do the work..

Join 5,000,000 job seekers worldwide and get hired faster with your best resume yet.

Lawyer Resume Example, Tips & Tricks

In a nation governed by the rule of law, a lawyer’s work is never truly done. Across the United States, more than 1.3 million lawyers provide advice and representation to individuals, companies, and government bodies. In fact, these professionals’ services are so vital to society that employment in this field is expected to grow by ten percent over the next eight years. Do you have the Lawyer resume you need to take advantage of that growth?

Transform your resume

For attorneys who are looking for employment with a law firm, company, or government agency, there is no substitute for a truly compelling Lawyer resume. Fortunately, we’ve created this guide that includes a Lawyer resume example and some resume-writing tips and tricks you can use to ensure that your resume is ready to make the best possible impression on any prospective employer.

How to write a resume

As a Lawyer, you know that there’s more to a court case than just making an argument in front of a judge or jury. To prepare for a hearing or trial, you first need to conduct extensive research, develop convincing arguments, and prepare briefs that help to sway a court’s opinions. Well, the same principles hold true for your Lawyer resume. Without the right preparation and strategy, your resume will be just another document that hiring managers toss into the rejection pile.

But how do you write a great resume? What elements does it need to contain, and what strategies do you need to employ to ensure an employer can understand just how much value you can bring to their organization? Let’s examine some of the best tips and tricks you can use to craft your lawyer resume, including choosing the right format, creating a solid structure, and carefully tailoring your message to align with each employer’s needs.

Reverse chronological format is preferred

The format you choose for your resume can immediately draw a reader’s attention, so this is one of the most important decisions you will make when you craft your Lawyer resume. There are three main options, including the chronological, functional, and combination (a/k/a hybrid) formats. Most employers prefer to see a reverse chronological format since it enables them to quickly view your career progression, beginning with your current or most recent position.

You can choose a different option, but just be aware that some employers may be skeptical of a resume that doesn’t provide a clear timeline of employment. Moreover, the reverse chronological format enables you to use a straightforward structure that will be extremely familiar to the employers who see it.

Structural components

The structure of your resume will be key to delivering a coherent and convincing narrative. When you’re laying out your resume, you should separate different types of information into appropriate sections, using headings to identify each area. Your Lawyer resume should include:

Contact details: This should go at the top of your Lawyer resume and include essential information like your full name, location, phone, email, and optimized LinkedIn URL.

Profile or summary paragraph: Your summary statement should be a brief, powerful elevator pitch that conveys your top skills, experiences, and overall value to the employer. Make sure that this statement is no more than a few sentences in length, but packed with information that highlights your unique value proposition.

Core competencies: This section is where you provide a bullet point list of your most relevant hard and soft skills. Try to choose roughly a dozen of these abilities to confirm and highlight your qualifications.

Professional experience : Otherwise known as the work experience section, this area of your resume should include your job history, listed in reverse chronological order. Be sure to include two or three bullet point examples of your achievements at each job, using real numbers to show the value you can provide.

Education : This section documents your educational background, including schools you attended, relevant coursework , and degrees you earned.

How to tailor your lawyer resume

Your Lawyer resume will also need to be tailored to fit each job you’re applying for. Pay attention to the job posting and description and identify any specific terms used to describe the desired qualifications. These terms are keywords that you should include in your resume to ensure that it gets past the company’s applicant tracking system, or ATS . Adjust your skills and other text as needed to work those keywords into your narrative.

Lawyer resume example

Obviously, that’s a great deal of information to make sense of without being able to see an example that showcases these ideas. That’s why we’ve included a great Lawyer resume example you can refer to as you begin to assemble your own resume. Be sure to examine the various sections of the example to better understand how they all work in concert to create a convincing narrative that sells the job seeker as the best candidate for the job.

Key hard & soft skills for a Lawyer

Lawyers possess unique skills that are essential for serving their clients. Those skills include vital hard skills that they use to research and understand the law, as well as soft skills that help them to deal with clients, communicate their ideas and arguments, and interact with court personnel, juries, witnesses, and other members of the public. 

