how to put law school on resume

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Law school resume tips + examples: ace your application.

Reviewed by:

David Merson

Former Head of Pre-Law Office, Northeastern University, & Admissions Officer, Brown University

Reviewed: 10/25/23

Whether you already have a resume or are starting from scratch, read on to learn law school resume tips to stand out in the admissions process. 

A law school resume summarizes your achievements, qualifications, and experiences. Your resume and cover letter can tell admissions officers much about you and your law school preparedness. We’ll outline tips for your law school resume so it’s refined and ready for submission. 

Law School Resume Format 

On your law school application , it’s best to keep the format of your law school resume simple (even if you have a penchant for graphic design). You should avoid using: 

• Distracting colors 
• Graphics, such as “skill graphs” or progress bars 
• Any other multimedia elements 

Your resume should be one to two pages long using a standard, legible font size. Stick to Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri, or another similar font, and don’t use a size smaller than 11 points. 

What Should Go on Your Law School Resume

Putting together a law application resume can be daunting. Applying to law school is already a big task as there are many elements to consider, like personal statements and recommendation letters. 

To help you get a leg up, it’s a good idea to look at some examples of what other law school application resumes include, as well as to pay attention to what admissions counselors have to say. 

UPenn states , “Law school admissions committees are very interested in how you spend your time and energy outside of class, so it is essential that you create a strong, accurate, and flattering portrayal of yourself on your resume.” It’s crucial to summarize your experiences and candidacy succinctly. 

That being said, you have some freedom regarding what goes on your law school resume to complement its core elements. Standard sections you should include in every law school application resume include:

Source : US News

These are the main sections that every law school application resume should have. If you haven’t done much volunteer work or participated in many activities since high school, the University of Wisconsin–Madison suggests weaving any activities into your resume’s education section. 

While these are the standard pieces that every law school resume should include, you can choose to add other sections if they’ll add something new and fresh to your application: 

• Honors/Awards : If you have a laundry list of honors/awards, consider putting them into their own section. Otherwise, it’s okay to put them in your education section. 
• Research : If you have one or more research-related experiences, it may be worth adding a section to your resume. This can include a capstone project or thesis that would otherwise go in your education section, significant work in a study, or publications. 
• Skills/Interests : This section is a great way to showcase information about you that didn’t fit into your resume anywhere else. Whether you’re bilingual, an expert coder, or decorate cakes in your spare time, you can add another layer to your individuality. 

You can add whatever sections you want that best reflect your candidacy, qualities, and experiences so far. You can also rename/alter these sections as you see fit. 

Alyson Suter Alber , Associate Dean for Enrollment Planning and Strategic Initiatives at Case Western Reserve School of Law, said, “In the admissions process we are looking for experiences and activities that showcase skills an applicant will need in law school such as research, writing and analytical thinking.” 

So, highlight activities that emphasize these skills on your resume! That way, you can show admissions committees that you’re a worthy law school candidate. Take a look at some examples of law resumes down below to see how they’ve done it. 

9 Law School Resume Tips

If you’re wondering how to improve your resume for law school, look no further than these nine expert tips. 

1. Remember the Resume’s Purpose 

The first law school resume tip is crucial to follow: remember its purpose. When you formulate a resume to find work, you may write an objective at the top expressing your goals. You don’t need to include this element in a law school application resume. 

In the words of Quinnipiac University Law , “Objectives are not necessary, and sometimes highlight your desire to do something other than attend law school.” You don’t want to take the focus off your resume’s ultimate goal: helping you get accepted to your dream law school. 

To that end, you won’t include any references either. Your recommendation letters serve as the “reference” portion of your application. 

2. Be Honest 

While this sounds obvious, applicants tend to put a lot of pressure on themselves when they write law school application resumes. For example, don’t stretch the time frames of your commitments to make it look like you spent more time on your activities than you did. If you’re taking a gap year before law school , don’t try and fudge the numbers. 

Remember, integrity is a quality found in great lawyers; you don’t want to potentially get caught in an inconsistency during the application process or law school interview because you wanted to make something sound more impressive. You can always add an addendum to your application to explain something unsightly on your resume. 

Also, it’s okay if you don’t have much experience with legal work. Admissions committees don’t expect you to have a mountain of experience as a law school applicant. 

3. Keep Your Writing Simple 

Your law school resume should be two pages at maximum. You need to write concisely if you have a lot of ground to cover to effectively summarize your experiences. Don’t use long, elaborate sentences or pull words from a thesaurus. 

Writing plainly includes limiting industry jargon. While admissions committee members may understand what you’re writing about, you want to write in a way that someone from any field would understand your resume. For example: 

“Aggregated with clients in order to contrive understanding and transferable knowledge and solutions for exponential economic growth.” 

This sentence is unclear and unnecessarily wordy. A better sentence would read: “Met with clients to share information to increase profits.” This sentence is much clearer, and your reader doesn’t have to do mental backflips to understand you. 

4. Use Bullet Points 

Bullet points underneath major experiences/subheadings communicate a lot of information in less space. You can make your points uniform and more impactful by: 

• Writing each one as a full sentence, with or without closing punctuation 
• Start your points with a verb in the past tense for past activities and present tense for current ones 
• Keep your points focused on a responsibility or task that emphasizes your role/qualities 
• Be detailed and share tangible results, how many times you performed a task, or the overall time commitment 
• Focus on tasks/skills that are transferable or related to law school 
• Limit bullet points under each item to three, if possible 

Ensure you watch your tenses while you write; it’s easy to slip up and use the wrong one. 

5. Don’t Omit Experiences Not Related to Law

Although you should focus on transferable skills and tasks related to law school, don’t omit any experiences that aren’t necessarily law-related. You don’t want to leave chronological gaps in your resume: that’s a red flag for admissions committees. 

UChicago Law states that your resume should absolutely not contain only legal experiences. The school states that it wants “to see all of your work experience and activities to gain a more holistic picture of you.” Avoid these gaps and be honest about your work experience. 

6. Emphasize Leadership Experiences 

Leadership experience and capability are what every law school seeks in applicants. If you have relevant leadership experiences in employment or activities, ensure they’re in your resume. 

7. Highlight Entries That Align With Your Mission 

You’ve likely discussed your professional and career goals in your application. Your resume can complement your other application materials and narratives. For example, if you want to teach law, don’t bury your experience as a teaching assistant or tutor. 

Think about your personal mission and which experiences have contributed to helping you get one step closer to reaching your goals. 

8. See If There Are Particular Instructions for Each School 

Some schools may or may not have law school resume instructions. You should always double-check the application requirements of the schools you want to apply to. For example, UChicago Law asks, “Please include the number of hours per week spent on each employment experience or activity.” 

While you may have thought to do this on your resume anyway, it’s important not to miss any elements schools ask for. 

9. Edit, Revise, Refine

You probably already have a resume you can work off of, but it’ll take a lot of editing and reconstructing to tailor it to your law school application. Even if you’re starting from scratch, ensure you edit your resume. 

Does everything you wrote make sense? Is your language clear and concise? Are there spelling or grammar mistakes? It’s okay if it takes a few drafts to get to the finished product. You want your law school resume to make a stellar impression, so give yourself enough time to revise and refine. 

5 Law School Resume Templates 

Sometimes, it’s helpful to look at examples of what other people have done to get inspired. Below, you’ll find some resume templates for your law school applications to help you get started. 

Law School Resume Example 1

It’s important to use strategic wording to get your point across. In the following example, the applicant reframed their extracurricular/volunteer work section to reference leadership and service. Your goal is to use the right language to accurately summarize your story in a way that reflects you best. 

Take a look at this sample law school resume provided by the University at Buffalo School of Law: 

Source : University at Buffalo School of Law

Law School Resume Example 2

Although this applicant has no work experience, they’ve still put together a solid resume emphasizing their scholastic achievements and involvement in academic leadership. The experiences they’ve chosen to include demonstrate many skills relevant to studying law! 

Source: UPenn

Law School Resume Example 3

Take a look at this resume from Yale Law School. This applicant was careful to focus on their work related to academics and scholastic experience. 

This is a great example of how you can pick and choose various work and volunteer activities to highlight the skills that law school admissions committees are looking for. 

Source: Yale Law School

Law School Resume Example 4

Here’s an example resume from a student who was accepted into Harvard Law. This resume emphasizes relevant skills like technical writing and marketing. The inclusion of the “Presentations” and “Affiliations” sections demonstrates the applicant’s interests in a unique and relevant way. 

Source: U.S. News  

Law School Resume Example

In this law application example, the applicant has focused on her accomplishments, both academic and work-related, and gives strong examples of where she demonstrated leadership skills. She also includes interesting personal information that could serve as a great conversation starter during an interview. 

Source: University at Buffalo School of Law  

Download free law school resume templates below.

Law School Resume FAQs 

Do you still have questions about building or improving your law school resume? Read on to learn more! 

1.  Do Law Schools Care About Your Resume? 

Law schools like to see your real-world work experience and academic qualifications. Although your resume may not be the focal point of your application, law schools will still read it. 

2. What Skills Should I Put on My Resume for Law School? 

You can put whatever skills or interests you think the admissions committee should know about that you haven’t already discussed. Think about the things that make you unique and jot them down before you decide which points should go on your resume. 

3. Should I Put My LSAT Score or GPA on My Resume? 

It depends on what the law school asks for, but you typically don’t have to. Law schools will see your LSAT scores and GPA through your CAS report. 

4. How Long Should My Law School Resume Be? 

Your resume should be one to two pages long and shouldn’t exceed this length. 

5. What Has to Go in My Law School Resume? 

All law school resumes should include your contact/personal information, education, work experience, and activities. If you haven’t participated in many activities, you can include them in your education section instead. 

Build the Perfect Law School Resume 

Building the perfect law school resume helps admissions committees easily digest your experiences and qualifications. Using these expert law school resume tips, you can craft a stellar, attention-grabbing resume. 

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How to Write a Successful Law School Resume (+Examples)

How do you write a law school resume? 

That’s what you’ll learn today. After all, a law school resume is one of the most underestimated and underused aspects of law school applications. 

Want to learn more? Read on!

What is a law school resume? 

Your law school resume lists sections that cover your education, legal and other professional experience, and possibly categories including personal interests or community involvement. 

The length depends on your experience. But at the same time, the length of your law school resume hardly matters. 

What matters is how you  position  your resume. And that’s what you’ll learn today.

But first, let’s find out – is a law school resume the same thing as any other resume? 

How is a law school resume different from other resumes? 

Here’s the thing: 

Law school resumes differ from other resumes. Your audience isn’t an employer, but instead, you’re looking to persuade the admissions committee that  you  are the applicant they want. 

And law schools want to see a broader and more diverse array of experiences than a job would. 

So there’s a big difference between a law school resume and any other resume. 

But how important are law school resumes, really? Here’s what you need to know. 

Does a law school resume matter? 

When I send back a client’s resume with a million-one edits (only slightly exaggerating), I am often asked  “Does my resume matter for law school?”  

After all, you might already have talked about your activities and work experience in your essays. So then, what’s the point of the law school resume? Why do law schools still ask for one?

Your law school resume is your opportunity to share with law schools:

• How you have spent your time
• What your qualifications are
• What kind of interests you have developed

In my opinion, the law school resume is an underused asset.

As I said, it is an  opportunity . How you structure your resume, what you decide to include, and how you describe your activities and experiences, are all strategic decisions in crafting your own personal narrative.

A well-written resume will highlight the traits, experiences, and qualifications law schools are looking for—like: 

• Analytical and writing abilities 
• Community engagement
• Self-financing your education
• Athletic talents
• Cultural or volunteer activities
• Language proficiencies
• Juggling multiple responsibilities
• Creativity & innovation 

And by having a resume that highlights these aspects of you already, your personal statement can avoid the  biggest mistake of being just a glorified cover letter .

So yes, your resume does matter for law schools. 

Now that you know what a law school resume is and why you should focus on writing one that really stands out, let’s move on to  how  to write a winning resume. 

How do you make your law school resume stand out? 

Now you might be wondering: 

What should be on a law school resume? 

The simplest explanation is this: 

Your resume is often an undervalued strategic part of your application. How you frame your experiences and organize your resume  should go to the broader theme  that you’ve curated for your entire application. 

