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The Legal Resume

GeneralFormat
Length
Appearance
Style Tips
Education
First Section -- Personal Information
Second Section -- Education
Third Section -- Experience
Non - Legal Experience
Employment Gaps
Listing Bar Membership
Other Sections Of Your Legal Resume
Sample Resumes

One of the first steps in the job search process is the development of your legal resume. The purpose of the resume is to introduce yourself to a potential employer. The content of the resume includes personal identification, educational background, honors and activities, academic standing, and employment experience. A good resume is concise and accurate. It should interest and inform the employer concerning your unique abilities and skills.

Employers typically spend one minute or less looking at your resume. From this initial scan, they often make rejection decisions. For this reason, you should give serious effort and time to developing your resume.

General Format

The resume generally has three sections: Personal information, education and experience. Personal information is composed of your name, usually in a bolder and larger font than other entries, your current address, a reliable phone number and your email address. The primary entries under education are schools and any corresponding activities and awards. The experience section lists present and previous employers and details about your responsibilities and duties. It is customary to list all entries in the education and experience sections in reverse chronological order (most recent first). It is critical to be consistent in the arrangement of your information under these section headings.

Length

The general rule is to limit the resume to one page. You may list references on a second page. Some students – particularly mature students with considerable pre-law experience – often feel the necessity to go to two pages. However, it is advisable to summarize non-legal experience briefly so that it accurately reflects your experience but does not consume too much of your resume space. If you feel that the information is pertinent to the employment opportunity, then include it, but evaluate your information under other headings to identify information that can be omitted or condensed without weakening the value of your resume as a marketing tool. You don’t want to clutter your resume with nonessential information. You do want to emphasize your strengths and accomplishments as they relate to your employment goal.

Appearance

Your resume should be easy to read or scan along the left-hand margin and free of typos. Your resume and cover letter should be on matching stationery, preferably white or off-white, 100% cotton bond paper.

While margins may vary to accommodate individual situation, normally a resume’s margins will be about 1 inch on the left and right and between 0.6 and 1.2 inches on the top and bottom. Strive for consistency and centering throughout your resume in terms of spacing within the text and the white space at the borders.
Tabs should also be used in a consistent manner for the placement of similar information within individual entries under each heading.

Keep the same font style throughout your resume and choose a conservative and easy to read font that converts smoothly to the PDF format. Some fonts to consider include Arrus, Book Antiqua, Century Schoolbook, Courier, Garamond (the font of this document), Times New Roman, Arial, Lucida Sans, Century Gothic, Maiandra, or GeoSlab. Font size should be 12 for the body of your resume and a larger font – at least two points – for your name or a major sub-heading. Using a 14 or larger font bolded for your name and a half point or a point smaller font for the address and phone information allows the name to be the focal point of your personal information.

Avoid the use of too many graphic elements to highlight or personalize your resume. When using format tools to arrange and organize your information, be consistent in your placement of these graphics.

Style Tips

It is appropriate to use bold-face print to emphasize your name, institution, and employment organization:

Elizabeth Wright
Appalachian School of Law
United States Attorney for the Southwestern District of Virginia
Muldoon & Sullivan, Attorneys at Law

Use italics to designate awards, honors, or activities as well as undergraduate/graduate major (s), and job titles, like this:

cum laude Intern

Keep underlining to a minimum and use it primarily to separate various sections of your resume or to underline information that is properly underlined in accordance with punctuating guidelines, like this:

Education

Use commas and semi-colons when listing activities, honors, and job responsibilities formatted in a block style, like this:

Assisted staff attorneys with grand jury indictments; investigated and evaluated cases; provided legal research.

Whatever stylistic devices you choose to incorporate into your resume, use moderation and consistency. You want your overall appearance to be balanced and organized, and the information easy to locate and understand.

FIRST SECTION -- PERSONAL INFORMATION

The name is almost always centered in bold at the top margin (although placing it on the left margin at the top is another option.) Your address (both current and permanent) should be included as well as a reliable phone number. These entries are typically centered underneath the name and are generally two points smaller than the name. Make sure your email address does not include unprofessional words. If you have several names, only include the name that you are known by. Here are some examples:

Elizabeth Wright
P.O. Box 336
Tazewell, VA 24624
(540) 555-5555
ewright@asl.edu

or

Elizabeth Wright
P.O. Box 336; Tazewell, VA 24624 (540) 555-5555 ewright@asl.edu

or

Elizabeth Wright
Current Address: ewright@asl.edu Permanent Address:
PO Box 3 PO Box 336
Grundy, VA 24614 Tazewell, VA 24624
(276) 555-5555 (540) 555-5555

Employment Objective

Do not include a job or employment objective section. Your career objectives and plans should be addressed in a cover letter.

