Lawyer Resume Sample

Are you a Lawyer by profession and looking for an exciting career? We have good news for you! use our professional Senior Lawyer Resume Sample. You don’t have to start writing from scratch. Just click “Edit Resume” and modify it with your details. Update the template fonts and colors have the best chance of landing your dream job. Find more resume samples.

Jessica Kevin

Lawyer

Summary

Highly focused, great analysis, argumentation and investigation skills. Has leader qualities and participates actively in all assigned tasks; excelling his diligence and responsibility. Seeks to establish a career with a major law firm committed to uphold and utilize the full strength of the law to help those in need to find trust and faith in our judicial system.

Skills

  • Research
  • Communication
  • Quick learner
  • Team work
  • Writing
  • Perseverance
  • Analytical
  • Logical Thinking Ability

Work Experience

Legal Consultant

Hilton Bank Group

Present

Worked as a member of the consultancy team for the renovation and consolidation of the Colombian Judicial Branch Information Systems.

Consultant

Deloitte NewYork

Apr 2019

Member of the audit and consultancy team to different financial entities and public service providers.

Coordinator

State Education Regulation

Present

Coordination of different academic activities concerning international economic regulation matters.

Junior Associate

Morgan Assets

Sep 2018

Legal advisory to local and foreign clients on competition law concerns.

Education

Masters in Law

San Jose State University

May 2017

Bachelors in Arts (Economics)

Northeastern University

Jun 2011

Languages

  • English
  • French
  • Arabic
  • German

Career Expert Tips:

  • Always make sure you choose the perfect resume format to suit your professional experience.
  • Ensure that you know how to write a resume in a way that highlights your competencies.
  • Check the expert curated popular good CV and resume examples

How to write a Lawyer Resume [Step by step guide]

If you’re looking for a new job and specifically want to be a lawyer, your resume is one of the most important assets that you have when applying for that job.

It’s important that your resume highlights all the right skills and experience so hiring managers will take notice.

The following guide will teach you how to write an excellent lawyer resume, from crafting a perfect cover letter to customizing it according to an individual field.

This will be an excellent time to rethink your resume and are more pertinent times than ever for employers to target.

Lawyer Resume Section you need to Include:

There are a number of different styles that a lawyer might use, but the most common types of resumes follow this pattern:

Summary paragraph
Tell us who you are. Include your background, education or training, and any relevant experience. Make sure you highlight your most relevant skills and experience. Your summary may also include information that can be used in the professional summary part of the resume.

Professional Experience
You will want to provide the title and employer for each position of employment. Include job duties and accomplishments listed in bullet form. Always indicate the start date of employment, end date (if known), hours worked per week, and salary. It is also a good idea to include a description or summary of your duties. Do not include personal information like age or years of experience in this section.

Education
List all the relevant education you have completed including specific dates attended and degrees obtained. List schools first and degrees second.

References
List names and contact information for 3 references who can speak to your professional skills, including experience in the field you are seeking employment as a lawyer. You may also want to include a description of your relationship with those reference individuals. You will also need to submit an online form for verification purposes, so be sure to include these details in this section. Don’t forget that the names on your references will be sent directly to the hiring manager when you submit your resume to them.

If you have an extensive work history, you may even want to consider splitting your resume into two separate ones. Perhaps one that highlights your experience in the field and another that specifically focuses on your academic background. Or, you might use a chronological resume or functional resume.

Whatever type of format you select for your lawyer resume, always remember to include all the relevant details and focus on what makes you most qualified for the job role in question.

Tailor Your Resume

It’s always a good idea to tailor your resume according to the job you are applying for. In most cases, you would be expected to create two resumes – one for law firms and one for in-house positions.

When tailoring your resume as a law firm lawyer, you will want to include details on what makes you an excellent fit for the position advertised. This means that all of your experience should be highlighted and relevant to the job role in question.

Tips to write a Lawyer Resume summary:

  • Start with a good introduction
  • Describe your skills and experience
  • Add interesting facts about yourself
  • The finish on a catchy line

There are many different kinds of lawyers out there, each practicing in their own area of law and all of them needing to build an impressive resume to break into the field. Whether you are just starting out or have been practicing for many years, putting together an effective lawyer resume requires dedication, determination and most importantly – relevant content which can be customized for each potential employer.

