Most laws never expire unless directly repealed, meaning that the number of laws on the books (be it at the local, state, or federal level) are becoming more numerous. To help navigate existing laws, win civil or criminal cases, and become legal citizens, people need lawyers.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates that lawyers will be in steady demand through 2029, with an average growth rate of four percent every year. Being a lawyer comes with a median pay of $126,930 per year, making it a profitable career path.
Lawyers operate in different spheres based on their specialty, and their associated tasks and accomplishments should change appropriately. Below, we’ll look at resume templates for general lawyers (which could be civil or criminal lawyers), corporate lawyers, and immigration lawyers.
After reviewing the templates, read on to find out what skills are important to emphasize in your resume, and where they should be included, along with the action verbs that will help your resume stand out to hiring managers.
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A lawyer is a highly specialized individual who aims to solve legal problems for civilians, businesses, state and federal governments, and more. There are many specializations a lawyer can take. For example a criminal defense lawyer will defend the accused party, whereas a prosecutor will defend the party making the accusation. There are also lawyers who specialize in real estate transactions, corporate transactions, children’s rights, and more. In any case, the lawyer's job is to convince a third-party, frequently a judge and jury, that their client is in the “right”.
To become a lawyer, you will first need a bachelor’s degree in law, English, or criminal justice. Then, you will need to go to law school to earn your title as a lawyer, which includes a test often referred to as the BAR exam. After passing the test, many aspiring lawyers must take on pro-bono or internship legal work to build skills and their reputation. Lawyers must have superb communication, persuasion, and negotiation skills. They also must be effective performers with the ability to speak to a large variety of audiences.
Law school typically takes 3-4 years to complete. During this time, any extra availability you have should be put toward gaining hands-on experience. You can work part-time as a paralegal, court intern, legal secretary, and more. This hands-on experience will allow you to deepen your understanding of the legal system and add value to your resume.
As mentioned earlier, there are several specializations a lawyer can choose from. It’s important to determine what type of law you would like to practice and gain experience in that realm. For example, if you want to be involved in real estate law, it might make sense to get some hands-on experience in real estate.
As a corporate lawyer, you'd be dealing with complex legal matters in the business world, such as mergers and acquisitions, labor disputes, and corporate governance. With the rise in regulatory requirements and increased scrutiny on companies, many organizations are looking to expand their legal teams. Writing an effective resume for a corporate lawyer role requires showcasing your legal expertise, industry knowledge, and ability to adapt to the ever-changing legal landscape.
In recent years, there's been a push for corporate lawyers to be well-versed in technology and data privacy, as well as have some understanding of international law. When crafting your resume, it's crucial to highlight your experience in these areas, along with your ability to build relationships and communicate effectively with clients and colleagues.
Corporate lawyers work specifically within the field of corporate law, and will be expected to have knowledge of its inner workings. If you can demonstrate your background working in the legal realm in tandem with showcasing your efforts supporting specific employers, you will make a solid impression.
If you’re applying for a firm or legal department, hiring managers will notice if you have received internal promotions at your previous employers. Include all of your relevant promotions, particularly if they are within the legal field and show growing responsibility to highlight your loyalty and commitment to your work.
As a corporate lawyer, you may be delving into a wide variety of situations, whether that's IP, company disputes or employer law. Therefore, it helps to reference the different fields you’ve been involved in as a lawyer, such as labor disputes, financial disputes, or mergers and acquisitions. If the job listing you’re applying for hints at specific types of work, include your background with it.
While general lawyers and corporate lawyers will dabble in government law, immigration lawyers will be steeped in it as they work to understand the current legal policies established by the federal government for citizenship.
For lawyers who are involved in immigration policy and handling a large number of cases, being organized is helpful. You can draw attention to your ability to organize, collect, and reference case data by listing your technical skills and familiar tools (such as Case Management Software) separately from your other skills.
Every bullet point should begin with a strong action verb that indicates to hiring managers that you have experience in this field. By hammering in that you have “provided legal support”, “prepared and filed petitions”, or “performed X risk assessments”, you are painting a picture of your background in this field.
Otherwise called a junior associate, a junior lawyer is a new lawyer who most likely just graduated from law school. In this position, you will assist more senior lawyers by doing research, drafting legal documents, and performing administrative tasks where needed. This position has a huge workload and you will most likely be expected to work outside of normal business hours.
Your resume should indicate what tasks and functions you can perform, and should list your qualifications. Take a look at this strong resume sample.
Everyone applying for this position will have completed law school and passed the bar. If you want to stand out from the crowd, go the extra mile and gain certifications in specific areas of law. It will indicate your drive and extra expertise. This applicant has 2 impressive certifications.
It's important to show recruiters that you can do almost any legal task needed in a law firm. This is especially important for this position as you will be given multiple varying tasks every day. So mention your experience writing legal documents, negotiating contracts, and doing effective research.
As the name suggests, employment lawyers deal with all legal matters pertaining to employment. Some tasks you can expect include drafting contracts, negotiating on behalf of a client, and representing clients in court in employment cases. You need to be an expert in employment law, especially in the state or country that you want to practice in. Ensure you include any qualification that proves your expertise in your resume. Recruiters will also want to see a long history in employment law so focus your resume on that area of the law. Take a look at this recruiter-approved resume sample.
Ensure that your skills section includes all the industry standard tools used to perform legal tasks like case research, legal document writing, and electronic signing. Make sure you periodically update this section of your resume as new tools are developed and become industry standards.
Many recruiters use ATS filters to narrow in on the most promising resumes. Ensure yours is among that group by including employment law keywords that will help your bypass the filters. These keywords could include ‘labor’, ‘employment lawyer’, and ‘contract’.
