The One Page Lawyer Resume

In this competitive legal market, employers are bombarded with resumes. In most cases, they don’t have the time or manpower to give resumes more than a cursory two-minute glance to make an initial determination. What does this mean for your resume? The format of your lawyer resume must be impeccable to give the reader an immediate positive impression. You should also consider submitting a one-page attorney resume; Shortening the length of your resume could give you a better chance of being read and considered.

The Benefits of a One Page Lawyer Resume

By limiting the length of your attorney resume to one page, you are forced to provide an accurate and concise document that focuses specifically on the skills and experience a prospective employer is looking for. In other words, you need to make the document more specific, get rid of old, irrelevant, or superfluous information that could clutter your resume. The result could mean a more impactful summary.

Whether you’re a recent graduate, law student, or attorney who’s only worked for one employer, limiting your law resume to one page can be an easy task. If, on the other hand, you are an experienced attorney, or one who has made several transitions, limiting your attorney resume to one page can be a difficult task. In that case, you may need an additional page. However, you can still enjoy the benefits of the “single page” attorney resume format if you capture the most relevant information on the first page of your resume.

In other words, you should try to include your education and full employment history, or your most relevant employment history, on the first page of your law resume. To find out what is the “most relevant” thing to put on the first page of your resume, suppose a potential employer never sees the second page. This will allow you to determine if the information included is sufficient to give an employer a good understanding of your skills and qualifications.

One Page Lawyer Resume Preparation

Your one page attorney resume should be highly organized to include the following sections:

* Name and contact information. You must include your name, mailing address, at least one phone number, and a private email address. If you have a good LinkedIn profile, you may want to include it there as well (see “Optimizing Contact Information on Your Legal Resume” for more information on how to use your contact information effectively).

* Education. You must list the colleges you attended in reverse chronological order. One of the most common questions attorneys writing their legal resumes ask is whether they should list their legal education at the top or bottom of the resume. If you’ve been out of law school three years or less, you should consider putting your education at the top of your resume (see “Top 20 Tips for Writing a Legal Resume” for more on this topic).

* Work history. Here you should list all the jobs you have had and try to limit them to law-related positions, unless you are a recent law student. Begin with the full legal name of the company, law firm, or organization he has worked for, provide his full title, as well as his dates of employment, and the city and state where he practiced. Finally, provide a brief description of the work he did, his responsibilities, and various accomplishments. Use active verbs to start each sentence, keep them very short and to the point, and bullet them if you have enough space (see “Using Active Verbs in Your Legal Resume”).

* Admission bar. Your law resume should always include a separate bar admission section. If you are short on space, you can also include professional associations in this section. Be sure to include the year of admission for each jurisdiction to which you were admitted.

Information you can easily leave out on your resume is “references available upon request,” dating, and personal hobbies (eg, reading, knitting, gardening, etc.). Because the modern resume is a marketing tool, it’s best to retain personal interests, hobbies, and other non-essential materials for the interview process. If you are interested in listing organizations, affiliations, volunteer work, or extracurricular activities on your legal resume, only list those that are relevant to your practice as a legal professional or directly related to your target job. Again, if it’s not related to your practice or position, don’t include it.

Single Page Lawyer Resume Sample

Here’s a one-page attorney resume sample that contains all the features we’ve mentioned:

JOHN B. DOE
555 N. Westminster Road or New York, NY 20021 or (212) 555-555 or [email protected]

EXPERIENCE:

Latham & Watkins LLC, New York, NY
Litigation Associate, September 2003 – Present
Summer Associate, Summer 2002

* Represented clients in a wide variety of litigation, including securities, breach of contract, unfair business practices, product liability, professional negligence, and aviation.

* Handled arbitration matters involving claims of securities fraud, inappropriateness, unauthorized trading, deceptive business practices, breach of fiduciary duties, and breach of contract on behalf of major financial institutions and brokers.

* Assisted in government contract matters related to municipal laws, contracts and acquisitions, transportation and infrastructure development.

New York Supreme Court, Nassau County, New York
Intern to the Honorable Phillip B. Connor, January – March 2003

* Conducted legal research on a variety of substantive and procedural issues with an emphasis on commercial litigation matters, drafted memorandums, and attended oral arguments.

United States District Court, Northern District of New York, Albany, New York
Intern to the Honorable Geoffrey E. Peterson, June – August 2001

* Conducted legal research, reviewed and evaluated pleadings and motions, and assisted the Judge in drafting court opinions and memos.

EDUCATION:

Cornell University School of Law, Ithaca, New York
Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, May 2003

* Notes and Comments Editor, Cornell Law Review

New York University, New York, NY
Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in History, May 1999

* Vice President, Asian American Student Association

ADMISSION:

New York (2003)