Your resume needs to be  unique to be an asset  – in fact, I spend a lot of time with my clients figuring out how to strategically frame their resumes. 

For instance, if a client wants to go into legal academia, we organize and describe their experiences to highlight the traits and skills they need for that job. 

Overall, your resume will generally contain some combination of these main headers, depending on your background:

• Professional Experience and/or Employment
• Community Engagement
• Publications
• Accomplishments
• Skills/Interests

Let’s look at each of these below. 

Before we dive into the individual law school resume elements, how long should your resume be? 

Your resume can be  one or two pages.  Law schools don’t really care about the length, as long as you’re not using a tiny font to keep it to a single page, or adding in unnecessary details to make it two pages. 

A two-page resume is not necessarily better than a one-page resume, and vice versa. 

Also, even if you are recently out of undergrad, if you have a lot of things to include, a two-page resume is fine. 

Similarly, on the flip side, if you’ve been at the same job for the past decade, just because you’ve been out of school for a while, doesn’t mean you have to have a two-page resume.

Next, let’s take a look at what to include under each header. Scroll down to see examples of resumes, but use these sections to fill out your own template. 

Unlike other fields or jobs, law schools (and law in general) care a lot about your education, so  put this section first. 

You should include all your  degree institutions  and  certificates , but you do not need to include things like every summer school you attended. 

If you transferred during undergrad, you would want to include both schools. You could include a study abroad institution either separately, or under your undergraduate institution.

You will include schools in  reverse chronological order , up until high school. Remember, law schools do not care about high school so don’t include it at all!

You can see how to format this via the samples law school resumes at the end of this post, but you’ll want this section to include the following information for each educational institution:

• Name of institution, city, state
• Official name of degree (B.A., B.S., M.S., etc.), date conferred or anticipated
• Major & minor
• GPA (only if near or above the law school’s median,  if you have a low GPA , don’t include)
• Honors (such as magna cum laude, thesis title, Dean’s list semesters, honor societies, scholarships/awards received)
• Activities (this is only if you have so many activities that you don’t have room in the body of your resume. You can include minor activities here that you devoted less time to).

Professional experience and/or employment 

What you include in this section will depend on your background.

If you apply straight from undergrad or within a few years of graduating: 

You can include any jobs or internships you’ve held during (and after) college. (Just not work experience from high school.)

Even if it was just waitressing or working at the local Target, law schools want to see how you spent your time. And they will applaud the fact that you worked while also managing your college courses. 

For work experience while in college, I always suggest including the number of hours you worked per week. You can see one of the samples at the end of this blog post on how to format it. But law schools really value this kind of work ethic and real-world experience.

If you apply after working for a while: 

You can leave some jobs out that don’t necessarily fit within your field. Though generally, you’ll still want to include most jobs in order to account for your time.

Consider creating two separate categories if your work experience seems to be all over the place. For instance, you could have all your internships under “Professional Experience” and your summer jobs working at Old Navy, or your during-college waitressing gig under “Other Employment” or something along those lines.

Similarly, if you’ve had more than one main career, divide up your headers by career topic, rather than strictly going in chronological order. So if you had a career as an educator and then shifted, you might write your headers as “Teaching Experience” and “Biotechnology Experience.”

How to describe your work experience

Even “unglamorous” jobs will boost your application. 

Law schools don’t only care about applicants with “professional” work experience or those with prestigious internships. Applicants who had to support themselves by working at the local coffee shop or scooping ice cream in the summer are seen as applicants who have grit and determination.

Admissions officers also focus mostly on  what  you did in your role. So don’t talk about the company selling billions of dollars in x widgets, but instead, how you managed an account of x clients by doing xyz. Get as specific as you can about the tasks you performed there.

Instead of saying something like “acquired the skills of managing and leading,” you want to show how you acquired those skills through action descriptors. So you would want to instead write, “Supervised two field canvassers across 20 districts.”

What to include 

Include the following information for this section:

• Employer name, job title, city, state, dates of employment.
• One to four bullets describing accomplishments and responsibilities. Start each bullet with an action word (e.g., led, supervised, coordinated, planned).
• If the purpose of the organization/company isn’t obvious to the admissions officer, explain it.
• If employment while also in school, include the number of hours worked per week.

Include your college and post-college extracurricular activities, and a description of your involvement and responsibilities for each. Do not include anything from high school (have I said this enough?!).

The point of this section is to demonstrate your interests and passions, and most importantly, to show that you had focus and commitment. If your level of involvement wasn’t enough to have much to say, then include it under your Education section as a single bullet. (See the sample law school resumes below). 

If you were only involved in an activity for a short period of time, you can help it not look like just a resume filler by describing how you participated extensively. You might say something about how you “attended weekly events” or “assisted in planning weekly events for fellow students.”

Community engagement 

You could also title this “Community Service,” or “Volunteer Work” whichever you think most applicable. This can include volunteer activities, involvement in religious organizations, fieldwork for elections, and so on. 

Your community engagement doesn’t have to be something official to be worth including on your resume. If you, on your own, volunteer at the local library every weekend, even if it’s not part of some organization, definitely include that!

If you’ve only volunteered for a single day, like Relay for Life, or if you’ve only done one or two community service events organized by your sports teams or your fraternity/sorority, don’t include that volunteer work as a separate section.

You can put that you did this under your Greek life description (if Greek life even merits its own entry in the body; often I tell clients to just put it under your Activities section as a single bullet). 

If you don’t have any volunteer work, don’t try to exaggerate something. It will only bring attention to the fact that you don’t have much volunteer experience. Let admissions officers instead focus on what you do have, not what you’re missing or what your weaknesses are.

Publications 

If you did research or wrote a paper that got published, where you were the author or a co-author, include the citation and if the title doesn’t make it obvious what it is about, include a single bullet briefly describing the project.

I’ve also had clients use this section to note podcasts they’ve won awards for, or significant speeches they’ve given.

If you have a series of publications, list them separately like you would on a CV, even if that means your resume has a third page.

Skills/interests 

Skills and interests typically go in a single section and include just one or two lines. 

For skills, you can include things like language fluency (and listing out your level of competency), musical abilities, computer languages, etc. Do not include things most other applicants will know how to do (e.g., word Office, social media, Adobe, etc.). 

For interests, make these very specific. Don’t just say general (cough, boring) interests like “reading, traveling, cooking.” What specific kind of books do you like to read? What things do you cook? 

Your interests should be ones that you consider significant, and it is ok to demonstrate that you have a specific religious or political affiliation. Think about things that make you unique, memorable, and likable, and include those.

What mistakes should you avoid when creating your law school resume? 

What are the top mistakes you should avoid on your resume? Let’s find out. 

First and foremost, your law school resume isn’t the same thing as a job resume, so skip: 

• An Objective
• Summary of Qualifications
• Relative Coursework 

Your resume also has to be readable. Don’t use a font size that’s smaller than 11 pt or make margins tiny. 

You can narrow margins  slightly , but only if you have to. Instead, try to be more concise in your descriptions.

Also, you don’t have to stick with a chronological order of your experiences or activities. You can be creative with how you group your different experiences. 

For instance, I had a client who had two very involved passion areas: education and gender violence. 

So instead of going in chronological order of when she did all the activities, we instead made two separate headers (“Education” and “Gender Violence”). Within each header, we then put her activities in chronological order. This showed her focus and well-built passion, instead of just making it look like she had scattered interests.

Language 

Don’t use jargon or acronyms (unless they’re obvious) when describing your roles and responsibilities. You want to make sure that no matter the background of the admissions officer, he/she knows what you’re talking about.

Also, don’t embellish your experiences. Any embellishment will set off an admission officer’s alarm bells and undermine your entire application. 

If you did something above and beyond, by all means, include it. But don’t try and make your filing work as a front desk associate sound like you were the one drafting the files.

A common mistake is to include high school activities and experiences. But law schools do not care about what you did in high school. You are applying for a professional degree now. They want to see you are mature and can thrive without the support of your parents or high school teachers. 

So unless you did something extremely out of the ordinary for your age in high school—like were in the Olympics at age 16 or part of a professional adult symphony, —leave off your high school experiences.

On that same note, don’t include skills every law school applicant will have. Every law school applicant can use Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. Every law school applicant can type. You don’t need to tell law schools you have these (or other similarly obvious) skills.

Now you know what to include and what not to include in your resume.

But what are some real-world examples of law school resumes? Here you go!

Law school resume examples

These law school resume examples are real examples of some of my clients’ resumes. 

Use what we talked about above to understand why they’re written and formatted the way they are.

   The college senior with a lot of experience

  The applicant with over a decade of professional experience

  The college senior with more minimal experience

Helpful resources

Finally, here are a few helpful resources – top law school resume pages: 

• University of Pennsylvania
• Harvard Law School
• Stanford University
• Yale Law School
• University of Chicago 

Over to you!

There you have it! Now you know how to create a law school resume. 

What it comes down to is using your resume as an opportunity to build on your application and stand out from the masses.

Want to get a curated strategy for getting into law school, even if you don’t have the perfect GPA, LSAT score, or resume? 

Read more about working with me here.  

Learn more: 

How to Write a Law School Personal Statement

How to Write a Diversity Statement for Law School

Hope you enjoy this blog post! Want to know how to use the power of your personal statement to get into your dream law school, even if you aren’t the “perfect” applicant?

Get the three exercises that have helped countless law school applicants craft a wildly successful personal statement

How to kickstart your personal statement and get into your dream law school

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How to Stand Out & Get Admitted to the Law School of Your Dreams

Legal Resumes

This guide contains some basic suggestions about preparing resumes, and includes samples for you to consult. If you would like to have a Career Development Office attorney-counselor review your draft resume, send it to the career email box, [email protected] . The resume process, from start to finish, can take much longer than you anticipate. Start early, and give yourself plenty of time .

A. What is a Resume?

B. effective resumes, c. writing your resume, d. resume suggestions, e. finalizing your resume.

• Sample Resumes – Students (These are included as a pdf to preserve formatting, an essential element of effective resume-drafting.)
• Suggested Action Words for describing experiences
• “1L Resume Workshop” Presentation (10/2023)

A resume is a marketing device whereby you present the most attractive, true picture of yourself with the goal of convincing an employer to meet with you. During an interview, you may be asked questions about any entries on the document. For lawyers, the resume also is a writing sample that shows your ability to communicate clearly and concisely and your attention to detail.

Your resume is often your first contact with a potential employer and will probably determine whether your qualifications and background warrant an interview or serious consideration for a job. While employers do not usually hire on the basis of a resume alone, they may decide not to interview an applicant on the basis of a poorly prepared or presented resume. Therefore, excellent content and presentation are vital. Employers assume that your resume represents your best work and is indicative of your general work product in terms of clarity, organization, accuracy and appearance.

Most decisions about what to include and how best to present information in your resume are based on your personal assessment of your strengths, the kind(s) of position you are seeking, your own taste and style, and your knowledge of how resumes in the legal profession traditionally look and read. Consider having more than one resume to emphasize different things for different types of prospective employers.

Resumes for public interest organizations. For these employers, a demonstrated commitment to public interest work will be a key factor. Evidence of your commitment can take the form of extracurricular activities, journals, internships, clinics and volunteer work, all of which should be included on your resume. Consider including substantive clinical work or student organization activities (e.g., CARC) in your “Experience” section, where you can elaborate on your tasks and responsibilities. If your experience justifies it, you may consider creating an additional section entitled “Community Service” or “Volunteer Activities” to list your volunteer or community activities that will emphasize the extent of your dedication to public interest issues. In addition, languages can be very important to public interest/public sector employers, depending on the communities they serve or the work you can do for them. Unlike resumes aimed at private sector employers, public interest resumes can go over one page if your experience requires it; however, it is still critical to use concise language and efficient formatting.

Resume Rules. There are a few absolute rules for writing resumes. Your resume must be:

• scrupulously honest;
• conservative (graphically and linguistically, not necessarily politically);
• selective (because your resume is not your whole life history, perhaps not even your entire employment history);
• visually appealing so it will be easy to read rapidly;
• absolutely free of typos, grammatical errors, and inconsistencies.