Your Lawyer resume should highlight your top hard and soft skills to ensure that prospective employers can recognize your potential value as a member of their team.

Hard Skills

A lawyer’s hard skills will include a wide variety of abilities they’ve learned during their formal education or through hands-on experience. These skills include those directly related to the practice of law, as well as some transferable abilities such as technical writing and analysis.

Knowledge of civil and/or criminal law and procedure

Analytical skills

Legal research

Technical writing

Constitutional law

Soft Skills

Of course, soft skills are just as important for any successful attorney and should be highlighted on your Lawyer resume, too. These skills include interpersonal abilities and traits that enable lawyers to effectively work with others, manage time and tasks, and communicate in a professional and ethical manner. For example:

Time management

Critical thinking

Presentation skills

Negotiation

Professionalism

Summary & last words

The best lawyers are always prepared to make the most convincing argument possible. In any job search, your Lawyer resume is the key to delivering the powerful narrative you need to gain a prospective employer’s attention and interest. Remember to focus on your key skills – both hard skills and interpersonal abilities, detail experiences that align with the employer’s needs, and deliver that information in a convincing narrative that highlights you as the best candidate for the job.

For maximum impact, don’t forget these key tips:

Use the right format and structure

Utilize bullet point examples for your achievements, rather than paragraphs

Include a great summary statement that can capture the employer’s interest in just a few sentences

Make sure that your skill section lists both hard and soft abilities

Optimize your work experience section by focusing on aspects of each job that are relevant to the position you’re seeking

Each time you apply to a different company, adjust your resume to tailor it to that job

Introduction to TopResume: Professional resume writers

The legal profession is more competitive than ever, and you need a truly outstanding Lawyer resume to capture any employer’s attention. The resume experts at TopResume are the partners you need to ensure that your resume achieves that goal. Each of our resume writers understands your industry and what employers want to see from job candidates. Contact us to learn more about how our professional resume writing services can help you advance your legal career.

Why you should make use of our resume writing services to land your next job as a Lawyer

While anyone can create a resume , the crafting of a truly compelling job search document requires the type of experience and expertise that you can only get by partnering with professionals. Our writers work with you to ensure that your resume is a personalized document that conveys your talents and real-world experience in a way that will open a new world of professional opportunity. We know what employers want to see from job candidates and work to ensure that your resume speaks directly to those needs.

Resume writing service for Lawyers: Let us write your resume

You deserve a resume that can supercharge your career and get you to the next level of success. A great Lawyer resume can make the difference between settling for an average position or vying for the top jobs in your industry. At TopResume, our team of professional writers is committed to your career success and leverages their talents and experience to ensure that your resume provides the support you need for any successful job search. Contact us today to discover how investing in your job search can help you further your career advancement and achieve your goals.

Who are the TopResume writers?

Senior Resume Writer

4+ years of experience, bachelor of arts in humanities and classical studies.

Billie is a passionate writer whose mission is to write impactful resumes to support career growth, evolution, and transition targets. Billie’s love of the written word spans her entire life, and she enjoys utilizing that passion to empower successful career transitions.

10+ years of experience

Master of arts in english.

Traci has a Master of Arts in English and has been writing since middle school. After spending several years in marketing, she used her writing skills and corporate knowledge to help job seekers put their best foot forward and achieve their career goals.

15+ Years of Experience

Bachelor of arts in english and business writing.

Jeremy has helped 6K+ clients gain the confidence to apply for and get their dream jobs. His educational background in English and business writing and dedication to supporting clients’ needs inspire him to deliver top-tier career support.

Upgrade your Resume

Review your resume, protect your data.

This site uses cookies and related technologies for site operation, and analytics as described in our   Privacy Policy. You may choose to consent to our use of these technologies, reject non-essential technologies, or further manage your preferences.

