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Lawyer resume examples from 2026

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Land interviews using Zippia's AI-powered resume builder.

Updated March 26, 2025
6 min read
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How to write a lawyer resume

Craft a resume summary statement

A resume summary is your opening statement that highlights your strongest skills and top accomplishments. It is your chance to quickly let recruiters know who you are professionally - and why they should hire you for the lawyer role.

Step 1: Mention your current job title or the role you're pursuing.

Step 2: Include your years of experience in lawyer-related roles. Consider adding relevant company and industry experience as relevant to the job listing.

Step 3: Highlight your greatest accomplishments. Here is your chance to make sure your biggest wins aren't buried in your resume.

Step 4: Again, keep it short. Your goal is to summarize your experience and highlight your accomplishments, not write a paragraph.

These tips will help you demonstrate why you are the perfect fit for the lawyer position.

Please upload your resume so Zippia’s job hunt AI can draft a summary statement for you.

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List the right project manager skills

Your Skills section is an easy way to let recruiters know you have the skills to do the job. Just as importantly, it can help your resume not get filtered out by hiring software. Here is how to make the most of your skills section and make sure you have the right keywords:

  1. Look to the job listing. You often need to include the exact keywords from the job description. Take note of the skills listed for the job.
  2. Put all relevant hard and soft skills in your skills section.
  3. Be specific. If you are too broad, you may not be giving the best picture of your skills and leave the hiring manager uncertain of your abilities.
  4. Be up to date. Software names change and companies merge. Don't look out of touch by being careless.
  5. Be accurate. Spelling and even upper or lowercase can dramatically change meanings. Make sure you are correctly listing your skills.
These five steps should give you a strong elevator pitch and land you some lawyer interviews.

Here are example skills to include in your “Area of Expertise” on a lawyer resume:

  • Litigation
  • Law Firm
  • Legal Issues
  • Real Estate
  • Legal Research
  • Civil Law
  • Legal Advice
  • Intellectual Property
  • Juris
  • Trial Preparation
  • Legal Support
  • Employment Law
  • Due Diligence
  • Financial Institutions
  • Administrative Law
  • Legal Services
  • Social Security
  • Civil Litigation
  • Corporate Law
  • Family Law
  • Contract Law
  • Private Practice
  • Labor Law
  • Criminal Law
  • Criminal Cases
  • Notary
  • Corporate Governance
  • Legal Assistance
  • Advise Clients
  • Legal Rights

Zippia’s AI can customize your resume for you.

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How to structure your work experience

Your work experience should be structured:

  1. With your most recent roles first, followed by earlier roles in reverse chronological order.
  2. Job title, along with company name and location on the left.
  3. Put the corresponding dates of employment on the left side.
  4. Keep only relevant jobs on your work experience.

How to write lawyer experience bullet points

Effective job bullet points do more than just describe your job duties. Instead, they should be specific and measurable accomplishments. Here are some strategies to mastering job bullet points:

  • Use strong action verbs like Led, Built, or Optimized.
  • Follow up with numbers when possible to support your results. How much did performance improve? How much revenue did you drive?
  • Wrap it up by explaining the actions you took to achieve the result and how you made an impact.

Here are effective examples from lawyer resumes:

Work history example #1

Legislative Assistant

American Civil Liberties Union

  • Advised the Congresswoman on issues pertinent to key topics she would be addressing, briefed on, or defending.
  • Awarded formal commendation from Partnership for Veterans Health Care Budget Reform for superior legislative services.
  • Prepared General Officers and DoD leadership for testimony.
  • Communicated with a wide range of Congressional Representatives to produce and implement new systems which improved the handling of veterans.
  • Tracked and advised Member on the following legislative issues: Education, Science and Technology, Judiciary, and Immigration.

Work history example #2

Civil Lawyer

DLA Piper

  • Represented mid-market companies in private equity investments, mergers & acquisitions, debt financings and joint ventures.
  • Assisted clients at the notary public office and negotiated licensing agreements for virtual data rooms.

Work history example #3

Judicial Clerk

United Parcel Service

  • Mastered facility computer system conversion, which included original UPS address database and a new internet-based system.

Work history example #4

Lawyer

Thomson Reuters

  • Provided legal counsel on current operations throughout U.S. Pacific Command area of responsibility.
  • Counseled national lender on state-by-state registration of trade names and corporate agents.
  • Drafted, negotiated and provided counsel to executive level clients on key national and regional operational and revenue-generating agreements.
  • Provided legal services and litigation services to FDIC.
  • Started at the FDIC as a litigation attorney (LG-11.4).

Zippia’s AI can customize your resume for you.

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Add an education section to your resume

The education section should display your highest degree first.

Place your education section appropriately on your resume. If you graduated over 5 years ago, this section should be at the bottom of your resume. If you just graduated and lack relevant work experience, the education section should go to the top.

If you have a bachelor's or master's degree, do not list your high school education. If your graduation year is more than 15-20 years ago, it's better not to include dates in this section.

Here are some examples of good education entries from lawyer resumes:

Doctoral Degree in law

Georgetown University, Washington, DC

2003 - 2006

Highlight your lawyer certifications on your resume

If you have any additional certifications or education-like achievements, add them to the education section.

Start simple. Include the full name of the certification. It's also good to mention the organization that issued the certification. Next, specify when you obtained the certification.

If you have any of these certifications, be sure to include them on your lawyer resume:

  1. MEDIC First Aid BasicPlus - G2010