Summary example:
“Having 10 years experience in criminal law, I have the knowledge and expertise to help you with any matter. I am a founding member at (insert name of workplace), where I am responsible for all commercial litigation and capital punishment cases. I have the utmost respect for victims’ rights and would make sure that your rights are protected throughout every stage of this process.”

Lawyer Skills Have to Include:

  1. Legal Research
  2. Legal Writing
  3. Legal Analysis
  4. Legal Drafting
  5. Settlement or Dispute Resolution
  6. Contracts Law
  7. Legal Ethics
  8. Law Practice Management
  9. Legal Education
  10. Trial Advocacy
  11. Civil and Criminal Procedure
  12. Negotiations Skills and Contract Drafting
  13. Patent Law
  14. Business Law

1. Legal Research: In a legal career many research tasks are required, finding the information you need in a legal document is one of them but you also need to know how to extract it from the document as well as using templates

2. Legal Writing: Legal writing is more than just putting together sentences and paragraphs, it requires skill and flair. You need to be able to write clearly but in a way that will apply the law, if you miss out a crucial part of a sentence or paragraph your legal argument could be affected because the judge or jury could not understand it properly.

3. Legal Analysis: Analyzing a legal situation or an idea requires knowledge and skill in law.

4. Legal Drafting: Drafting is the process of writing a legal document and is best done by a professional lawyer, but even if you are not working as a lawyer you should learn the basics of drafting so it can make you stand out from other candidates. It’s also useful to see how other lawyers are drafting their documents and using templates to help with this process.

5. Settlement or Dispute Resolution: In a legal career you will come across many situations where an argument is brought to a resolution, there are often ways to settle out of court but some cases may lead to litigation, in both of these scenarios you should know how to handle the dispute or the conflict between the parties involved.

6. Contracts Law: In a legal career many contracts need to be drafted. Contracts can be used for business deals, contracts between individuals and relationships, and you could also have to draft a contract between a client and his or her attorney. You will need to be able to handle the legal requirements of each of these different types of contracts so you will stand out from other candidates.

7. Legal Ethics: In a legal career you may deal with sensitive topics and situations which may require you to know how to handle legal ethics.

8. Law Practice Management: Many young lawyers are entering their first law firm start from entry-level work and they need to know the basic principles of managing a law firm, how to work with clients, and how to get ready for the next step up in your career as a lawyer.

9. Copyright and Trademark Law: To protect intellectual property you need to be able to write and understand the functions of copyright and trademark law.

10. Corporate Law: The laws in the business world are constantly changing, knowing the ins and outs of corporate law will help you gain experience in the area before your career takes off.

11. Law and Gaming: Having to draft contracts and agreements for games is a legal requirement in the video game industry, making sure you know the ins and outs of this aspect of the game business will help you stand out from other candidates.

12. Alternative Dispute Resolution: In many cases in life there are no quick resolutions to disputes, but there are often ways to settle out of court and that can be achieved with mediation or arbitration.

13. Patent Law: To protect intellectual property you need to be able to write and understand the functions of patent law.

14. Business Strategy and Planning: A lawyer needs to have a good understanding of the fundamental legal concepts that goes into business strategy and planning including accounting, cost analysis, productivity analysis, and sales analysis.

Lawyer Cover Letter Writing Tips:

  • Always tailor your cover letter. Some lawyers are not accepting cover letters, while others love getting a personalized cover letter.
  • Make sure that you include your GPA (but if it’s below 3.0, don’t put it).
  • It’s always good to have an undergraduate or graduate degree in law (even if it’s not relevant).
  • Make sure that you highlighted your relevant skills (e.g., if you have a course from Harvard Business School, then highlight this on your resume)
  • Include any relevant experience as an attorney as well as any relevant experience (for example, if you worked at Microsoft and had to deal with contracts, then highlight this on your resume).

Key Takeaways:

  • Consider who will be reading your resume and tailor your resume accordingly
  • Use strong action verbs and keep your resume short, but include all pertinent information
  • Make the most of every line on your resume; use white space for best results- Follow standard formatting to make sure you are showcasing your skills in the best way possible
  • Keep a resume template on hand for quick personalization of future resumes