Lawyer / Legal Counsel resume

Name your practice area, your level and the type of work you handle, then add one or two strengths with evidence. Law firms and legal departments sort candidates by practice area first.

Include:

• Years of post-qualification experience (PQE) and jurisdiction(s) where you are admitted.
• Practice area: corporate, commercial, disputes, employment, real estate, banking, IP, regulatory.
• Type of clients or matters: multinationals, SMEs, government, cross-border deals.

Example (fictional): "Corporate lawyer with six years' PQE advising on mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures across the GCC. Experienced in leading due diligence and drafting share purchase agreements, working in English and Arabic."

Example (fictional): "In-house counsel for a regional retail group, handling commercial contracts, leases and data privacy matters."

Give them a dedicated section near the top, called "Admissions" or "Professional Qualifications", listing each jurisdiction, the admitting body and the year. Legal employers check this early.

Example format (fictional):

• "Admitted as a Solicitor, Fictional Law Society, 2019"
• "Admitted to the Fictional State Bar, 2021"
• "Registered as a Legal Consultant with the Fictional Legal Affairs Department, 2023"

Points to remember:

• Write the title exactly as on your certificate.
• Show whether an admission is current.
• If an application is pending, say so plainly.

Rules on who may practise, and under what title, differ by country and emirate, so check with the relevant regulator. Never describe yourself with a title you are not entitled to use.

Describe matters by type, size range, sector and your role, without naming clients unless the matter is public and your firm allows it. A "Representative Matters" or "Selected Experience" section is common in legal resumes.

Example entries (fictional):

• "Advised a regional logistics company on the acquisition of a competitor, leading due diligence on employment and real estate."
• "Acted for a construction contractor in an arbitration over delay claims, drafting witness statements and pleadings."
• "Negotiated a multi-year software licensing agreement for a financial services client."

Check your firm's or employer's policy before naming any client or deal. If in doubt, anonymise. Keep each entry to one or two lines.

List legal skills that match the practice area, plus the tools and languages that matter to the role. A broad "legal research and writing" line is not enough on its own.

Common groups:

• Practice skills: drafting and negotiating contracts, due diligence, legal research, advocacy, pleadings, regulatory filings.
• Subject knowledge: corporate, employment, real estate, data protection, construction, banking.
• Tools: legal research databases, document management, contract lifecycle software, e-discovery platforms.
• Languages: list each with a level, especially for bilingual drafting.

Back key skills with bullets showing the matters you handled.

In-house bullets should show business impact: deals supported, risks managed, processes improved and teams advised.

Examples (fictional):

• "Drafted and negotiated around 200 commercial contracts a year, including supplier, distribution and SaaS agreements."
• "Built a contract template library that let the sales team close standard deals without legal review."
• "Advised HR on employment matters, including policies, disciplinary processes and terminations."
• "Led the company's data privacy programme, training 300 staff and updating privacy notices."
• "Managed external counsel budgets and coordinated disputes in three jurisdictions."

Keep any confidential figures out and describe outcomes in general terms.

Use scale, complexity, process improvements and recognition rather than confidential details. You can show impact without revealing clients or settlement terms.

Ideas:

• Number and type of matters or contracts handled.
• Deal or dispute size in broad terms, if your employer allows (e.g. "multi-million").
• Time saved by new templates, playbooks or workflows.
• Training given, or directory and award recognition that is public.

Example (fictional): "Cut average contract turnaround from ten days to four by introducing a clause playbook and approval matrix."

Example (fictional): "Supervised a team of 3 associates on a cross-border share acquisition completed on schedule."

Never disclose privileged or confidential information to make a point.

Put education and qualifications near the top, then training seats or rotations, then any earlier legal work. Junior legal resumes are judged heavily on academics and early responsibilities.

Order:

• Summary
• Education (law degree, professional course, grades if strong)
• Admissions or qualification status
• Training contract or rotations, each with practice area and bullets
• Internships, moots, pro bono, legal clinics
• Languages and skills

Example rotation bullet (fictional): "Employment seat: drafted settlement agreements and researched case law on restrictive covenants for senior associates."

Example (fictional): "Represented the university at a national moot court competition, reaching the semi-final."