Difficult Issues. Some items you might include in your resume may reveal political leanings, religious beliefs, ethnicity, disability, and/or sexual orientation, which, depending on the prospective employer, could work against you or in your favor. (This is true regardless of the legality of taking such factors into account.) The decision whether to include such information is a personal one. First, consider how important the inclusion of such information is to you, and whether you would want to work for an employer who would use it in making a decision whether to hire you. If you choose not to include this information, you still have the option of bringing it up in an interview, or later in the hiring process. If you are unsure about whether to include items of this kind in your resume, contact a CDO attorney-counselor.

Accuracy of Resume Information and Verification of Resumes. It is imperative that all information presented on your resume be scrupulously honest and free of embellishment. The potential for misrepresentation of academic or work performance is of great concern to employers; they typically verify this information. Berkeley Law has established practices to ensure the fair and accurate presentation of students in the placement process, including procedures for the verification of statements concerning grades, journal membership, or other law school achievements that a student has made in a resume or other document. By making such statements to an employer in writing, a student consents to the Law School verifying the substance of these statements at the employer’s request. (Berkeley Law’s Registrar will inform the employer whether written grade information is accurate, but will not provide the correct grade information to the employer without the student’s prior consent.)

Any falsification or misrepresentation of law school grades or other records, recommendations, or other qualifications is a violation of the Academic Honor Code.

First, brainstorm. Inventory your background and accomplishments and list everything which helps to distinguish you individually, professionally, and as a student. You might ask for input from family or friends because you may overlook some basic but important areas. Remember to focus on what you bring to the table based on your experience. What will make the employer interested in you?

Name and Contact Information

This information should go in large (font size 14-16) bold face type at the top of your resume. If you choose to include both your school address and your permanent address you should indicate which is which. (Students often include an out-of-area address in order to show that they have a connection to an area outside of Northern California.) Always include your phone number and email address, but only one of each. (Your email address, as well as your voicemail greeting, should be professional.)

List your education in reverse chronological order (law school first). Include basic information on schools attended, degrees received and dates (or anticipated dates) of graduation, and major field(s) of study.

Under your undergraduate school heading, include major and minor areas of study and thesis topics, if applicable. Be consistent. If you use the term “J.D,” then use “B.A.” Alternatively, if you write out “Juris Doctor” then write out “Bachelor of Arts.” Other than law schools, you need not include schools from which you transferred and did not graduate. No need to include your high school. If you acquired a degree which employers might not recognize by its abbreviation, spell out the degree name.

For your law degree, you can either list it as “J.D. Candidate” with your expected graduation date, or you can list “J.D.” and the date as “Expected May 20XX.”

A Special Note for Transfer Students : If you transferred here from another law school, put Berkeley Law first, followed by the other law school, for at least your first year at Berkeley Law. If you received honors at the other school, put them under that law school’s section. If you were invited to join law review at your former school and didn’t because you transferred here, indicate that you were invited to join and explain why, e.g., “Invited to join University of San Diego Law Review on the basis of high academic achievement.”

Joint Degree Students : If you are pursuing a joint degree program, be sure to list both schools under your education section.

Honors and Activities. Honors attached to your degree should appear in lowercase after the degree awarded, e.g., B.A., summa cum laude , June 2006. (If the honors are in Latin, they should be italicized.) Other academic honors are listed separately below your degree, along with school activities.

If you have extensive undergraduate honors and activities, you might consider listing only a representative number of them. Make sure it is clear which activities are at which institutions. If you were involved during school with an activity not related to the school, it should go under a different section of your resume.

For law school, list all honors and activities of importance such as law review, participation on other journals, moot court, trial advocacy, clinics, fellowships, scholarships, committees, student organization membership, and academic awards.

If an activity in college or law school was or is especially involved or relevant, consider putting it under the Experience section. For example, if you are a public interest student, your participation in CARC could go under Experience, with a description of the work you did on your asylum case.

Grades, Rank and LSAT Scores. Because Berkeley Law does not use a traditional grading system, students do not have GPA’s. Berkeley Law does not rank its students (except for the sole purpose of clerkship applications), and Berkeley Law faculty policy provides that students must not include any representation or estimate of class rank on a resume or in a cover letter. LSAT scores should not be listed on your resume, as they are designed to predict law school performance only, and are not an indicator of professional performance.

Use reverse chronology. You can list a brief summary of your most important duties, or list the skills you have developed at the job so that the employer can see what you can bring to the table. Your experience is worth including not for what you did, but for what it says about you and what you can do in the future. 

List the name and location of the employer, your title, the dates of employment, and a brief summary of your most important duties. Emphasize law-related work in any area, but do not struggle to make your experience appear more law-related than it really is; many students come to law school with no legal experience whatsoever, and employers know this. Three or four phrases are usually all you need, but elaborate further if you have the space and believe that your duties were especially interesting, responsible, and/or relevant to your legal career.

• If the name of the employer is inadequate to convey the nature of the business, try to incorporate a description of the employer in your job duties, e.g., “prepared marketing materials and sales analysis for start-up company selling online pet products.”
• Avoid insider jargon.
• Use present tense verbs to describe your current job and past tense verbs with all former positions.
• Provide specific information about actions and responsibilities (e.g., budget, percentage of increase in revenues or sales, number of staff supervised, direct work with clients, etc.) Many skills obtained in non-law jobs are transferable to law practice (e.g., attention to detail, meeting deadlines, writing, research and analytical skills, working under pressure, working with individuals from diverse backgrounds, etc.). Try to highlight such skills.
• If you were at one job for a long time, show promotions and increased responsibility, if applicable.
• If you had many part-time or temporary jobs while in school, consider summarizing them, e.g., “Worked part-time during undergrad to finance education.” (Employers will value the fact that you have worked while going to school, particularly if you were still able to do well academically.) For certain jobs, such as in retail or restaurants, or as a ski instructor, it can be appropriate to omit the description altogether, as most people know roughly what this work entails.
• Include summer jobs to avoid time gaps on your resume.
• If a prior job is your only link to a prospective employer’s city, include it.
• Any experience can be relevant, regardless of whether or not it was paid, so if your volunteer or community service is substantial, include it in the main body of your resume, especially if you are applying for public interest positions. Volunteer work can also be presented in a separate Community Service section, or at the end or your resume under a heading such as “Other Information.” Jobs are usually assumed to be full-time and paid unless you indicate otherwise; be sure not to appear to overstate your experience.

Other Categories.

If space allows, you may choose to elaborate on one or more of the following categories, under a heading such as “Other Information” or “Interests and Activities”:

• Languages : If you include languages on your resume, state your level of fluency (e.g., “fluent,” “proficient,” “reading knowledge only” (where your fluency is very limited, it is probably not worth listing the language)). Do not overstate your level of proficiency.
• Publications : You may include a short list of publications on law-related topics, particularly if the area of research is relevant to an employer’s practice. A more extensive list of publications should be compiled as a separate document. Be prepared to discuss in interviews any publications you list.
• Professional Licensing and Affiliations : Include any relevant licenses or certifications (such as a CPA license). Include past and present memberships with your title, if any, and dates. Give the full name of the organization.
• Bar Admission : Bar membership, only applicable to graduates, should appear at the top of your resume, above the Education section. If you have a substantial amount of experience as an attorney, the Experience section of your resume should precede the Education section. If you are registered to take the bar exam or awaiting the results of a bar exam you have written, you can include that information in a cover letter.
• Keep your resume to one page, unless you have substantial working experience prior to coming to law school, or for public interest resumes.
• Do not use abbreviations, with these exceptions: the two-letter state abbreviations and academic degrees.
• List each item only once. If you list Debate Team Captain as a college activity, don’t repeat it under Other Activities at the bottom.
• Make your resume easy to read. The reader should be able to locate your graduation date, duties of employment, etc., by scanning (not reading) your resume.
• Use short descriptive sentence fragments separated by semicolons with strong action verbs to relate your job responsibilities, not sentences. (A list of “ action words ” can be found at the end of this guide.).
• Be specific about what you did at your jobs; avoid vague expressions such as “gained exposure to,” “participated in” or “assisted with.”
• List your job responsibilities in descending order of responsibility and challenge (start with the most impressive and work down to a “catch-all” item, if appropriate).
• Put your references on a separate document, and don’t include “references available on request” on your resume. Employers know to ask for them.
• Avoid extraneous information and try not to convey too many ideas at once.
• Do not include computer abilities, except as part of a job description where you used highly specialized skills.
• Do not include such personal information as age, marital status, etc.
• Do not include anything in your resume you would not want to discuss in an interview.

Resume Style. Resume styles vary, as presented by the samples found at the end of this guide.

In addition to using physical layout, take strategic advantage of the various ways to highlight important information, such as bold face, capitalization, italicizing, and underlining. Be completely consistent with the choices you make (e.g., all educational institutions in boldface, all job titles in italics), all the way down to the way you use commas, periods and spaces. For legal resumes, it is most typical to use Times New Roman font (or another similar serif font) in size 11 or 12. Look for a pleasant balance of text and white space on the page. While margins can be smaller than the standard for a term paper, you should allow at least .7″ all around.

Proofreading. Once you have your resume set up as you want it with content and layout, proofread it carefully. Look for inconsistencies in style as well as actual typos. Do not trust yourself as the only proofreader; enlist the aid of at least one other person. If you discover a typo, you must redo your resume, even if it has been already been printed; no typo is insignificant.

A few technical notes.

• If you send your resume electronically, it is preferable to convert it to a PDF file first; this way your formatting and any document history are invisible, and you can control exactly the way your resume appears and prints.
• Email addresses in your contact information should be text, like your phone number, not a hyperlink.

Sample Resumes (These are included as a pdf to preserve formatting, an essential element of effective resume-drafting.)

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7 Law School Resume Examples Winning The Job In 2024

Best for senior and mid-level candidates

There’s plenty of room in our elegant resume template to add your professional experience while impressing recruiters with a sleek design.

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Like this template? Customize this resume and make it your own with the help of our Al-powered suggestions, accent colors, and modern fonts.

Law School Resume

• Law School Application Resumes
• Law School Resume for Current Students
• Post-Law School Resumes

A career in law is both rewarding and intellectually challenging. Practicing law also offers a certain level of prestige and high earning potential.

Due to the diversity of legal practice areas, deciding what to include and omit when writing your law school resume may prove challenging. And if you’re recently out of law school, you’ll also have to write an  attorney cover letter .

We’ve reviewed numerous law school resumes to find what works and distilled what we learned into these seven law school examples.

Whether you’re applying for a full-time staff attorney role out of school, looking for your first internship, or anything in between,  these proven law school resume examples will help you get your next legal position in 2024 .

or download as PDF

Why this resume works

• Metrics don’t have to be complicated, nor do they have to be 100 percent perfect. Include rough estimates regarding how much you improved efficiency, how many cases you worked on, or how many issues you resolved. The numbers are there—all you need to do is find them.
• An objective is an optional section that describes your skills and enthusiasm for your future role. Always customize this section for each job you apply for by including the employer’s name and the role you’re seeking.

Law School Application Resume

• You’re far from being done. A winning strategy here is including one or two of your school projects that underscore your research and analytical skills and an understanding of the legal landscape.

Harvard Law School Resume

• Your interactions with clients that led to them deciding to use the services of the law firm would go a long way to pave your way to success.

Law School Student Resume

• Reverse-chronological order is simply putting your most recent experience first. Usually, this means employers will see your most relevant experience first.
• If the job you’ve most recently held isn’t related to the position you’re seeking, that’s okay! Simply highlight transferable skills (preferably any keywords listed in the  attorney job description ).
• Before hitting submit, always  check your resume  for errors and inaccuracies. Make sure you have one full page of content; don’t leave too much white space!

Law Student Resume

• Using a fun  resume template  can make your resume pretty and help you structure your content, keep it to a single page, and even make it easier to read. Plus, you can adjust the template as needed to suit your needs.
• In this section, focus on what you specifically contributed to the project. Were you the founder of a club? Did you lead any community initiatives? Whatever you contributed, show off your leadership abilities and unique skills.

Law Student Recruiting Manager Resume

• Numbers naturally break up the text and are easy to spot, keeping eyes on your resume longer.
• Section headers are an industry standard, but you can improve readability by putting them in bold and adding some color.
• Keep your bullet points short and sweet. Limit them to no more than three lines, and start each one with strong action verbs.