SECOND SECTION -- EDUCATION

The Education section typically precedes the Experience section in your resume unless you have been out of law school for several years and have significant work experience that is especially relevant to the job you are seeking.

In this part of your resume, list advanced degrees first and work back to undergraduate degrees.

The general rule on grades and class rank is to include your law school standing if you are in the top 50%. Listing grade point averages on the resume is optional. An impressive GPA is often self-evident from your honors – if you graduated cum laude for instance. If you do choose to include your grades, do so in brackets next to honors such as cum laude or next to class rank. Given that the curve at ASL is low, it is possible that you are near the top of your class with a middle-B average. You must be prepared to discuss the subject of grades in an interview since many employers will eventually ask about grades. There is a grading and curve explanation on ASL letterhead in the Career Services office that you should bring to any interviews.

Providing GPA for undergraduate or other graduate degrees is also optional but should be omitted if your academic achievements in earlier pursuits draw attention to a less than outstanding academic performance.

The entries under the education section include (1) the name of the school (always first); (2) the location of the school; (3) the name of any degrees received and the year awarded or the expected date of completion; (4) your major; and (5) subsections setting forth honors and activities for each educational degree.

The “Honors” section should list any awards or distinctions you received, such as Dean’s List, school awards for scholarship, or any enhancement of the degree such as cum laude, magna or summa cum laude (these are always italicized and are always lower case). Entries in this subsection are typically listed one per line.

In the “Activities” section, you should indicate any student organization memberships, elected offices, or activities in which you have participated. Be selective and try to limit this information to three to five entries. You want to give the employer a clear understanding of your level of achievement and involvement but not overwhelm the employer with details of every committee you served on or every scholarship you received. Give full names of organizations, rather than acronyms and add a brief explanation of activities or affiliations not easily recognized by a name or title alone.

Education Appalachian School of Law, Grundy, Virginia
J.D. Expected, 2004
Class Rank: Top 15%
Honors: Book Award for Constitutional Law II
Activities: Appalachian Journal of Law, Co-editor, 2002-2003
Student Bar Association, Vice President, 2003
American Trial Lawyers Association (ATLA) Trial Team, 2002-2003
Community service project: Mentor and tutor elementary school students about alternative methods of dispute resolution for the prevention of violence in the school

THIRD SECTION -- EXPERIENCE

The Experience section is usually the most difficult to write since this section provides details and descriptions of volunteer or unpaid positions along with paid positions. It is important to organize this information prior to writing your resume. At this point you will want to take some time to identify every activity you performed for each job listed. Descriptions are everything in this section, since they capture the scope of your experience and accomplishments. Create a vivid picture of the type of work you have done and the extent of your responsibilities.

Try not to exaggerate your responsibilities – your resume should accurately reflect your experience and accomplishments without embellishment. Details are important and you want to accentuate those work experiences most critical to your current search. Your experience descriptions should be short phrases that begin with an action verb like these examples: Synthesized legal research; Drafted pretrial argument memoranda; Interviewed prospective clients.

After you have created a detailed summary of your duties and responsibilities for each job, begin to limit your list. Think of your audience – what skills and abilities are employers looking for? Emphasize those skills and abilities that demonstrate your ability to do the job.