Include them if they are strong and you are early in your career; leave them out or summarise them once you have several years of experience. Many law firms look closely at academics for junior hires.

Examples (fictional):

• "LLB (Hons), Fictional University, First Class, 2020"
• "JD, Fictional Law School, top quarter of class, 2021"

Use the grading style of the country where you studied and add a plain-English note if needed, for example "equivalent to a distinction". Do not convert or inflate grades.

Emphasise leadership, strategy and business partnership, not drafting tasks. Senior roles are about managing risk, people and budgets.

Highlight:

• Size of the legal team and budget you managed.
• Board and executive committee advice.
• Major transactions, disputes or regulatory programmes you led.
• Policies, compliance frameworks and governance you built.

Example (fictional): "Led a legal and compliance team of 9 across four countries, reporting to the CEO and audit committee."

Example (fictional): "Set up the group's first contract management system and governance framework for approvals."

Keep earlier roles short and use a two-page format if needed.

Describe the forum, the type of dispute, your role and what you prepared or argued. Disputes employers want to see advocacy and case management.

Example bullets (fictional):

• "Managed a caseload of 25 commercial disputes in local courts and arbitration, from pre-action letters to hearings."
• "Drafted statements of claim, defences and expert instructions for construction and shareholder disputes."
• "Appeared at case management and interim hearings under supervision of the partner."
• "Coordinated document review with a team of paralegals using an e-discovery platform."

Avoid naming parties unless the case is public and your firm allows it.

Legal adverts usually mention practice area, transaction or dispute types, admission and soft skills. Use the terms that truly match your experience.

Typical keywords:

• Commercial contracts, M&A, corporate governance, regulatory compliance
• Employment law, real estate, data protection, intellectual property
• Litigation, arbitration, dispute resolution
• Drafting, negotiation, due diligence, legal research
• Admitted, PQE, bilingual (English/Arabic), in-house, law firm

Place the most important terms in your summary and skills and show them in your matters. The job-description comparison in the builder can show which frequent advert terms are missing.

Often yes in style and length, though the core content is the same. Gulf legal CVs commonly run to two pages and may include languages and nationality, while US attorney resumes for junior roles are often one page with strong focus on academics.

Common differences:

• Gulf: languages and jurisdictions prominent; representative matters listed; nationality and visa status sometimes included where relevant.
• US: bar admissions and law school details prominent; personal details such as age and photo left out.

Follow the employer's instructions and local norms. Personal details such as nationality are optional; include them only where the employer asks or it helps.

Reframe your experience around business support: speed, practical advice, risk management and working with non-lawyers. In-house hiring managers look for commercial thinking.

Changes to make:

• Summary that names the in-house goal and the industry.
• Bullets that show the client's business result, not just legal tasks.
• Any secondment to a client's legal team, given its own entry.
• Contract volumes and templates you created.

Example (fictional): "Seconded to a telecom client's legal team for six months, handling vendor contracts and advising procurement on standard terms."

Example summary (fictional): "Commercial associate with five years' PQE moving in-house, experienced in technology and supply contracts for regional businesses."

Lead with transferable strengths such as regulatory knowledge, drafting, risk analysis and stakeholder advice, and drop deep legal detail. Many lawyers move into compliance, contract management, policy, HR, consulting or operations.

How to adapt:

• New summary aimed at the target role.
• Bullets about policies written, risks reduced, training delivered and projects led.
• Courses for the new field, such as compliance or project management certificates.

Example summary (fictional): "Lawyer with seven years in banking regulation moving into compliance management, experienced in building policies and training front-line staff."

For experienced lawyers, this order works well:

• Contact details
• Summary
• Admissions and qualifications
• Professional experience (with representative matters under each role or in a separate section)
• Education
• Languages
• Publications, speaking and memberships

For students and trainees, move Education above experience. Keep representative matters close to the role where you handled them so the reader sees your progression.

Yes, if they are professional legal articles, client briefings, book chapters or conference talks. They show expertise and visibility, especially for senior and academic roles.