Post-law School Resume

• Only include six to eight skills you would be comfortable talking about in an interview. If you’re not experienced with a particular skill, leave it out.
• Better yet, include metrics like reduced client wait time, increased client numbers, or the number of cases you tackled to show you’ve got the right qualifications.

Related resume guides

• Legal Assistant
• Grad School

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11 Resume Rules Every Law Student Should Follow

April 27, 2021

[Learn more about how Bloomberg Law can help law students excel in class and  jump-start their careers .]

In today’s virtual world, it is even more important for law students to get their resume right.

“A bad resume is far more detrimental to your job search than a good resume is beneficial – many potential employers view bad resumes as disqualifying,” said Mike Wippler, member of the national law firm Dykema. “Your resume should look professional, be easy to read, tell an accurate and truthful story, and highlight your readiness and skills for the position.”

Learn the top resume rules from the experts to stand out from the crowd and land the legal job you want.

1. Keep It Short.

A good legal resume doesn’t need to be long. In fact, it should be one or two pages at most.

“As a hiring manager, I want candidates to be able to eloquently and succinctly articulate their experience and career goals – this is especially critical for someone who wants to be a trial lawyer,” said Noel Edlin , managing partner of San Francisco-based law firm Bassi Edlin Huie & Blum.

Similarly, “use bullet points effectively – state what you did and how you did it in a way that demonstrates your experience, skills, and the results you achieved,” said the University of Miami School of Law Career Development Office.

“For students or junior lawyers with minimal experience, try to keep it to a single page and succinctly summarize your experience, linking it to qualities that you want to highlight – for example, analytical abilities, taking initiative, [and] attention to detail,” said Katten chief talent officer Melanie Priddy.

[Register for your Bloomberg Law Academic Account for the legal content and tools that you need now and the business intelligence you need as you start your career.]

2. Keep It Traditional.

Traditional legal resumes for law students are structured in three to four sections in the following order: Heading, Education, Experience, and an additional optional section, such as Interests, Languages, or Skills, according to the University of Miami School of Law Career Development Office.

“Do not go crazy with color or design – black type on a white background is preferable, and do not include your photo or other graphics. Pick one font and stick with it,” Edlin said.

Ensure a consistent layout, too. “Use a resume format that is simple, professional, and easy to read,” Priddy said. In this vein, “Formatting should carry through the entire page – bold/italics, font, spacing, indentations, etc., should be consistent throughout.”

3. Proofread Everything.

“A resume is the first example of your ‘work product,’ and it can be hard to overcome a negative first impression if there are errors,” Priddy said. “Proofread your resume and make sure it is free of grammatical errors and typos, including the law firm [name].”

Finally, in proofreading, review abbreviations. “Use abbreviations only if they are universally understood,” said the University of Miami School of Law Career Development Office.

4. Update Contact Information.

“This seems like a no-brainer but be sure you’re providing updated contact information – full legal name, address, email, phone, and LinkedIn profile link,” Edlin said. “It helps save administrative time if we decide to extend an offer of employment.”

Similarly, “add a professional voicemail message that confirms who a caller has reached and clear your voicemail inbox regularly so employers can leave you messages,” Priddy said.

5. Boost Your LinkedIn Presence.

In parallel, “complete your LinkedIn profile and add it to the contact section of your resume,” said the University of Miami School of Law Career Development Office.

“Make sure [it includes] a banner image, a good headshot, an about section, and links to any articles you have published,” Edlin said. Similarly, “Be active on the platform by posting/liking content and recognizing the accomplishments of contacts. Try to acquire at least 500 contacts,” Edlin said. “It helps to paint a picture of who you are and stay on the radar of employers.”

[Learn more about how to network effectively and use LinkedIn to get ahead in our Essential Career Toolkit .]

6. Be Truthful.

“Do not include anything that you do not want to discuss in an interview,” said the University of Miami School of Law Career Development Office. Similarly, “do not overexaggerate your language skills – you may be asked a question in whatever language you claim fluency.”

The same holds true for hobbies. “Make sure that any hobbies or interests on your resume are truthful – interviewers will likely ask for details,” Priddy said. “Even if you get hired, it may cost you the job later,” Wippler added.

7. Do Not Assume Reader Knowledge.

“Don’t assume that everybody assumes you have technical skills – if you have them, make sure you point them out,” said Chris M. Smith, partner and co-head of DLA Piper’s New York real estate practice.

“If you’ve done anything that is a little bit different, make sure it shows on your resume,” Smith added. “And if you have a connection at the firm, have them try to put in a good word for you.”

8. Customize the Content.

“Customize your resume for different employers by highlighting experiences relevant to the particular job an employer is seeking to fill,” said the University of Miami School of Law Career Development Office. The same holds true for the cover letter.

“Add something to your cover letter that relates your application to the organization or the law firm in a way that stands out from the generic cover letter,” said Efrén Olivares, deputy legal director of the Immigrant Justice Project at Southern Poverty Law Center. “That’s going to make a difference, and it’ll send your resume to the top of the pile.”

For further customization, “include a two- to three-sentence summary at the top [of the resume] that directly aligns with the job posting,” Edlin said. “Customize this section using keywords in the job description in a way that makes it clear you are a strong candidate for the opportunity.”

9. Reach for “Power” Words.

“Replace generic words with power words and action verbs – ‘advised,’ ‘advocated,’ ‘resolved,’ ‘advanced,’ ‘enhanced,’ ‘maximized,’ ‘achieved,’” said the University of Miami School of Law Career Development Office.

“Oftentimes, your resume is being scanned by machine learning/natural language processing programs that have been programmed to search for keywords, so include keywords you’d find in the job you want,” Edlin said. “Even if your CV is being reviewed by a decision-maker, it may get a one- to two-minute scan, so leverage that time by including keywords that will stand out.”

10. Focus on Relevant Experience.

“When describing prior work experience, include details that highlight your ability to lead and work with a team, collaborate with others, and provide client service,” said Lauren Marsh, director of attorney recruiting at Akin Gump.

“Some students may assume they have no relevant skills if they did not work before attending law school – however, they should be sure to highlight the comparable experience they gained through internships or college activities,” Marsh said. “These are skills we highly value in our candidates, and an indicator they have developed skills that will enable them to be successful at the firm.”

Also, “Where you went to school is not as important to me as what you did there, how you engaged with the community, organizations, and leadership development,” said Jason Starr, litigation director of Human Rights Campaign. “A strong academic record [is important], but what else about you demonstrates a real passion and a real willingness to dig in?”

11. Be Clear About Your Licensing Status.

“Depending upon where you are in the process, you can indicate it in several different ways, and update your resume as you move from one category to the next,” said Shauna C. Bryce, who practiced law and served on a law firm hiring committee before starting  Bryce Legal Career Counsel .

“If you’ve been admitted to practice, are active and in good standing, then your bullet point is simple – something like this: ‘Bar Admission: California.’ If you have not yet applied to take the bar exam but are eligible to take it: ‘Eligible for July 2021 California bar exam.’”

“If you’ve submitted your application to sit for the exam but have not yet sat for the exam: ‘Candidate for July 2021 California bar exam.’ If you have sat for the exam but have not yet received the results: ‘Candidate for July 2021 California bar exam (results pending).’ If you have passed the exam, but not yet been sworn in: ‘California (admission pending).’

[Log in to Bloomberg Law to read the full article: Ask the Hiring Attorney: How do I show my bar status on my resume? ]

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Law School resume examples & templates

What good does a law school resume do?

Your job resume won’t cut it., what are law schools looking for, making long stories short, resume header, community involvement example in a law school resume.

What does a law school resume have in common with a job application resume? Other than their persuasive purpose, only a partial resemblance exists. The differences are important to understand, which is how this writing guide for prospective law students can help. It’s supported by an example of what admissions officers typically look for in a law school resume. 

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• What law students do, and how a successful law school resume demonstrates their fitness for this competitive field of study and practice
• How to write a law school resume — the fundamentals, framework and format
• Optimizing each resume section: header, education, experience, skills and more
• Getting every visual detail right

In addition to more than 350 occupation-specific resume examples with writing guides, Resume.io offers tips and tools for virtually everyone on the career continuum, from students to retirees.

What do law students do?

From court case research and brief preparation to contract analysis and mock trials, law students dive deeply immersed in the core legal knowledge and abilities they’ll need as practicing lawyers. 

It’s a career choice that’s already tested their competitive mettle in the law school application phase. Crossing that admissions hurdle foretells the kind of high-stakes job wins that could lie ahead. 

Of course, it takes more than an outstanding resume to get into law school. It’s not meant to be the sole law school application document, nor to replace any other. Some law schools don’t ask applicants for a resume, or it may be optional. 

But experts agree that the only valid reason not to submit a resume is if you are told not to. Otherwise, it’s a self-marketing opportunity no one should miss.

As encouraged by LSAT Engine , an online tutoring resource for law school hopefuls, a resume ideally portrays you as a well-rounded and involved member of your community. This can be beneficial when the admissions team is looking for reasons to accept, waitlist, or deny someone.

Gabriel Kuris, founder of Top Law Coach, provides this usnews.com perspective : “A good resume for law school should clarify the skills and experience you bring from work, school and other activities. It won't paint a full picture of who you are, but it should provide a frame for the admissions committees to understand the rest of the application.”

According to LawSchoolNumbers.com, an open-source database for law school applicants, resumes can have make-or-break importance . “The ideal situation is that an admissions officer comes away from your resume thinking that they would like to meet you, or read your personal statement.”

There’s no way to predict how much time or attention your law school resume will receive. But think about the edge-winning advantage you could gain over other applicants with underwhelming resumes, or none at all —  even GPA and LSAT rock stars. This incentive should not be taken lightly, so your law school resume should not be given short shrift.

Before getting started, here are some things to keep in mind. Relevance is relevant in each instance.

Remember — you’re not applying for a job; you’re seeking career entry. The resume you need is decidedly different, if not entirely rebuilt. 

Resumes from previous job or internship applications are a good starting point, however. They help jog your memory and flag information you could fine-tune for a law school. 

Job 1 is for you to find out and pay attention. Scrutinize the target law school’s application requirements, specifically resume guidelines.

What exactly do admissions officers want and expect? They might even ask you to exclude some resume content, or organize and label it a certain way. And be mindful of any resume length indications.

That brings us to the jury still being out on whether the standard one-page limit applies to law school resumes. Resume.io isn’t alone in advocating this restriction for all job resumes, with rare exceptions. For law school resumes, we also think a single page is best, and likely achievable for the vast majority of applicants. 

Having said that, we realize some law schools have no objection to resumes being two pages or even longer. Again — check the application guidelines.

Selective and specific As long as you’re satisfying the law school’s explicit requirements, here’s why a one-pager could be advantageous to demonstrate your worthiness as a lawyer-to-be:

• Being able to write concisely and precisely is essential for lawyers.
• It also reflects their ability to make relevance-based judgment calls by being selective and specific.

Consider the other elements in your law school application package — notably the separate requirement for a personal statement. 

Wait, what? Isn’t that supposed to be part of your resume — the top section, known as a summary , profile or personal statement? Yes, absolutely when you’re applying for a job. It’s a synopsis of who you are and why you’re the best hire. 

Law schools are also keen to know the person behind your resume — so much so that they request a companion document for that purpose. In essay format, this personal statement gives admissions officers a deeper, introspective insight into why you and law school are a good fit at this time in your life. Your resume should be compatible, consistent and complementary alongside the personal statement, but not redundant.

One less resume task With the provision a long-form personal statement — usually two pages — comes a free pass to exclude the summary altogether in your law school resume.

That’s right … more space for other crucial content!

How to write a law school resume

Let’s get down to basics, with an outline of essential law school resume sections:

Consider this the barebones framework of components. What the second and third sections include depends on individual circumstances. At least one activity-related section may follow, plus additional content deemed relevant. We’ll take a closer look later.

For more ideas, check out these resume examples and writing guides for other legal occupations: lawyer resume sample, attorney resume example, legal assistant resume sample, paralegal resume example, claims adjuster resume sample, immigration lawyer resume sample and legal resume sample.

Choosing the best resume format for law school

Within each section of your law school resume, bullet point listings should appear in reverse chronological order — from most recent to earliest dates. This is consistent with the most commonly used resume format for job seekers.

