Lawyer Resume Examples & Templates for 2025

More Lawyer Resume Examples

Explore our lawyer resume examples to learn how to highlight your legal expertise, courtroom experience, and key accomplishments. These legal resume samples will help you create a compelling resume that appeals to potential employers.

Advice for Writing Your Lawyer Resume

Check out our tips on how to write a resume that speaks to the unique demands of the legal profession and helps you make a strong impression in your job search.

Highlight your most relevant skills

Listing relevant skills is a key part of applying for a lawyer position because it helps employers quickly see how you fit the role. A dedicated skills section allows you to organize your top abilities and show what you bring to the table.

Aim to balance technical skills, like legal research, contract drafting, or litigation, with interpersonal skills such as negotiation, communication, and problem-solving. This mix demonstrates that you can handle both the demands of legal work and client relationships effectively.

To make your resume even stronger, weave key skills into your work experience section. Instead of just listing tasks you’ve done, describe how your skills made an impact in past roles. For example, highlight how your expertise in case analysis helped win a complex trial or how your negotiation ability led to a favorable settlement.

By carefully choosing which skills to showcase and where to place them on your resume, you can create a clear and compelling story about why you’re the right lawyer for the job. Remember, tailoring these sections to match the needs of the specific role will make a lasting impression.

Showcase your accomplishments

When you’re organizing your work experience as a lawyer, it’s best to list your jobs in reverse chronological order. This means starting with your most recent position and working backward. Each entry should have the job title, employer name, location, and employment dates clearly stated.

This format helps employers quickly see where you’ve been working and for how long, making it easier for them to understand your career progression.

Instead of just listing what you did day-to-day, try to quantify your accomplishments. Numbers make achievements stand out more than simple responsibilities. For instance, rather than saying you handled legal cases, mention how many cases you won or the percentage increase in successful outcomes during your tenure.

You can also highlight time savings by introducing efficient processes or cost reductions achieved through strategic legal advice. Using action-oriented words like “led,” “improved,” or “negotiated” gives life to your duties and showcases measurable results.

Quantified accomplishments allow hiring managers to quickly assess the impact you’ve made as a lawyer. They help paint a picture of your skills and contributions at each job, showing that you didn’t just fulfill responsibilities but made meaningful changes. Remember to focus on core duties that reflect positively on your ability to drive results in the legal field.

5 lawyer work history bullet points

• Drafted and negotiated over 100 complex commercial contracts annually, achieving a 98% client satisfaction rate.
• Successfully litigated 20+ cases in civil court, resulting in favorable outcomes for clients in 85% of cases.
• Advised clients on regulatory compliance, reducing potential legal risks by 40% through comprehensive audits.
• Led a team of junior attorneys in conducting legal research, improving case preparation efficiency by 25%.
• Implemented an innovative document management system that decreased retrieval time by 50%, streamlining workflow processes.

Write a strong professional summary

A professional summary on a resume serves as an introduction to hiring managers, offering a snapshot of your qualifications.

This brief section highlights your experience, skills, and achievements, making it ideal for experienced applicants who wish to showcase their professional identity quickly. The aim is to illustrate what you have accomplished in your career and how this can benefit the potential employer.

Resume objectives are statements about your career goals and intentions. They are perfect for entry-level applicants, those making career changes, or individuals with gaps in their work history. While summaries highlight past accomplishments (“what I’ve done”), objectives focus on future contributions (“what I aim to contribute”).

Next, we’ll provide examples of both professional summaries and resume objectives tailored to different industries and varying levels of experience.

Lawyer resume summary examples

Lawyer resume objective examples

Match your resume to the job description

Tailoring your resume to specific job descriptions is important because it helps you stand out. An applicant tracking system (ATS) scans resumes for keywords from the job posting. By ensuring your resume matches these words, you’re more likely to catch the employer’s eye.

An ATS-friendly resume includes keywords that match your skills with what the job needs. This means using the same words and phrases found in job descriptions so hiring managers can easily see that you’re a good fit for their team.

To find these keywords, carefully read the job posting. Look for repeated skills, qualifications, and duties. For instance, if a lawyer job posting mentions “legal research,” “client representation,” or “contract negotiation” several times, these are important terms to include in your resume.

Incorporate these terms naturally into your resume by rephrasing your past work experiences. Instead of saying “Handled legal cases,” you could write “Conducted thorough legal research to support successful client representation.” This approach shows you have done similar work before.

Using targeted resumes ensures they align with ATS requirements. By focusing on specific jobs and customizing your resume, you increase your chances of moving past initial screenings and getting noticed by employers looking for lawyers like you.