• Lawyer Resume Example

Resume Examples

• Common Tasks & Responsibilities
• Top Hard & Soft Skills
• Action Verbs & Keywords
• Resume FAQs
• Similar Resumes

Common Responsibilities Listed on Lawyer Resumes:

• Drafting and reviewing legal documents, such as contracts, wills, and leases
• Negotiating settlements and representing clients in court
• Researching and analyzing legal issues
• Advising clients on legal matters
• Interpreting laws, rulings, and regulations
• Preparing legal briefs and opinions
• Representing clients in administrative hearings
• Appearing in court to argue motions and defend clients
• Advising clients on business transactions
• Filing legal documents with the court
• Keeping up to date with changes in the law
• Developing strategies to resolve legal disputes

Speed up your resume creation process with the AI-Powered Resume Builder . Generate tailored achievements in seconds for every role you apply to.

Lawyer Resume Example:

• Successfully represented a high-profile client in a complex litigation case, resulting in a favorable settlement and saving the client over $2 million in potential damages.
• Developed and implemented a legal compliance program for a multinational corporation, resulting in a 30% reduction in legal risks and avoiding potential fines and penalties.
• Advised a startup company on legal matters related to their initial public offering (IPO), resulting in a successful IPO and raising $10 million in funding.
• Negotiated a favorable settlement for a client in a high-stakes contract dispute, resulting in a 25% increase in revenue for the client.
• Conducted extensive legal research and analysis on a complex regulatory issue, resulting in a successful appeal and saving the client over $1 million in fines.
• Advised a non-profit organization on legal matters related to their fundraising activities, resulting in a 50% increase in donations and successful compliance with state and federal regulations.
• Drafted and reviewed legal documents for a major real estate development project, resulting in a successful closing and generating over $5 million in revenue for the client.
• Represented a client in an administrative hearing, successfully arguing for a favorable outcome and saving the client over $500,000 in potential penalties.
• Developed and implemented a legal strategy for a startup company, resulting in successful acquisition by a larger corporation and generating $20 million in value for the client.
• Litigation and dispute resolution
• Legal research and analysis
• Contract drafting and negotiation
• Regulatory compliance
• Legal strategy development
• Intellectual property law
• Corporate law and governance
• Real estate law
• Administrative law
• Legal risk management
• Legal advice and counseling
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Securities law and initial public offerings
• Non-profit law and fundraising compliance
• Client relationship management
• Communication and negotiation skills
• Critical thinking and problem-solving
• Time management and organization
• Attention to detail
• Adaptability and staying current with legal trends

Top Skills & Keywords for Lawyer Resumes:

Hard skills.

• Legal Research and Analysis
• Contract Drafting and Negotiation
• Litigation and Dispute Resolution
• Case Management and Trial Preparation
• Legal Writing and Communication
• Client Counseling and Representation
• Regulatory Compliance and Risk Management
• Intellectual Property Law
• Corporate Law and M&A Transactions
• Employment Law and HR Compliance
• Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Tax Law and Estate Planning

Soft Skills

• Communication and Interpersonal Skills
• Analytical and Research Skills
• Attention to Detail and Accuracy
• Time Management and Prioritization
• Problem Solving and Critical Thinking
• Adaptability and Flexibility
• Leadership and Team Management
• Conflict Resolution and Negotiation
• Emotional Intelligence and Relationship Building
• Decision Making and Strategic Planning
• Creativity and Innovation
• Empathy and Client-Centric Mindset

Resume Action Verbs for Lawyers:

• Investigated
• Represented

Generate Your Resume Summary

Resume FAQs for Lawyers:

How long should i make my lawyer resume, what is the best way to format a lawyer resume, which keywords are important to highlight in a lawyer resume, how should i write my resume if i have no experience as a lawyer, compare your lawyer resume to a job description:.

• Identify opportunities to further tailor your resume to the Lawyer job
• Improve your keyword usage to align your experience and skills with the position
• Uncover and address potential gaps in your resume that may be important to the hiring manager

Complete the steps below to generate your free resume analysis.

Related Resumes for Lawyers:

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   

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

Sample Resumes PDF   Sample Resumes Word

Jump to: First Year Student Examples | Second Year Student Examples | Third Year Student Examples