Otherwise, there’s one significant difference in the way law school resumes are organized: education comes ahead of experience, instead of vice versa in a job application resume.

For the same reasons we emphasize the importance of a distinctive header on job application resumes, law school applicants should not overlook this design detail. It makes your contact information prominent and accessible: name, phone, email and perhaps your LinkedIn profile URL.

Law school resume education example

This first-and-foremost section of a law school resume is usually more detailed than its education counterpart in a job resume. Starting with your most recent degree or certification , list them all in order from highest to lowest level.

Impressive GPAs belong here, along with cum laude distinctions and academic awards. Major and minor subjects might be worth mentioning too, and even coursework or thesis titles if they reflect pertinent expertise and interests.

High school information should be omitted. Below is the education section from a law school resume example.

Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY September  2017 - May 2021 

• Magna cum laude.
• President of the Philosophy Club.

Experience sample for law school resume

Often entitled “professional experience,” this part of your law school resume resembles the employment history section that would come first on a job application resume. Besides any work experience you’ve acquired —  whether in an established career or part-time jobs paying your way through school — be sure to include internships. 

Again, in reverse chronological order of dates for each employer, compose three to five bullet points describing your experiences. 

Use action verbs that speak to what you did, learned and accomplished ; avoid rattling off “responsible for” duty lists. And be selective — don’t bore admissions officers with a kitchen sink collection of all your previous jobs. Unless it’s relevant, skip it.

Facts and figures count

Just as we always advise job seekers in every resume writing guide, law school applicants should pinpoint aspects of their experience in measurable terms if possible. 

Peg Cheng, Prelaw Guru founder, shares this resume writing tip from the PowerScore Law School Admissions Guide : “You should list the number of hours worked per week for all jobs and activities. It helps the admissions committee gain a better understanding of the scope of work and activities you’ve been involved in.”

Depending on the nature and scope of your professional experience — especially if scanty — you might also want to highlight volunteer or community service work here instead of in a subsequent activities section.

These law school resume samples for employment history and internships can be modified.

Student Research Assistant at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY  September 2019 - May 2020 

• Served as an effective student research assistant on the project: Social Analysis of Technological Human Interactions.
• Coordinated the collection of data and ensured its reliability.
• Administered strategies essential to the successful management of the research project.

Teaching Assistant at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie  September 2020 - April 2021 

• Worked closely with Professor Timothy Jones to develop learning materials for courses.
• Instructed a weekly class on Introductory Logic.
• Hosted office hours two afternoons per week to provide students with additional support and guidance.

Volunteer and community service service roles are sure to put law school applicants in a favorable light. As noted above, these bullet points could be incorporated into your resume’s experience or activities section, depending on how extensive and relevant.  In our law school resume example below, community involvement is highlighted on its own.

Cultural Center Volunteer, Poughkeepsie October  2019 - May 2021 

• Worked to enhance the center's multi-cultural program offerings, workshops, and events.
• Assisted with the planning for performances and exhibits.
• Wrote and submitted several articles to local news outlets regarding the latest events and programs open to the public.

CV skills example

Even if various skills applicable to your future law career are reflected elsewhere in your CV — which they should be if those sections are written effectively — creating a separate skills list adds prominence. 

The National Association of Colleges and Employers has identified the seven most relevant transferable skills for law students as the ability to: 

• Communicate with people inside and outside an organization
• Work in a team structure
• Make decisions and solve problems
• Plan, organize, and prioritize work
• Obtain and process information
• Create and/or edit written reports
• influence others

Check out a law school CV sample for the skills section below.

• Oral Communications and Listening
• Abilities Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Knowledge of Legal Terminology
• Adaptability
• Highly Organized

Other possible law school resume sections

Other potentially relevant information for a law school resume appears below. How it’s organized depends on the best fit — either in separate dedicated sections or under education, experience or activities subtitles.

• Extracurricular activities
• Affiliations
• Awards and honors*
• Leadership positions
• Publications
• Interests and hobbies

 * Below is an “achievements” example for a law school resume — an alternative to placing in the education section.

National Honor Society  2018 - 2021

Resume layout and design

Looking the part of a legal professional is imperative for a law school resume document. Readability is conveyed in an arms-length appearance of being immaculate, uncluttered and orderly.

Closer inspection reveals carefully thought-out layout and design details. One section flows logically into the next, offset by proportional amounts of white space in the margins and between lines. Fonts are carefully chosen to optimize body text legibility and bold impact in headings. Graphic touches are minimal. 

Aspiring lawyers could never go wrong using a resume template from Resume.io’s extensive collection — perhaps in our professional design category. Click to download your choice, then incorporate your own replacement text using the builder tool.

Key takeaways

• Law school applicants should always submit a resume unless they are told not to.
• A hallmark of law school resumes is the academic emphasis, with a more detailed education section preceding work experience.
• Relevance should determine what your resume includes and how it’s organized. Also be mindful of the law school’s application requirements and instructions.
• Apply the highest standards for professional appearance in your resume layout and design choices.

Beautiful ready-to-use resume templates

Resume Layout Guidance

• List your present address and a phone number and email address where employers can reach you.
• If you are a current student, use your HLS email address.
• You may decide to include a permanent address in addition to your address while you are at school, to signal ties to a geographic area.
• You may decide to include personal pronouns in your header, such as after your name or in the address line. Examples: Alex Washington (she/her/hers); Diego Álvarez [line break] 123 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 · [email protected] · (123) 456-7890 · they/them.
• Do not include a job objective here or elsewhere on your resume; your career objectives and plans should be expressed in your cover letter.
• Unless you are more than about five years out of law school, your “Education” section should generally precede your “Experience” section.
• For current law students, indicate the degree you expect to earn and your anticipated date of graduation. Examples: J.D., May 2025; LL.M., May 2023.
• List all advanced degrees, starting with your law or most recent degree and working back to college.
• Your “Education” section should also reflect whether you transferred as an undergraduate or law student, studied abroad, or enrolled in a joint degree program.
• Because they are Latin phrases, magna , summa , and cum laude should always appear in italicized, lowercase letters. Example: B.S. magna cum laude in Physics.
• Consider whether inserting a “Relevant Coursework” subsection under your law school entry could add value to your resume. Listing several courses can demonstrate interest in a particular issue area, especially where substantive relevant experience is not clear from other parts of your resume.

Honors & Activities

• Include two separate subsections for each educational degree: “Honors” and “Activities.”
• At most, include three to five entries per subsection; listing too many can detract from the most relevant activities or honors.
• Be sure to include a brief explanation of any awards or distinctions that are not familiar to most readers.
• The “Honors” subsection should list any notable awards or distinctions you received, such as Dean’s List or Phi Beta Kappa. Note that honors such as Dean’s List may seem redundant if you also graduated with Latin honors.
• In the “Activities” subsection, indicate any relevant or personally meaningful student organization memberships, reading groups, elected offices, activities, or sports in which you have participated.
• Do not include your undergraduate grade point average unless it is specifically requested by an employer or not well-reflected in honors received. An impressive GPA is often self-evident if, for example, you graduated magna cum laude .
• Public service employers are rarely interested in how you perform on tests. LSAT and other standardized test scores should not appear on your resume.

Thesis and/or Publications

• Especially if your topic is relevant to your career interests, you may want to include a separate “Thesis” subsection under the appropriate educational degree and indicate the title of your thesis in italics.
• Any notes or articles you have written or are writing for a journal or other publication should go under a separate “Publications” section, in Bluebook format. When appropriate, include a notation such as: (publication pending) or (forthcoming, spring 2023).
• List your work, internship, and/or significant volunteer experiences in reverse chronological order, with your most recent experience listed first.
• Clinical work during law school, internships, and part-time work may be included under your “Experience” section. Volunteer work is equally valuable experience and need not be singled out under a separate heading on your resume. On the other hand, if you have a significant number of work experiences, you may want to create a separate heading such as “Community Service” and group your volunteer work there, as a way of breaking up your resume sections.
• Not sure how to characterize past military service on a resume? Review these application tips specific to student veterans . Do not feel compelled to list every job you have held before or during law school, as your resume should be designed to highlight your most significant and relevant experiences.
• When deciding which experiences to include and exclude, remain mindful of any significant gaps in time you may create. These gaps may raise questions for some employers. Feel free to speak to an OPIA adviser about creative ways to mitigate or describe such gaps.
• Descriptions are important in this section, since they capture the essence of your experience and any recognition and accomplishments. Paint a dynamic picture of the type of work you did and the extent of your responsibilities without exaggeration. Adding detail is a plus. For example, if you worked at a legal services center, list the type of clients with whom you worked and the types of cases you handled.
• Use longer descriptions to accentuate those work experiences most critical to your current search. Employers will assume that the longer the description, the more priority you give to the experience.
• Break descriptions into shorter phrases, as these are more easily scanned than full sentences. Try to start each segment with an action verb. Examples: Drafted Congressional testimony. Launched summer intern program. Advised 50 first-year students on course selection.
• Try to omit passive verbs, particularly any form of “to be.” Phrases such as “was responsible for running” should become “Ran,” for example.
• If you have held more than one job with the same employer, enter both jobs under one header, putting the title of each job in italics.
• Clearly delineate dates on your resume. Place these flush with the right hand margin of the page.
• Refer to the dates of summer or semester-long jobs as Summer 20__, Fall 20__, Spring 20__.
• In most cases, specifying the exact months of your employment is not necessary. If you worked at an organization from March 2019 to May 2021, for example, simply list 2019 – 2021.

Skills and Interests/Personal

• If you have skills in languages other than English, consider noting these in a “Skills and Interests” or “Languages and Interests” section. Take care not to under-rate (by leaving some out) or over-rate (by claiming more fluency than you currently have) your language skills. Keep in mind that you may be asked to demonstrate them during an interview, if they are important for the role.
• Adding a line about your outside hobbies or interests can be invaluable for interviews, giving an interviewer additional topics of conversation. Be prepared to talk a little about your passion for the things included in this section.
• Technology skills in basic programs such as the Microsoft Office suite or legal research tools like LexisNexis or Westlaw will not distinguish you from other law student candidates, so there is no need to include these. However, consider noting your proficiency in specific tools – GIS mapping, coding, or social media analytics, to name a few – where it could be relevant for particular employers.
• It is unnecessary to add “References will be furnished upon request” at the end of your resume, as employers will ask you to provide your references separately, and this line occupies valuable space on your resume.
• A references sheet should be formatted with the same header as your resume. Unless an employer specifies otherwise, include three or four references’ names, titles, email addresses, organization names, organization addresses, and phone numbers. It is also useful to include a line or two about how each reference knows you. See sample reference sheet .
• Give careful consideration to which references you will use for different employers, as some contacts may be more helpful for one position than another.
• Before you list someone as a reference, be sure ask their permission, let them know the type of work you are pursuing, and, if necessary, refresh their memory about your work.
• If interviewing in person, bring an extra hardcopy of your references sheet (and your resume) and be prepared to offer it if the interviewer mentions references.

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Prepping Your Resume for Law School

Published December 10, 2018 This content is archived.

Guest blogger Ashley Wilson-Rew is Content Strategist & SEM at protocol 80, Inc.

With everything you need to submit for law school -- you shouldn’t let your resume fall through the cracks. How can you be sure your law school resume highlights your best attributes?

It may seem like there are an endless amount of materials you need to submit to get into law school --  LSAT scores, letters of recommendations, and a personal statement are just a few among them. A resume could easily get lost in the midst.

However, a resume is a crucial element to your law school application process. It’s not something that is always required, but if it is, you’ll want to take some time creating it. You won’t want to throw it together the night before it’s due.

How is a law school resume different from a career resume?

A law school resume emphasizes your academic achievements.

An important thing to keep in mind is that your audience is the admissions committee, and not a future employer. You’ll have to be careful about your specific word choice, the skills you present, and the accomplishments noted. These all need to match the qualifications that law schools are looking for.

It’s important to note your passions while illustrating how you spent your time in college. Any leadership positions, professional responsibilities, and volunteer experiences could be beneficial to highlight.

Another thing to keep in mind when writing your resume is to make sure it matches your personal statement. You want to be transparent and cohesive about who you are. Your resume and personal statement should compliment one another.

These are just a few tips to help you craft your law school resume. Below is a list of law school resume templates you can follow to help you get into your dream school!