The entry under Experience should include: (1) the name of the employer in bold; (2) the employer’s location on the same line regular type; (3) italicized title of the position on the next line, followed on the same line by the dates worked in regular type; (4) the job description beginning on the third line, which ideally should be no more than two or three lines long, arranged in a block format with the appropriate punctuation separating each description to clearly delineate the different areas of responsibility and accomplishment, like this:

Experience US District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Abingdon, VA Extern, Summer 2002
Researched level of scrutiny required when state and federal law differ; wrote memorandum on impact of recent Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) guidance; drafted opinions as directed by judge
Appalachian School of Law, Grundy, VA
Library Assistant, Summer 2003
Designed and constructed library database; organized and indexed books and reference volumes

Client Centered Legal Services, Castlewood, VA
Summer Law Clerk, Summer 2003
Interviewed prospective clients and assisted in the resolution of legal issues; researched and wrote briefs and motions for ongoing civil litigation

Non-Legal Experience

You should not create separate sections for legal and nonlegal work. Instead emphasize relevant jobs as part of your professional growth. Many jobs utilize good “lawyering” skills such as research, writing, communication skills, time management skills and the essential work ethic that is supported by the scope of your experience and accomplishments, like this:

Experience WIFX Radio Station, Whitesburg, Kentucky
Sales Representative,2000.
Developed customer service and communication skills while managing existing accounts and growth of client base.
Disc Jockey, 1993-1997.
On air personality: developed public speaking skills delivering daily radio programming. Responsible for the production and engineering of radio broadcasts.

Camp Morgan, Kingsport, Tennessee
Senior Camp Counselor, Summers 1993-1995.
Supervised ten to twelve youth at residential camp. Taught tennis to fifty campers daily. Conducted private lessons, designed activities, and scheduled daily events.

Other Employment. 1990-1994. Various summer and part-time jobs to finance education including waiter, sales clerk, and cashier.

You should help your prospective employers visualize you working by using active language to describe your experiences. For example, did you just read cases in law school, or did you organize and synthesize information? A list of active verbs follows:

 

accelerated	accomplished	achieved
acquired	adapted	addressed
adjusted	administered	advised
aided	allocated	analyzed
applied	appointed	appraised
arbitrated	argued	arranged
articulated	assembled	assessed
assigned	assisted	audited
authorized	awarded	began
bolstered	briefed	budgeted
built	calculated	cataloged
chaired	charted	clarified
classified	closed	collected
collaborated	combined	communicated
compared	compiled	completed
composed	conducted	conserved
consolidated	constructed	consulted
contacted	controlled	convinced
coordinated	corresponded	counseled
created	critiqued	debated
decided	defined	delegated
delivered	demonstrated	designed
determined	developed	devised
directed	discovered	distributed
documented	drafted	edited
eliminated	enlarged	enlisted
ensured	established	evaluated
examined	executed	exhibited
expanded	explained	explored
facilitated	filed	followed
formulated	fostered	founded
functioned	gathered	generated
guided	handled	heightened
identified	illustrated	implemented
improved	increased	informed
inspected	initiated	instituted
instructed	interpreted	interrogated
interviewed	introduced	invented
investigated	joined	judged
launched	lectured	led
located	maintained	managed
maximized	mediated	modeled
modified	monitored	motivated
negotiated	observed	obtained
operated	ordered	organized
outlined	oversaw	participated
performed	persuaded	planned
prepared	presented	processed
procured	produced	programmed
projected	promoted	proposed
provided	purchased	pursued
questioned	reasoned	received
recommended	recorded	recruited
reduced	referred	related
rendered	reported	represented
researched	resolved	responded
retained	retrieved	revealed
reviewed	revised	rewrote
scheduled	searched	secured
selected	served	set-up
shaped	shared	solicited
solved	streamlined	strengthened
structured	studied	submitted
summarized	supervised	supplied
supported	surveyed	talked
targeted	taught	tested
tracked	trained	transformed
translated	traveled	tutored
uncovered	updated	utilized
worked	wrote

Employment Gaps

Give careful thought to how to address any weak spots on your resume, and be prepared to explain gaps in the chronology of your education or work experience during interviews.

Listing Bar Membership

If applicable, your admittance/licensure to the bar should be listed in its own section on your resume, usually at the bottom. If you have taken steps to be admitted to federal court in your jurisdiction, be sure to list each level. Here are some examples:

Licensure Admitted to the Virginia State Bar, October 2002

or

License Licensed to practice in Virginia and Kentucky

or

Bare Memberships Virginia, Oregon, Federal District Court for the District of Oregon, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

OTHER SECTIONS OF YOUR LEGAL RESUME

You might choose to add other sections, depending upon your situation and your current search. Some additional sections might include: “Computer Experience”, “Languages”, “Volunteer and Community Service”, and “Interests”. When deciding what additional sections to add, consider why an employer would want the information. Interests should not be listed unless you know they are relevant. List interests that indicate advanced achievement. For example, Olympic medals or national rankings.

