3 Law School Resume Examples & Guide for 2024

A career in law is quite challenging, and only strong-willed individuals can manage it.

That’s why admission committees are exceptionally picky.

And more than 90% of all applicants do not get the chance for an interview.

Therefore, it’s crucial to write an attention-grabbing law school resume.

No worries! We are here to help!

Follow our advice, and we will show you how the highlight your best attributes.

When you receive your acceptance letter, we expect a “Thank You!” card!

What you’ll learn here

• How to build a one-of-a-kind law school resume and list your achievements
• How to describe your working experience and education
• How to write a mind-blowing resume summary and cohesive objective
• What other sections will make a positive impression

How to Write a Law School Resume

The quote above is the reason why admission to law schools is a hard nut to crack.

The admission committee does not expect you to pass through 3 years in front of books to get a degree. After all, not everyone becomes a New York Times best-selling author like Emily Giffin.

What you need to do in your law school resume is to show strong determination and dedication to your career orientation. And, there are plenty of ways to prove it!

The first thing to do is brainstorm why your deepest desire is to study law.

Then, when you have a coherent "Why?", you can list your achievements, previous experience, and skills. Remember that every resume section should answer the primary question:

"Does this information tell why I am applying for law school?"

If not, then remove it!

Focus on skills and strengths like communication, negotiation, and problem-solving.

References from respected professors, previous employers, and awards from prestigious competitions prove that you are a self-motivated individual.

Show that you have the ambition to learn new skills and gain knowledge by listing courses and certifications.

You have so many opportunities to stand out!

Continue reading, and everything will get clear.

Law school resume formats

Did you know that years of experience and industry expertise are the main forces that define your choice of resume formats?

Here is why:

• Reverse-chronological resumes are made for candidates with several years in a specific niche
• Functional resumes are suitable for career changers and job seekers, but they aren’t popular among recruiters
• Hybrid resumes combine the best of both worlds, as they are perfect for all types of applicants

Watch out for the style and layout! Moreover, it’s a good idea to:

• utilize the 12p resume font size
• use 10’ resume margins
• check your grammar and spelling
• focus on the PDF format 

If you want to receive the acceptance letter, add References and additional courses taken.

How to grab attention with an admirable law school header

Imagine that you are preparing an important contract for a $2,000,000 deal.

Unfortunately, you made a stupid mistake and misspelled one of the names.

Your boss snaps at you, and you get fired.

So, the equivalent of this hypothetical situation is to write a mediocre or grammatically incorrect resume header.

No law schools are interested in illiterate or unprepared candidates.

To avoid such a situation, follow these simple tips:

• Use your first and family name, avoid nicknames and figurative language
• Be creative with the job title: add your bachelor’s degree or previous position related to law
• Write down your phone number and current location
• Include an email address and LinkedIn profile to look more representative

Analyze the following examples carefully and build a coherent law school resume header!

2 law school resume examples

Law School Resume Summary for High-Performers

One of the most vital skills of a lawyer is to synthesize information and present it in an engaging yet formal manner.

The same thing you should do with your law school resume summary.

Remember that there should be a logical sequence between sentences, highlighting your best attributes.

It might sound like a tough grind, but it's not. Just read the following resume tips and take notes:

• Mention your extraordinary academic or personal achievements so far
• Do not hesitate to share your GPA, awards, or recognitions
• Add skills that you acquired and excelled
• Include related experience and back it with action verbs and numbers
• Finish the summary by saying why you want to join the law school

Look at those examples: wrong and right. 

Decide for yourself what to include, and never forget to bring value with every word you write.

2 law school resume summary examples

To be honest, this summary is not that bad but lacks details.

It’s far from the so-desired perfection.

To reach excellence and increase your chances of joining a law school, avoid:

• Mediocre sentences that consist of general and vague information
• Unproven facts and lies
• Irrelevant information that has nothing to do with your application

This summary is what we talked about:

• Specific
• Detailed
• Shows self-motivation and ambition for progress

Congrats! You know to write a job-winning law school summary.

Let’s analyze its alternative.

The resume objective recruiters want to see

You need a paragraph of 3-4 sentences to call a piece of text a

 resume summary.

On the contrary, your objective is a brief statement that might be just one sentence.

It communicates: 

• the type of job and the industry you want to work in
• skills you desire to build

You should be specific and use quantitative data.

That’s it!

Look at the following law school resume objective and try to write down yours.

Law school resume experience you need to have

Experience is not the main factor that defines whether you join a college or not.

However, it provides evidence that you have a strong work ethic.

Therefore, if you have some experience in the field of social sciences, add it!

Just follow these advice points:

• Describe your duties and responsibilities, emphasizing your self-motivation
• Give examples of stressful situations you managed to overcome
• Back up your statements with quantitative data and action verbs
• Mention what skills you acquired
• Use high-performance metrics, add references or recognitions

Oh, one more thing!

Try to write down such bullet points that indicate dedication.

It’s essential to focus on problem-solving and negotiation skills:

How did you solve an important issue at work?

How did good communication skills help you gain respect from colleagues?

Were you recognized for your contributions? Did you get positive feedback from your employer?

Read these examples, synthesize your duties and achievements, and write them down.

Law school resume experience example

Unfortunately, this Experience section is nothing extraordinary.

These are vague and general sentences that will not impress the admission committee.

Many graduates underestimate the importance of resumes.

Therefore, you have a higher chance to stand out.

The sample below is what you are looking for.

Law school resume skills that impress

The balance between soft and hard skills gives you an advantage.

If you are familiar with data & document management, you must have some work experience.

Advocacy and research are also desired hard skills nowadays.

Excellent public speaking and leadership skills mean you know how to influence people and achieve your goals.

Just be honest with yourself and add skills and abilities you are 100% you can apply.

How to list tech skills on your resume

Yes, such action will differentiate you from 70% of the candidates.

The admission committee won’t pay attention to every single extraordinary skill of yours.

They will make conclusions about you based on the overall impression from the resume.

Law school education section: the key to admission

You cannot apply for law school if you don’t have a bachelor’s degree.

The bad news is that every applicant has.

Therefore, you should apply an extraordinary approach to impress the admission committee.

Do you have remarkable achievements to boast of?

We have these 4 advice points that will help you enormously with the Education section:

• What practical skills did you acquire? How did you apply them in real life?
• Mention recognitions, awards, participation in competitions and forums, references from respected professors, and similar recognitions
• Highlight your positive attributes such as teamwork, empathy, and volunteering
• Add GPA (higher than 3.5) to build trust and prove academic excellence

Top law school certificates for your resume

You can see the 4 most popular certificates you can present to the law school admission committee.

However, don’t get upset if you have none of them.

Certifications are an assessment of your performance on a specific task, course, etc.

Thankfully, this guide showed plenty of other options to prove you are a self-motivated individual.

Key takeaways

• Show that you bring value by listing achievements backed up with quantitative data and action verbs
• List experiences and recognitions, academic performance, and certifications that present you as a self-motivated individual
• Focus on communication, negotiation, and problem-solving skills
• Underline what you are most proud of (extraordinary achievement or volunteering) by putting it into a separate section
• Add references from respected professors, additional courses and publications