5 Law School Resume Templates & Examples

1. this example from redrocketresume has all the necessary information to impress the admissions committee..

It includes:

• Academic experience (education AND any research, writing, or teaching experience)
• Relevant employment (including non-law employment that demonstrates desirable qualities in a lawyer)

2. This template from International Student highlights leadership experience & special skills.

Learn more about the law school admissions process and School of Law community through an individual meeting with one of our staff members.

[Learn More]

3. Here’s a fantastic example template from U.S. News & World Report.

4. The Girl’s Guide to Law School provides a before & after law school resume example.

5. This resume template from Calling All Questions goes into depth with plenty of outside experiences.

You might want to follow this if you’re already in law school or soon-to-be graduating:

Office of Admissions University at Buffalo School of Law 408 O'Brian Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260 716-645-2907 [email protected]

Submit this form to receive an application fee waiver.

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Resume for Law School

Your resume is one the several components that ultimately comprise your applications to law school. Law school admissions committees are very interested in how you spend your time and energy outside of class, so it is essential that you create a strong, accurate, and flattering portrayal of yourself on your resume.

How to Convert a Job Resume to a Law School Resume

Consult this blog post for tips on converting your job resume to a law school resume that highlights your qualifications.

Law School Resume Samples

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Key Principles of a Law School Résumé

Résumés have a sort of oxymoronic importance in the admissions process. On the one hand, your admissions officer probably won’t spend more than thirty seconds reading yours. On the other hand, she’ll probably read it first, and it might color her admission impression of your entire file.

What Sections Should You Include?

Most law school résumés have four sections:

1. Experience

Include both jobs and internships. Note promotions and other accomplishments. Quantify your achievements with numbers where possible.

2. Education

Include degrees, distinctions such as magna cum laude, and academic awards. You can also note if you’ve worked your way through college. If you’re still in college, Education should be your first section.

3. Activities

Include community service and other extracurriculars. If you’ve been out of college for a long time, you don’t need to include your extracurricular college activities, and this section may not be necessary at all.

4. Personal

Include skills (e.g. computer programming, piano), languages (other than English), and a couple interests or hobbies (which can help with your interview).

If you have numerous awards or publications, you may want to call attention to them separately with an Awards or Selected Publications section.

Most admissions officers don’t mind two-page résumés. That said, your reader is going to skim no matter what, and you have more control over where her eye lands if you keep your résumé to one page. A shorter résumé also makes it easier to convey a coherent story about your career.

Don’t go over two pages.

Key Principles

1. Make it scannable.

When you’re listening to a song, the rests are just as important as the notes. When you’re reading a résumé, the white space is just as important as the words.

Don’t use dense blocks of text or a microscopic font size. Let each entry breathe. Whittle away everything that’s extraneous so that your key accomplishments pop.

2. Use bullet points, but no more than three per entry.

• Bullet points make your résumé more scannable.
• But an admissions officer will probably skip a third or fourth bullet.
• If you cut a bullet, you don’t necessarily lose anything—you just redirect your reader to something more relevant.

3. Give context for each entry.

Let’s say you put the following in your Education section:

Received George Byron Waldrop Award.

If that sentence were a logical reasoning stimulus, you’d have some questions:

• What on earth is the George Byron Waldrop Award?
• How many people were eligible for the award?
• How does it demonstrate academic excellence?

It’s important to qualify and explain your achievements with context:

Recipient of George Byron Waldrop Award, given by faculty nomination to the classics major who “shows the greatest promise for future scholarship.”

4. Format consistently.

Judges and lawyers put a huge amount of stock in small details, and you want to signal to the adcom that you’ll be employable after law school. Thus, it’s incredibly important that your résumé is error-free, legible, and formatted consistently.

If you write “Sep 2013” in one entry, don’t write “Nov. 2013” or “5/2013” anywhere else. It doesn’t much matter how you format your dates, so long as you format them—and everything else—consistently.

Learn about our admissions consulting and editing services .

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Law School Resume Examples and Writing Guide

Law school resume examples are hard to come by, even though they can be a useful resource when trying to create your own. One of the main reasons for this is that applicants often don't realize that there's a difference between a regular work resume, a CV for graduate school , and a resume for specific programs such as an MBA resume or law school resume. In this post, we will go over those differences, show you some top-tier law school resume examples, and give you some tips for creating your own.

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Article Contents 10 min read

What is a law school resume.

A law school resume is a required document in applications to most law schools in Canada and the United States. Applicants often focus on perfecting law school personal statements , figuring out how to study for the LSAT , and reviewing potential law school interview questions , and while these are essential components of the law school application, a strong resume can be just as important. Law schools like to get a sense of who you are as a person and what you've done outside of the classroom, so a good resume can significantly impact your ability to gain admission.

Furthermore, most admission committees use your resume as an initial screening tool. They will start by reviewing your resume before reading your essays or any other application components to find out about your general background, achievements, and overall profile. This helps them decide if your application is worth considering. If you are called for an interview, the admissions board will usually ask questions related to your resume, so it's a good idea to learn how to prepare for your law school interview with your resume in mind.

When done correctly, your law school resume should showcase your accomplishments, experience, and skills in a way that will stand out to the admissions board.

Most law school applicants already have a resume that they use to apply for work or volunteer positions. It is important to understand that there are key differences between this resume and the one you need to submit with your law school application. Much like the other components of your application, your resume needs to be specifically designed for the reader. In this case, you are addressing the admissions boards of the school you are applying to. You need to keep in mind that the information they're seeking is different from what a potential employer would be interested in.

Both documents should result in a compelling, accurate, and flattering portrayal of your background. However, while your job-seeking resume needs to show your aptitude for a specific line of work, your law school resume should show your readiness for law school and your fit for your chosen institution. A hiring manager typically has a specific list of technical skills or qualifications that they are scanning for on a resume. For example, if they are hiring a graphic designer, they'll be looking at the resume to see how familiar the candidate is with the industry, if they have any experience in graphic design, or if they are trained to use a particular software. In contrast, law school admissions committees will probably spend more time thoroughly reviewing your resume and trying to determine if your background has prepared you for their law school. They will be looking for evidence of the qualities that the school values and focusing on things like your academic achievements and communication skills.

To put that into context, take a look at the two resumes below. Both of these resumes belong to the same person, so they obviously showcase a similar background. That said, you can clearly see that they have chosen to highlight different parts of their experience on the different documents. The first resume is designed for a potential employer. It includes a resume objective or summary at the very top and has a list of specific skills that the employer is likely to be interested in. The second resume is better suited for a law school application as it has more information about the applicant’s academic background, and instead of listing skills, they have highlighted some awards/honors that showcase transferable skills which can be useful in law school.

Would you first like to see a summary of some key tips we discuss later in this article? Check this out:

Law resume example #1

Now that you have a better idea of what a law school resume is and what it needs to communicate, let’s talk about how you can craft a strong one for yourself:

Law school resume format & layout

Your law school resume needs to be clean, professional, concise, and well-organized. The aim is to make it as easy to read as possible. It's important to check the requirements of the law school you are applying to, as they may have specific instructions for your resume. If that is the case, you should make sure to follow those instructions as it shows the admissions board that you take your application seriously and that you can take directions.  

Unless otherwise specified, these are our recommendations for the format of your law school resume:

Your law school resume needs to communicate a substantive amount of information in a very precise manner. To make it easy to read and to provide only the most pertinent information, we recommend sticking to bullet point lists that convey the key achievements for each experience and project you worked on. Each bullet point should have a maximum of three lines to avoid cluttering up the page.  ","label":"Writing style","title":"Writing style"}]" code="tab1" template="BlogArticle">

Law school resume sections & content

There is no golden resume template to get you into law school. The key to success is making sure that your resume is structured in a way that is easy to follow and read. That means keeping everything neat and separated into clearly labeled sections. Your resume should include the following sections:  

• Contact Information 
• Education 
• Work Experience (professional experience and volunteer experience) 
• Additional Achievements/Information (Such as awards and honors, special projects, certifications, Skills, Interests/Activities)  

Now, let’s go over what needs to be included in each section. It may seem obvious, but the truth is that applicants often make mistakes when it comes to the content of their law school resume. You have to carefully decide what to include and, just as importantly, what you leave out.

This is, without a doubt, the easiest section on your resume. As suggested by the section's name, you should keep it simple and provide that they need to contact you. We've provided a basic list of information to include below, but of course, you can tweak this list for your specific profile. 

You should include the following: 

TIP : While including a LinkedIn profile is optional, it does give admissions officers another opportunity to learn more about you, so including it may be to your benefit. 

2. Education

Remember that you are applying for an academic program, so your academic background is very important. You should write your education section in reverse chronological order, meaning that the most recent education should be listed first. If you are still completing a degree, you should still list it with your anticipated date of completion. 

For every degree, you should have a new entry. Each one should include the name of the degree, the university you attended, your graduation year, your major and minor (when applicable), your GPA (if it is competitive), any honors or significant achievements, key projects, research work, and meaningful coursework.  

That said, if you have been working for a significant number of years and have more work experience, then you can opt to keep these entries brief and make your work experience the focus of your resume. In that case, your education entries should only mention the name of your degree, the institution, the year of graduation, your major and minor, and key achievements that highlight the qualities that your chosen law school values.  

3. Work experience

Often, this is where applicants err by trying to cram in too much information. Depending on your level of experience, this section can take up to 3/4 of your resume, but you need to make sure that it only includes relevant information. You should stick to the following:

Write your summaries in bullet points, with each point having one to three lines, and use action verbs such as "improved", "managed" or "modified". Be specific and quantify your achievements whenever possible but remember that you can provide more information about the skills you gained and what you learned in your personal statement. You can look at law school personal statement examples to get a better idea of how to do that. 

As with the education section, you should write it in reverse chronological order and divide it into different subsections. For example, you can include a subcategory for research experience or volunteer experience, depending on your background.   

4. Additional achievements and information

This is the section where you get to highlight some of the things that do not fit into the other categories that we've discussed. This includes significant extracurricular achievements, relevant skills and certifications, awards and honors, associations/clubs with leadership roles, and interests. If you only have something to add in one of these subcategories, then you can make that your main category and list the relevant information.

You should only include high-stake accomplishments and information that is relevant to your application, which showcases abilities or qualities that would make you a stronger candidate for law school. For example, if you are a chess club member, you don't need to add it to your resume because it doesn't add much to it. On the other hand, if you created a chess club and led members to an important tournament, you should mention that because it shows your leadership potential. To make your resume more enticing, you can separate the information into different subcategories, as done in the example below: 

ADDITIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS AND INFORMATION:

Honors and awards

Doe Senior Society - March 20xx

• One of thirty members of the Class of 20xx to be inducted into University of X's oldest Honor Society

Research project Smith Scholarship Finalist – March 20xx

Founding member of New City Chess Tournament (NCCT) - Oct 20xx to present

• Recruited chess players in xx community
• Organized and supervised an annual tournament for over 36 players 

Be consistent with the rest of your application:

Your resume is just one component of your law school application. It is supposed to give the admissions board an overview of your academic and professional background, which your essays and other application documents will then explain in detail. The easiest way to achieve this is to be honest, avoid exaggerations and thoroughly proofread all of your documents.  

For example, suppose you’ve chosen to write a law school diversity statement in which you mention that you’ve spent a significant amount of time volunteering for Big Brothers Big Sisters to help children who come from the same socioeconomic background as you, but then your resume shows that you were only a volunteer for one month. In that case, your word choice may cause the admissions board to be confused or, even worse, suspicious. It is important to pay attention to the details and stick to telling the facts in a flattering way rather than trying to embellish your experience.  

Focus on actions and results

Instead of listing tasks and functional responsibilities as you would for a job-seeking resume, you should try to focus on actions and quantifiable results. You want your resume to highlight your skills and the best way to do that is to use action verbs such as ‘created’, ‘led’, or ‘performed’. Whenever possible, you should also mention measurable results and long-term achievements as they are more memorable and help put things into context for the reader. The aim is to show the admissions board the impact that your achievements had and qualities that will serve you well in law school. 

For example, instead of saying 'Was responsible for converting paper filing system into a digital system,' you should say 'Overhauled office paper filing system and digitized it, thus increasing efficiency.' The second sentence tells more of a story than the first one, highlighting your ability to take a project, see it through and effect change.  