Interestes Earned silver medal at 2000 World Chess Match; Ranked Master Sommelier by International Wine Enthusiasts Organization

Remember that your resume serves as a marketing tool to promote you to prospective employers. Plan to rewrite your resume many times during your legal education and your professional career. It is also a good idea to create more than one resume if you plan to approach more than one type of employer. Researching potential employers is vital – you need to use the language and emphasize the skills that are relevant to each individual employment situation.

REFERENCES

Do not include references on your resume but prepare a separate page of references, which can be attached to your resume. The references list should be formatted in the same manner as your resume. Your name, address, and phone number should be at the top, with “References” typed in the same format as the “Education” and “Experience” sections on your resume. This heading should be followed by the names, titles, organization names, addresses, email contacts and telephone numbers of references.

Three to four references are usually sufficient and should include former employers or law school faculty; never family members or friends. Do not list anyone as a reference unless you have prior permission. If your relationship to the reference is not obvious based on information previously given, include a line or two that gives a brief explanation of the relationship. This information can be placed to the right of the reference entry. Here are some examples:

Elizabeth Wright
123 Fifth AvenueAbingdon, VA 24687
(540) 555-5555
ewright@yahoo.com

References

The Honorable Cynthia Kinser
Justice, Supreme Court of Virginia
P.O. Box 457
Pennington Gap, VA 24277
(540) 546-4563
ckinser@usva.gov

(Justice Kinser appears on the resume; no explanation necessary)

or

Bobby Vinton I worked with Bobby Vinton
573 Mitchell Ave. during a summer externship in
Lexington, VA 40503 2001, researching for Social
(606) 55512123 Security Disability Appellate briefs.

Skills Developed by Law Students

Adapted from What Can You Do With A Law Degree, A Lawyer’s Guide to Career Alternatives Inside, Outside & Around the Law, by Deborah Arron, 1999.

Students learn many valuable skills in law school. The following list provides examples of the skills law students develop by preparing and studying for their classes.

Reading casebooks: understand complex facts, issues and analysis; digest large quantities of material; learn technical jargon and “terms of art”

Briefing cases: identify issues, think critically, summarize facts and issues succinctly, generalize ideas from extensive reading material

Writing memoranda: organize and synthesize information, write clearly and accurately, explain facts precisely, analyze issues, apply precedent to new fact situations, write objectively or persuasively depending on the reader and purpose of the memo, edit, cite check, proofread

Performing legal research: find primary and secondary sources related to research topics, use the Internet and online sources to facilitate research, evaluate sources, synthesize information from multiple sources, cite check

Preparing assignments for class: meet deadlines, manage time, create high quality work product, follow directions, perform tasks accurately and precisely

Engaging in classroom discussions: communicate effectively, speak in public, defend a position, listen to others, respect diverse opinions

Participating in study groups: engage in teamwork, exchange information and ideas with others, demonstrate discipline, accommodate a variety of leaning styles

Outlining class notes: organize and synthesize information, understand and identify critical concepts, summarize cases and doctrine

Participating in moot court: speak persuasively, articulate or advocate a position, listen critically, explain issues in understandable terms

Participating in clinical programs: meet deadlines, provide counsel and advice, create and organize files, interview people, explain legal issues in understandable terms

Taking an exam: manage time, identify issues, write concisely, perform under pressure

Participating in student organizations: demonstrate leadership, follow through on assigned tasks, work effectively with fellow students

The Writing Sample

Student and graduate are often asked to submit a writing sample when applying for a legal position. The purpose of the writing sample is to show that you are capable of analyzing legal issues and writing a coherent analysis.

The sample should be 8-10 pages long and include analysis of a legal issues with case citations in consistent form (either Allwood or Blue Book, as long as they are consistent throughout the sample) If multiple writing samples are requested, be certain that the same citation format is used for all samples.

Edited vs. Unedited sample

If an employer specifically asks for an unedited writing sample, this means that you must give them something that has not been revised for a class or that you got feedback on from a faculty member or other attorney. If you do not have an unedited writing sample, you must include a footnote disclosing that your writing sample has been edited and by whom.

SAMPLE RESUMES

• Sample Resume 1

• Sample Resume 2