Real estate lawyers assist their clients with the legal aspect of real estate transactions or anything else related to real estate law. Tasks you can expect include preparing real estate legal documents like leases, scrutinizing real estate legal documents, negotiating terms of a real estate transaction, assisting in the transfer of real estate titles where necessary, etc.
You must be an expert in real estate and property law in the state or country you are practicing in. You also need to show that you are a qualified lawyer who has gone to law school and passed the bar. Use your resume to show your long history in this field of law and your achievements thus far. Here is a recruiter-approved resume sample.
Your skill section should be specific to the skills needed in real estate law. This is especially true for the techniques or industry knowledge sections. Relevant skills include probate, mortgages, and real estate finance.
In the legal field, Paralegals are the backbone, supporting attorneys by managing case files, conducting legal research, and drafting documents. The demand for this role has increased with the growing need for effective case management in this digital era. As such, your resume should demonstrate your proficiency in using legal software and ability to adapt to tech advancements. The legal job market has been shifting towards specialized areas, like immigration or intellectual property. So, decide your niche and target your resume accordingly.
Paralegals are frequently client-facing, so your resume should also reflect your interpersonal and communication skills. It's not just about being a legal bookworm, you need to show your ability to work with diverse groups of people, both within and outside the legal field.
As a paralegal, you'll be exposed to a wide range of legal jargon. Show you're comfortable with this language by using appropriate terminology in your resume. It not only confirms your industry knowledge, but shows you can communicate effectively with attorneys and clients.
Today's paralegal needs to be tech-savvy. Include any legal software or case management systems you’re familiar with. Show how you’ve used technology to automate routine tasks, manage case files or do legal research. It’s all about showing your ability to streamline processes and increase efficiency.
As a paralegal, your role is diverse and can often see you acting as the right hand to your attorney. Your resume should reflect your ability to conduct legal research, draft legal documents, and manage large amounts of data. The legal industry in recent years has seen a shift towards utilizing technology for data management and research, so showcasing your technical skills and familiarity with legal software will give you an edge. Keep in mind that legal firms often focus on different areas of law, so tailoring your resume to highlight your experience in the specific area of practice the law firm specializes in can be beneficial.
As a paralegal, you'll need to have knowledge specific to the field of law you're working in. For instance, if you're applying for a role in a firm specializing in corporate law, you should demonstrate familiarity with corporate filings, M&A transactions, and shareholder meetings.
Many law firms now use specialized software for data management and legal research. Marking your experience with these programs on your resume can give you an advantage. Anything from case management software like MyCase or Clio, to research tools like Westlaw or LexisNexis can be advantageous.
As a hiring manager who has recruited lawyers at top law firms like Kirkland & Ellis, Skadden, and Cravath, I have seen countless resumes over the years. The best lawyer resumes stand out by highlighting relevant experience, skills, and accomplishments in a clear and concise manner. Here are some tips to help you create a strong lawyer resume that will catch the attention of hiring managers and increase your chances of landing an interview.
When describing your work experience, don't just list your responsibilities. Instead, focus on your accomplishments and the impact you had in each role. Use specific examples to showcase your skills and expertise.
Here's an example of how to effectively highlight your impact:
In contrast, here's an example of a vague and generic bullet point that doesn't convey much information:
As a lawyer, your resume summary is an optional section that can help provide additional context about your legal experience and career goals. While not required, a well-written summary can be particularly useful if you're changing practice areas or have a diverse background that may not be immediately apparent from the rest of your resume. However, avoid using an objective statement, as it tends to focus on what you want rather than what you can offer an employer.
When crafting your summary, focus on highlighting your most relevant skills, experience, and accomplishments as they relate to the specific legal role you're targeting. Be sure to 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 unique value you bring to the table.
The work experience section is the core of your lawyer resume. It's where you highlight your professional achievements, legal skills, and career progression. Hiring managers and recruiters look to this section to determine if you have the right background for the role.
In this section, we'll cover what to focus on in your work experience section, and share examples of how to make your background stand out.
Your education section is a critical component of your lawyer resume. It's where you showcase your academic achievements and qualifications that make you a strong candidate for the role. Here are some key tips to keep in mind when writing your education section:
As a lawyer, you can convey your experience in the field by starting every accomplishment with a strong action verb that affirms your relevant background. While there will be other skills that are personally applicable for you, you should aim to work in the relevant skills from the ones we’ve listed above as it will help elevate your resume both in the automatic rankings and in the eyes of the hiring manager.
Outside of your bullet points, you can work these action verbs into a short summary at the top of your resume if you wish to include one.
For a full list of effective resume action verbs, visit Resume Action Verbs.
Lawyers of all specialities are engaged in similar work to some degree, as lawyers manage client and case logs. To get your resume past automatic screening tools and make it eye-catching to hiring managers, you should aim to work in the skills we’ve listed at the left.
As in the resumes we reviewed, you should be including these skills in each of your bullet points whenever possible (even for positions not related to working in the field of law). This will help hiring managers see that your accomplishments are relevant to the position.
Additionally, you can opt to include a skills bank on the side or the bottom of your resume. This serves as an efficient indicator for hiring managers who are scanning resumes that you know what the work entails and can handle it.
Lastly, you could start your resume with a short summary statement that integrates the relevant skills you’ve practiced as a lawyer to give a good first impression.
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:
This word cloud highlights the important keywords that appear on Lawyer job descriptions and resumes. The bigger the word, the more frequently it appears on job postings, and the more 'important' it is.
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.