Skip the technical jargon

When you are applying for a job, you want your potential employer to know that you are knowledgeable about your industry. You also know the likelihood of them understanding your line of work's acronyms and technical jargon is relatively high. In that case, you should feel free to use certain technical words. However, on your law school resume, you should avoid all jargon that is not legal.  

Keep in mind that the admissions board will be looking at the content of your resume and your communication skills. Suppose they have to look up every other word or acronym on your resume because it's particular to the industry you were working in at the time. That experience will not only be unpleasant for them, but it will also tell them that you do not know how to communicate effectively.   

Prioritize adult education and work experience

We're not saying that your high school accomplishments are unimportant or that you shouldn't mention them at all but this isn’t a high school resume , so try to keep these to a minimum. Your law school resume should only mention significant experiences and prestigious accomplishments from high school. Like if you achieved a distinctive honor like being valedictorian, for example.  

On the other hand, things like your high school GPA or involvement in the chess club do not need to be mentioned. Law schools are more interested in what you've done and who you are as an adult. For example, a 3.7 GPA from one of the best undergraduate business schools will be more impressive than a 4.0 GPA in high school.  

Proofread thoroughly

After you've finished the final draft of your law school resume, you should step away from it and come back to check it with fresh eyes. Make sure that there are no grammatical errors or typos, that your format is consistent throughout, and that it follows the school guidelines (if any). You can also invest in a law school admissions consulting  service to maximize your chances of having a solid resume and getting into law school.  

Law resume example #3

Law resume example #4.

A law school resume is a short document that provides a snapshot of the applicant's academic and professional background. It is an integral part of most law school applications.

We do not recommend that you do this. Your work resume is supposed to grab an employer's attention, and they're looking for specific technical skills that show them that you can perform in a particular line of work. On the other hand, your law school resume is part of an application to an academic program, which means that the admissions board will be looking for a different set of transferable skills to see if you are ready for law school.

In short, yes! Law school resumes can be used as a screening document for some admissions committees. Furthermore, they give you a chance to showcase your background in a way you may not be able to in the other documents that comprise your application.

Ideally, one page long, but this will depend on your experience level. You should try not to have more than two pages.

Your resume should give the admissions board of your chosen school an overview of your academic and professional background. Therefore, it should consist of your contact information, education, work experience, and any relevant additional information (Such as awards and honors, special projects, certifications, Skills, Interests/Activities) 

It's completely optional. That said, you should keep in mind that the aim is for the admissions board to get to know you, so if your LinkedIn has additional information that can strengthen your candidacy, then you should include it.

You should list any volunteering, internships, and campus leadership roles. Furthermore, you can expand your education section by including relevant coursework or projects.

You can include some information about your high school experience but keep this short because law schools are far more interested in the adult version of you. You should only include your high school's name, your graduation year, and significant achievements.

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How to make your law school application stand out, (and avoid the top 5 mistakes that get most rejected).

How to Write a Law School Resume

Length, Formatting, and Sections to Include

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Your law school resume is an important element of your application. While not all schools require resumes, many top schools do, and those that don’t often allow applicants to submit a resume as supplemental information.

A resume for law school should be different from a job resume. In particular, the law school resume should contain significantly more detail than a standard employment resume. The most important elements to emphasize in a resume for law school are your academic achievements, so make sure those are featured prominently on your resume.

Length and Formatting

Resumes for law school should be a maximum of one to two pages in length. According to Stanford Law's admissions site, "Stanford requires a one-to-two page resume describing your academic, extracurricular and professional activities." The University of Chicago Law's admissions team offers a bit more leeway, stating, "You can go into more detail than you would in a typical resume for employment (use your judgment though; very rarely does one need more than 2-3 pages)."

The resume format and style must be professional and should include headings for each section, bulleted details, and dates and locations for each activity. Choose an easy-to-read font and include standard margins at the top, bottom, and sides of each page of your resume.

What to Include

Since your educational experience is the most important element of your resume to potential law schools, the first section immediately below your name and contact information should be education. The sections that follow education can be adjusted to suit your personal experience. Most students list awards and honors; employment, internships, or research experience; leadership or volunteer experience; publications; and skills and interests.

Consider the law schools to which you’re applying, and make sure that you highlight qualifications you possess that are important to those schools. Don’t include objectives or lists of professional qualifications, as these items are not relevant to the law school resume. It's also best to avoid accomplishments from your high school resume and instead focus on qualifications and experiences gained during and after college. The following sections are often included in law school resumes. Be sure to include only those sections that are applicable to you, and modify or remove any sections that do not apply.

List the college institution, location (city and state), degree or certificate earned including majors and minors, and the year earned. If you didn’t earn a degree or certificate, list the dates of attendance. You can also include study abroad experiences within the education section.

List your overall undergraduate GPA and GPA in your major for each institution attended (especially if higher than your overall GPA).

Honors/Awards/Scholarships

List any honors, awards, and scholarships you achieved during college as well as the year(s) you earned them. These can include dean's list, Latin honors, and major scholarships or recognition.

Employment/Research/Internship Experience

List your position, the name of the employer, location (city and state), and the dates you were employed. Include your specific duties under each employer, making sure to note any recognition or special achievements (e.g., "increased sales by 30% in the first year as a section manager"). By quantifying your work for each organization, you'll make it easier for the admissions team to see what you contributed. Always start your job descriptions with strong action words (directed, led, mentored, organized) to convey purpose and direction.

Other items to include in an experience section are research work and internships. Similar to employment, include the position held, the name of your direct supervisor, dates you worked on each project, your specific duties, and notable accolades.

Leadership/Volunteer Work

If you held positions of leadership on campus or in outside organizations, be sure to detail these in your resume. Similar to work experience, include the leadership position held, the name of the organization, dates you held the position, your specific roles, and important accomplishments.

Volunteer work is particularly impressive on a law school resume. Just like paid work experience, consistent volunteering shows a strong work ethic as well as community engagement. Make sure to include each volunteer experience and include the name of the organization, duties performed, and dates of service.

Publications

This section should list any publication credits you have earned during college. It may include your thesis, if published, newspaper bylines, and other personal writing that has been published in on-campus or off-campus publications.

Skills/Interests

In this section, you can list foreign languages, membership in organizations, and extracurricular activities that are important to you. Some applicants also use this section to list their technical proficiencies including advanced computer skills. If there is something that you have participated in for a long time, or in which you possess particularly high level skills, be sure to indicate so in this section.

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What to know about Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle

Cheatle previously served on then-Vice President Joe Biden's security detail.

In the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, the U.S. Secret Service has faced mounting scrutiny for its failure to prevent the attack.

Much of the criticism has been aimed at the agency's director, Kimberly Cheatle. Cheatle, who was appointed to the role by President Joe Biden in 2022, had previously been the senior director in global security at PepsiCo.

Prior to her time at PepsiCo, she had served with the Secret Service for more than 25 years, including on Biden's security detail while he was vice president.

MORE: Trump shooting live updates: FBI gained access to shooter's phone

In a statement announcing her appointment, Biden said he had "complete trust" in Cheatle, to whom in 2021 he bestowed a Presidential Rank Award, which honors "exceptional performance" as a high-ranking federal civil servant.

"When Kim served on my security detail when I was Vice President, we came to trust her judgement and counsel," Biden said. "She is a distinguished law enforcement professional with exceptional leadership skills, and was easily the best choice to lead the agency at a critical moment for the Secret Service."

Cheatle is one of only two women to ever serve as director of the Secret Service. Previously, she had been the first woman to serve as the agency's assistant director of protective operations.

In a 2022 interview with the trade publication Security Magazine , Cheatle reflected on being a woman in the Secret Service.

"That achievement in a male-dominated industry was not lost on me," Cheatle said. "I kept a photo on my desk of the first five women sworn into the service, and I used that to remind me that these women created opportunities for me and I can help others grow and lead as well."

Cheatle graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in sociology, according to the News-Gazette , and she first applied for a job as a Secret Service agent before leaving school.

She credited her brother -- who had aspired to be a state trooper but was killed in a car accident in 1988 -- with inspiring her career path.

"I probably am in law enforcement today as a direct result of my brother," she told the News-Gazette.

MORE: Secret Service director: Current polarization 'plays into' threat environment

Since the shooting on Saturday, numerous Republican lawmakers have called for Cheatle to answer questions about how the agency failed to prevent the attack, which left one rallygoer dead. Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Elon Musk have taken it a step further, calling for her to resign.

Some of the criticism of Cheatle has focused on her being a woman, with prominent conservatives calling her a "DEI hire" and female Secret Service agents in general as having "physical limitations" that should prevent them from serving.

Next Monday, Cheatle is expected to testify before the GOP-led House Oversight Committee about the assassination attempt. In a statement announcing the hearing, chairman James Comer said "Americans demand answers" from Cheatle.

"The United States Secret Service has a no-fail mission, yet it failed on Saturday when a madman attempted to assassinate President Trump, killed an innocent victim, and harmed others," Comer said. "We are grateful to the brave Secret Service agents who acted quickly to protect President Trump after shots were fired and the American patriots who sought to help victims, but questions remain about how a rooftop within proximity to President Trump was left unsecure."

In a statement Monday, Cheatle said the Secret Service is working to understand how Saturday's shooting took place and that the agency is cooperating with investigations into Secret Service protocol around the incident.

"The Secret Service is tasked with the tremendous responsibility of protecting the current and former leaders of our democracy," she said. "It is a responsibility that I take incredibly seriously, and I am committed to fulfilling that mission."

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Biden says it was a ‘mistake’ to say he wanted to put a ‘bull’s-eye’ on Trump

By SEUNG MIN KIM, AAMER MADHANI and MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden told NBC News in an interview airing Monday that it was a “mistake” to say he wanted to put a “bull’s-eye” on Republican nominee Donald Trump, but argued that the rhetoric coming from his opponent was more incendiary while warning that Trump remained a threat to democratic institutions.

Those remarks from Biden came during a private call with donors last week as the Democrat had been scrambling to shore up his imperiled candidacy with key party constituencies. During that conversation, Biden declared that he was “done” talking about his poor debate performance and that it was “time to put Trump in the bull’s-eye,” saying Trump has gotten far too little scrutiny on his stances, rhetoric and lack of campaigning.

Insisting “there was very little focus on Trump’s agenda,” Biden told NBC anchor Lester Holt that while he acknowledged his “mistake,” he nonetheless is “not the guy who said I wanted to be a dictator on day one” and that he wanted the focus to be on what Trump was saying. It’s Trump, not Biden, who engages in that kind of rhetoric, Biden said, referring to Trump’s past comments about a “bloodbath” if the Republican loses to Biden in November.

“Look, how do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says?” Biden said. “Do you just not say anything because it may incite somebody?”

The interview was occurring the same day that his reelection team was preparing to resume full-throttle campaigning after the assassination attempt on Trump, particularly after the GOP nominee announced Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate — which unleashed a flurry of criticism from the Biden campaign and other Democrats about the young freshman senator’s policy positions.

“He’s a clone of Trump on the issues,” Biden told reporters at Andrews Air Force Base shortly before departing for Nevada for a series of speeches and campaign events. “I don’t see any difference.”

The NBC interview, scheduled before the attempt on Trump’s life at a rally in Pennsylvania, had been part of Biden’s broader strategy to prove his fitness for office after angst grew among Democrats because of his disastrous June 27 debate performance.

The Biden campaign recalibrated some of its political plans in the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on Saturday, pulling advertising off the air and hitting pause on messaging. The White House also scrapped Biden’s planned Monday visit to the Lyndon B. Johnson library, where he had been slated to deliver remarks on civil rights.

It’s still not finalized when Biden’s campaign ads will resume airing. But Biden is pressing on with the Nevada portion of his previously scheduled western swing, which will include remarks to the NAACP and UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights and advocacy group. He’ll also headline what’s been billed as a “campaign community event” on Wednesday in Las Vegas.

Hours ahead of the NBC interview, his campaign issued a blistering statement on Trump’s selection of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate, saying he picked the freshman senator because he would “bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda.”

