Best Lawyer Resume Examples For 2025 (Template & Free Guide)

The resume's well-organized design conveys a sense of professionalism and attention to detail, especially with its traditional format, which is crucial for a lawyer's resume.

It employs a clear, legible font and well-organized formatting, ensuring essential information is easy to find. Creating properly formatted and easy-to-read documents is an integral part of a lawyer’s job, so ensure your resume demonstrates your ability to create a well-structured document.

The resume effectively displays the applicant's extensive legal experience, highlighting specific quantifiable achievements, such as "managed all stages of litigation in court for an average of 15 cases per day", and demonstrating their ability to handle complex cases.

This example of a lawyer’s resume features a well-written professional summary that is concise and persuasive. The summary highlights personal qualities and skills that are necessary for the role of a criminal defense lawyer.

This example of an attorney resume makes a memorable first impression with its visually appealing, lawyer-appropriate design. It has clearly labeled headings and sections to make it easy to read.

This example's clean and modern aesthetic demonstrates the high level of professionalism expected from lawyers. A standard font and well-balanced use of text and white space create a solid first impression.

The combination format effectively presents the applicant's key legal skills and certifications, making it clear that they are a well-qualified lawyer. Placing the skills at the top of the document immediately brings the most relevant skills to the hiring manager’s attention.

This resume showcases the applicant's qualifications, expertise, and experience, giving employers a strong sense of their suitability for legal positions.

When building your lawyer resume, you've got a range of options at your disposal. Explore the various resume formats available and choose the one that aligns best with your requirements. The chronological resume format stands as the most prevalent choice, with its primary focus on your work history.

On the other hand, the functional resume format provides an alternative strategy. Although it's less common and may not be as ATS-friendly, it can be an excellent option, especially for those with limited experience. Recent high school graduates, for instance, can capitalize on its emphasis on transferable skills. Lastly, there's the combination resume format, incorporating elements from both the chronological and functional approaches.

Include your name, phone number, email address, location (city and state), and LinkedIn profile (if applicable). Always ensure your contact information is accurate and up to date, and place it at the top of your resume to make it easy to find.

At the top of your resume, craft a three- to four-sentence professional summary or objective statement that gives potential employers a clear sense of your legal career intentions and the value you could bring as a lawyer. If you have relevant work experience, write a resume summary and focus it on your key qualifications, skills, and accomplishments that are specifically relevant to the position.

Alternatively, opt for an objective statement if you recently graduated or are shifting your career focus. Here, briefly describe your professional goals and draw parallels between your legal aspirations and the open position. As a lawyer, you most likely will not use this option, but it is still good to know about.

Detail your work experience, including key responsibilities and achievements. Quantify those accomplishments with numbers and percentages to demonstrate your value to an employer. For example, “successfully handled 220 caseloads a year” or “expanded resources for the legal help desk, improving capacity by 30%.”

Highlight your legal skills, including research, negotiation, litigation, and legal writing. However, it is also wise to include soft skills such as communication, organization and time management to demonstrate your ability to do the job.

List your academic qualifications, including your law degree and any relevant licenses and certifications, as well as your educational institutions. Provide the name, location, and graduation date if applicable.

Add any other relevant sections, such as publications, speaking engagements, awards, professional associations, or community involvement to help further your qualifications.