Example (fictional):

• "Author, 'Practical Points on Data Transfers in the Gulf', Fictional Legal Review, 2024"
• "Speaker, Employment Law Update, Fictional Chamber of Commerce, 2025"

Use a consistent citation style and list the most recent first. Short internal newsletters can be grouped in one line.

The biggest ones are long paragraphs, missing admission details and confidential information.

Watch for:

• Dense text that reads like a memo instead of short bullets.
• Admissions not listed, or listed without the jurisdiction.
• Client names or deal terms shared without permission.
• Vague bullets such as "handled various legal matters".
• No sign of practice area in the summary.
• Typos, which matter more in a profession built on careful drafting.

Ask a colleague to proofread and check that every claim is one you can discuss in an interview.

List it under Experience or a "Pro Bono and Volunteer" section with the organisation, your role and the type of help given. It shows practical skills and commitment.

Example bullets (fictional):

• "Advised tenants at a weekly community legal clinic on lease and deposit questions, under supervising solicitors."
• "Drafted a guide on employee rights for a migrant worker support charity."

Keep client details anonymous and say if work was supervised.

Make your home qualification clear, explain your experience in terms the new market understands and state any steps you have taken towards local admission.

Tips:

• List your admission with country and year.
• Describe your firm or employer briefly: size, type, clients.
• Highlight cross-border work, languages and international law exposure.
• Show the status of any conversion exam or registration honestly.

Example (fictional): "Advocate admitted in India (2017) with six years in corporate law, applying for legal consultant roles in the UAE; registration application to be submitted after offer."

Check the regulator's rules in the target country, since they differ.

List the categories of tools you use and give one or two bullets showing how you used them to improve work. Legal teams increasingly look for this.

Example (fictional): "Tools: legal research databases, document management, contract lifecycle management, e-discovery, e-signature."

Example bullet (fictional): "Configured contract templates in the company's contract management tool, cutting manual drafting for routine NDAs."

Name products only if you know them well. Do not claim technical expertise you would struggle to discuss.

Yes, if you are applying in markets that use it. PQE means post-qualification experience: the years you have practised since being admitted. It is common in the UK, Gulf, Asia and Australia.

Example (fictional): "Senior Associate, Corporate, 7 years' PQE (admitted 2018)."

In markets where PQE is less common, such as the US, use "years of practice" or simply show your admission year. Make sure your number matches your admission date.

Name the type of arbitration, the sector, the stage you worked on and your role, without naming parties unless public.

Example bullets (fictional):

• "Assisted counsel in an institutional construction arbitration, drafting the statement of claim and managing expert evidence."
• "Prepared witness statements and document productions in a shareholder dispute seated in a regional arbitration centre."
• "Attended hearings and prepared daily cross-examination bundles."

If you have arbitration training or membership of an arbitration institute, list it in Certifications or Memberships.

Yes. List your paralegal years as earlier experience and your lawyer role as current, with the admission date clearly shown. The paralegal years show useful grounding.

Example layout (fictional):

• "Associate, Fictional Law LLP, 2023 to present (admitted 2023)"
• "Paralegal, Fictional Law LLP, 2019 to 2023"

Keep paralegal bullets short and focus most space on work as a qualified lawyer. Make clear which tasks you did before and after admission.

One page often suits students and junior lawyers, especially in the US; two pages usually suit experienced lawyers, particularly in the UK, Gulf and Asia. A separate deal or matters sheet can be added if a firm asks.

To keep it tight:

• Keep four to six bullets per role.
• Move a long matters list to an appendix or a separate document if asked.
• Remove early non-legal jobs once you have several years of practice.

Follow any length the firm or recruiter specifies.

Describe each type of deal, your role in it and the parts of the process you ran, from due diligence to completion. Corporate employers want to know how much of a deal you can handle on your own.

Example bullets (fictional):

• "Ran legal due diligence on target companies in retail and logistics, coordinating findings from five specialist teams into one report."
• "Drafted share purchase agreements, disclosure letters and board resolutions for mid-market acquisitions."
• "Managed signing and completion checklists and liaised with company registries on filings."
• "Advised founders on shareholder agreements and investment rounds."

If your firm permits, you can add broad deal values or the sector, but leave out confidential terms and client names.