“Over the next three and a half months, we will spend every single day making the case between the two starkly contrasting visions Americans will choose between at the ballot box this November,” said Biden campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon. “The Biden-Harris ticket who’s focused on uniting the country, creating opportunity for everyone, and lowering costs; or Trump-Vance – whose harmful agenda will take away Americans’ rights, hurt the middle class, and make life more expensive – all while benefiting the ultra-rich and greedy corporations.”

Biden has acknowledged that his candidacy and agenda will be under attack at the Republican National Convention this week, and aides feel no need to put their campaign on complete pause while Biden comes under scrutiny in Milwaukee. But they’ll tread carefully in the aftermath of the shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“I’ll be traveling this week, making the case for our record and the vision — my vision of the country — our vision,” Biden said during his Oval Office remarks on Sunday night, just the third such address of his presidency. “I’ll continue to speak out strongly for our democracy, stand up for our Constitution and the rule of law, to call for action at the ballot box, no violence on our streets. That’s how democracy should work.”

Biden’s renewed campaigning this week comes as Democrats have been at an impasse over whether the incumbent president should continue in the race even as he was defiant that he would stay in. Biden has made it clear in no uncertain terms that he remains in the race, and aides have been operating as such.

It was unclear if the attempt on Trump’s life would blunt Democratic efforts to urge Biden to step aside, but it appears to have stalled some of the momentum, for now. No Democrats have called for him to exit the race since the shooting Saturday night.

In the hours before the shooting, Biden was still being confronted by frustration and skepticism from Democratic lawmakers. Rep. Jared Huffman of California said he asked the president during his meeting with the Congressional Progressive Caucus about objectively assessing the trajectory of the race, and if the Lord almighty doesn’t intervene would Biden consider “the best earthly alternative”: meeting with former presidents Obama and Clinton, and the Democratic leadership including Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi “to seek their advice.”

Huffman said on a social media post that Biden “disagreed with the notion that we are on a losing trajectory.”

And while Biden expressed a “willingness to listen” to other voices, Huffman said he doubted any would be persuasive. “I continue to believe a major course correction is needed, and that the President and his team have yet to fully acknowledge the problem, much less correct it,” he said.

But now, several Democrats who requested anonymity were skeptical that there would be enough drive among lawmakers to successfully try and pressure Biden not to run, especially because they are scattered and away from Washington until next week and because Biden has said he won’t step aside and seized the opportunity to quickly respond to the shooting over the weekend. The people requested anonymity to characterize private conversations.

Many in the Democratic Party had been looking to congressional leaders Jeffries and Schumer to voice concerns directly to the president. Jeffries met with Biden at the White House on Thursday night, while Schumer went to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Saturday for his visit with Biden, which occurred just before the assassination attempt on Trump.

There were still deep concerns that Biden is not up to the job and a sense that pressure to try and find another candidate could ramp up again when lawmakers return to Washington. Congressional Democrats were watching the Republican National Convention and Biden’s appearances this week with awareness that the dynamics could change — again.

AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

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What Is Project 2025, and Why Is Trump Disavowing It?

The Biden campaign has attacked Donald J. Trump’s ties to the conservative policy plan that would amass power in the executive branch, though it is not his official platform.

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By Simon J. Levien

Donald J. Trump has gone to great lengths to distance himself from Project 2025, a set of conservative policy proposals for a future Republican administration that has outraged Democrats. He has claimed he knows nothing about it or the people involved in creating it.

Mr. Trump himself was not behind the project. But some of his allies were.

The document, its origins and the interplay between it and the Trump campaign have made for one of the most hotly debated questions of the 2024 race.

Here is what to know about Project 2025, and who is behind it.

What is Project 2025?

Project 2025 was spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation and like-minded conservative groups before Mr. Trump officially entered the 2024 race. The Heritage Foundation is a think tank that has shaped the personnel and policies of Republican administrations since the Reagan presidency.

The project was intended as a buffet of options for the Trump administration or any other Republican presidency. It’s the latest installment in the Heritage Foundation’s Mandate for Leadership series, which has compiled conservative policy proposals every few years since 1981. But no previous study has been as sweeping in its recommendations — or as widely discussed.

Kevin Roberts, the head of the Heritage Foundation, which began putting together the latest document in 2022, said he thought the American government would embrace a more conservative era, one that he hoped Republicans would usher in.

“We are in the process of the second American Revolution,” Mr. Roberts said on Real America’s Voice, a right-wing cable channel, in early July, adding pointedly that the revolt “will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”

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Who is JD Vance? Things to know about Donald Trump’s pick for vice president

Donald Trump announced that Sen. JD Vance, (R) Ohio, will be his running mate and vice-presidential candidate in the 2024 presidential election.

Donald Trump says Ohio Sen. JD Vance will be his vice presidential pick. (AP video by Mike Householder/production Ao Gao)

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance arrive on the floor during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Delegates hold a sign with ‘Vance” written in as Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, arrives on the floor during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance arrives with his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance at the Republican National Convention Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Follow AP’s live coverage of the investigation into the Trump rally shooting and the Republican National Convention.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Monday chose U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio to be his running mate as he looks to return to the White House.

Here are some things to know about Vance, a 39-year-old Republican now in his first term in the Senate:

Vance rose to prominence with the memoir ‘Hillbilly Elegy’

Vance was born and raised in Middletown, Ohio. He joined the Marines and served in Iraq, and later earned degrees from Ohio State University and Yale Law School. He also worked as a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley.

Vance made a name for himself with his memoir, the 2016 bestseller “Hillbilly Elegy ,” which was published as Trump was first running for president. The book earned Vance a reputation as someone who could help explain the maverick New York businessman’s appeal in middle America, especially among the working class, rural white voters who helped Trump win the presidency.

“Hillbilly Elegy” also introduced Vance to the Trump family. Donald Trump Jr. loved the book and knew of Vance when he went to launch his political career. The two hit it off and have remained friends.

He was first elected to public office in 2022

After Donald Trump won the 2016 election, Vance returned to his native Ohio and set up an anti-opioid charity . He also took to the lecture circuit and was a favored guest at Republican Lincoln Day dinners where his personal story — including the hardship Vance endured because of his mother’s drug addiction — resonated.

Vance’s appearances were opportunities to sell his ideas for fixing the country and helped lay the groundwork for entering politics in 2021 , when he sought the Senate seat vacated by Republican Rob Portman, who retired.

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• Read the latest: Follow AP’s live coverage of this year’s election .

Trump endorsed Vance. Vance went on to win a crowded Republican primary and the general election.

He and Trump have personal chemistry

Personal relationships are extremely important to the former president and he and Vance have developed a strong rapport over years, speaking on the phone regularly.

Trump has also complimented Vance’s beard, saying he “looks like a young Abraham Lincoln.”

Vance went from never-Trumper to fierce ally

Vance was a “never Trump” Republican in 2016. He called Trump “dangerous” and “unfit” for office. Vance, whose wife, lawyer Usha Chilukuri Vance, is Indian American and the mother of their three children, also criticized Trump’s racist rhetoric, saying he could be “America’s Hitler.”

But by the time Vance met Trump in 2021, he had reversed his opinion, citing Trump’s accomplishments as president. Both men downplayed Vance’s past scathing criticism.

Once elected, Vance became a fierce Trump ally on Capitol Hill, unceasingly defending Trump’s policies and behavior .

He is a leading conservative voice

Kevin Roberts, president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, called Vance a leading voice for the conservative movement, on key issues including a shift away from interventionist foreign policy, free market economics and “American culture writ large.”

Democrats call him an extremist, citing provocative positions Vance has taken but sometimes later amended. Vance signaled support for a national 15-week abortion ban during his Senate run, for instance, then softened that stance once Ohio voters overwhelmingly backed a 2023 abortion rights amendment.

He is married to a lawyer who was a Supreme Court clerk

Vance met his wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance, at Yale, where she received both her undergraduate and law degrees. She spent a year clerking for future Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh when he served as an appeals court judge in Washington, followed by a year as a law clerk to Chief Justice John Roberts.

She had been a trial lawyer for the Munger, Tolles and Olson law firm. Her law firm announced Monday that she had left the firm.

“Usha has been an excellent lawyer and colleague, and we thank her for her years of work and wish her the best in her future career,” Munger, Tolles & Olson said in a statement.

Vance has adopted Trump’s rhetoric about Jan. 6

On the 2020 election, he said he wouldn’t have certified the results immediately if he had been vice president and said Trump had “a very legitimate grievance.” He has put conditions on honoring the results of the 2024 election that echo Trump’s . A litany of government and outside investigations have not found any election fraud that could have swung the outcome of Trump’s 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.

In the Senate, Vance sometimes embraces bipartisanship. He and Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown co-sponsored a railway safety bill following a fiery train derailment in the Ohio village of East Palestine . He’s sponsored legislation extending and increasing funding for Great Lakes restoration, and supported bipartisan legislation boosting workers and families.

Vance can articulate Trump’s vision

People familiar with the vice presidential vetting process said Vance would bring to the GOP ticket debating skills and the ability to articulate Trump’s vision.

Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative activist group Turning Point USA, said Vance compellingly articulates the America First world view and could help Trump in states he closely lost in 2020, such as Michigan and Wisconsin, that share Ohio’s values, demographics and economy.

Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in Milwaukee and Mark Sherman in Washington contributed to this report.

Who is JD Vance? What to know about Donald Trump's VP pick

Former President Donald Trump  tapped JD Vance  to be his running mate at the Republican National Convention , catapulting the Ohio GOP senator even more into the national spotlight.

Here’s what you need to know about Vance.

More: Trump made MAGA happen. JD Vance represents those who will inherit it

Where is JD Vance from?

Vance grew up in Jackson, Kentucky and Middletown, Ohio. He described a childhood consumed by poverty and abuse in his best-selling 2016 memoir , "Hillbilly Elegy." Vance's mother struggled with drug addiction, so he spent many of his formative years with his grandmother – known to him as Mamaw.

How old is JD Vance?

Vance is 39. If elected, he would be the youngest vice president since Richard Nixon. His birthday is Aug. 2, 1984.

Did JD Vance serve in the military?

Vance joined the Marines Corps after high school and served as a public affairs marine in Iraq.

Is JD Vance married?

Vance's wife, Usha Vance, is a litigator for a law firm based in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. The pair met as students at Yale Law School and got married in 2014, one year after they graduated.

The couple has three young children: Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel.

Where does JD Vance live?

Vance and his family live in the East Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati. The senator also bought a $1.5 million home in Alexandria, Virginia, last year, Politico reported .

How long has JD Vance been in politics?

Vance was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2022 after defeating former Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan for an open seat in Ohio.

What’s the history between Vance and Trump?

Vance openly criticized Trump in 2016 as pundits used his memoir to explain the former president's popularity with white, rural voters. He previously suggested Trump could be "America’s Hitler," called him noxious and compared him to an opioid.

But Vance changed his tune as he geared up for his 2022 Senate run, deleting controversial tweets and crediting Trump for the work he did in office. He secured Trump's endorsement in a chaotic Republican Senate primary and is now one of the former president's most loyal allies.

JD Vance didn't vote for Donald Trump in 2016

In one NPR interview , he joked that he would rather write his dog on the ballot than vote for Trump or Hillary Clinton.

"I think that I'm going to vote third party because I can't stomach Trump," the "Hillbilly Elegy" author said at the time. "I think that he's noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place."

What are Vance's policy positions?

Vance personifies what's known as the New Right , a populist conservatism that rejects many traditional Republican views. He supports tariffs on trade and opposes U.S. intervention in foreign conflicts, particularly the war between Russia and Ukraine. He's also spoken out against potential cuts to Social Security.

Some of Vance's work in the Senate has been bipartisan. He introduced a rail safety bill with Sen. Sherrod Brown after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. He also worked with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren on legislation to hold executives accountable for failed banks.

At the same time, many of his other bills reflect conservative views. For example, Vance introduced legislation to ban gender-affirming care for minors and a bill to eliminate diversity programs in the federal government.

Where does JD Vance stand on abortion?

Vance opposes abortion and often says the government should find ways to encourage people to have children.

Like other Republicans, however, Vance changed how he discusses the issue after Ohio and other states voted in favor of abortion access last year. In a December CNN interview , he said Republicans must "accept that people do not want blanket abortion bans."

More recently, he told Meet the Press that he supports access to the abortion drug mifepristone.

Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.