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Commonwealth attorney skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

James Tomaszewski,

James Tomaszewski

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical commonwealth attorney skills. We ranked the top skills for commonwealth attorneys based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 14.8% of commonwealth attorney resumes contained legal research as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a commonwealth attorney needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 commonwealth attorney skills for your resume and career

1. Legal Research

Here's how commonwealth attorneys use legal research:

Performed legal research and drafted responses to discovery requests.
Conducted legal research on appellate issues.

2. Criminal Cases

A criminal case is a court proceeding in which a person is charged with committing a crime against the state or the community. Such individuals are brought for trials, to decide they are guilty or not. There are two kinds of criminal cases misdemeanors and felonies. A misdemeanor is a crime on a lower level like traffic offenses or minor assaults. While felonies are offenses on a higher level.

Here's how commonwealth attorneys use criminal cases:

Prosecuted felony and misdemeanor criminal cases, including over thirty jury trials.
Composed appellate briefs for criminal cases appealed to the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Court of Appeals of Virginia.

3. District Court

Here's how commonwealth attorneys use district court:

Prosecuted misdemeanor, felony preliminary, and juvenile-delinquency cases in Virginia state district courts
Prosecuted all misdemeanor crimes in the General District Court and the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court on a daily basis.

4. Domestic Relations

Here's how commonwealth attorneys use domestic relations:

Job duties include preparing and trying all cases in Louisa General District, Juvenile and Domestic Relations, and Circuit Courts.
Prosecuted in all three courts (General District, Juvenile and Domestic Relations as well as the Circuit Court.)

5. Criminal Law

Here's how commonwealth attorneys use criminal law:

Worked with Law Enforcement to resolve cases, researched issues affecting criminal law, and interviewed victims and witnesses.
Attended superior court cases and weekly information sessions presented by Assistant District Attorneys in different specializations of criminal law.

6. Law Enforcement Officials

Here's how commonwealth attorneys use law enforcement officials:

Prepared law enforcement officials for grand jury presentments and drafted jury instructions for use in felony criminal trials.
Participated in ongoing investigations with law enforcement officials and negotiated numerous plea agreements when necessary.

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7. Appeals

Here's how commonwealth attorneys use appeals:

Litigated misdemeanor appeals in Circuit Court.
Drafted appellate briefs to the Virginia Court of Appeals and the Virginia Supreme Court.

8. Felony Cases

Felony cases are regarded as serious and violent crimes such as murder, rape, kidnapping, burglary, and arson. Compared to misdemeanor and petty crimes, felony cases involve greater punishment such as incarceration and even the death penalty..

Here's how commonwealth attorneys use felony cases:

Prosecuted felony cases in the 13th Circuit handling a variety of cases from the Grand Jury through sentencing.
Prosecuted felony cases, including assault, wanton endangerment, kidnapping, sex abuse and murder.

9. Legal Issues

Here's how commonwealth attorneys use legal issues:

Examined hundreds of police reports and witness statements to identify key legal issues.
Prepare trial level and appellate briefs on specific legal issues.

10. Law Enforcement Agencies

Here's how commonwealth attorneys use law enforcement agencies:

Provide legal advice for local law enforcement agencies; assist in the review and drafting of search warrants.
Worked with multiple law enforcement agencies to ensure proper charging and investigation.

11. Legal Advice

Here's how commonwealth attorneys use legal advice:

Provide legal advice and counsel to victims, law enforcement, and the general public.
Provided strategic legal advice to senior management and all departments regarding Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer compliance issues.

12. Trial Preparation

Trial preparation is the practice of gathering sufficient raw material for a court case. This preparation is done to make the bases of a case stronger by bringing the facts to light in a way that will give the concerned law bodies a better comprehension of the entire scenario. The method for preparing for a case may differ depending upon its nature.

Here's how commonwealth attorneys use trial preparation:

Collaborated with attorneys in hearing and trial preparation in criminal proceedings.
Assist the Commonwealth's Attorney with trial preparation and interviews of minor victims and victims of violent crimes.

13. Violent Crimes

Here's how commonwealth attorneys use violent crimes:

Prosecuted other crimes including other violent crimes and white-collar crimes in bench and jury trials.
Assess counseling services and treatment for victims of violent crimes.

14. Bench Trials

Here's how commonwealth attorneys use bench trials:

Displayed superior oral advocacy skills and sound judgment as lead counsel in approximately fifty jury trials and hundreds of bench trials.
Served as lead prosecutor on sixty-three jury trials and hundreds of bench trials.

15. Appellate Briefs

Here's how commonwealth attorneys use appellate briefs:

Researched and drafted trial and appellate briefs and memoranda.
Have also conducted numerous probable cause hearings, bond hearings, suppression hearings and have also written numerous appellate briefs.

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What skills help Commonwealth Attorneys find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on commonwealth attorney resumes?

James Tomaszewski

Director of the Center for Professional Development, University of Cincinnati

Demonstrated commitment to a particular practice area, especially experiential learning opportunities such as externships and clinics.

What hard/technical skills are most important for commonwealth attorneys?

James Tomaszewski

Director of the Center for Professional Development, University of Cincinnati

Excellent writing skills.

What soft skills should all commonwealth attorneys possess?

James Tomaszewski

Director of the Center for Professional Development, University of Cincinnati

Engagement, Resilience, Responsiveness, Respectfulness, Integrity.

What commonwealth attorney skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Hanna Royce

Assistant Dean of Career Services, University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law

The key to success is to add new and relevant legal experience to their resume. If graduates are not taking on full-time roles, this could mean completing document review or project work on a contract basis.

Do you want to know more?

List of commonwealth attorney skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a commonwealth attorney resume and required skills for a commonwealth attorney to have include:

Legal Research
Criminal Cases
District Court
Domestic Relations
Criminal Law
Law Enforcement Officials
Appeals
Felony Cases
Legal Issues
Law Enforcement Agencies

Legal Advice
Trial Preparation
Violent Crimes
Bench Trials
Appellate Briefs
DUI
Legal Briefs
Crime Victims
Subpoenas
Defense Counsel

Defense Attorneys
Non-Jury Trials
Management System
Sexual Assault
County Circuit Court
Domestic Violence
Prosecutions
Plea Agreements

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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