Law School Resume Example

Between low admission rates and fierce competition, getting into a prestigious law school is challenging.

Nearly all law schools require a resume along with your other application materials. While the application process can be tedious, don’t let your resume become an afterthought.

Having a strong law school resume is important because it gives admissions committees a comprehensive look at what type of experience and skills you can bring to their institution.

Here are four tips to craft a convincing law school resume.

1. Highlight the right skills for a law school resume

When applying for law school, admissions offices aren’t necessarily looking for a list of specific hard skills. However, they are expecting candidates to have certain desirable personality traits and qualities.

Admissions committees want to see that you’re cut out for the stress of law school. While you should certainly include any relevant hard skills you have, soft skills are also essential to any law school resume.

Law school requires hard work and perseverance to study for long hours. Demonstrate you have what it takes by including some of these relevant skills on your law school resume:

2. Write a strong education section

You’re applying to law school, so your educational background and academic achievements should take center stage on your resume.

Don’t be afraid to add detail to your resume education section, particularly if you have little or no relevant work experience in law.

Your education section should start by stating the following information for each college you attend(ed):

• Institution(s) name
• Location (city & state)
• Years you attended
• Degree name and any minors you have

If you lack significant work experience, consider also listing relevant coursework on your resume and any awards or honors you received while in college. Additionally, you should put your GPA on your resume if it’s above 3.5. If it’s lower simply leave it off, as this might hurt you more than it helps.

Here’s an example of a properly formatted law school resume education section:

New York University, NY, USA | August 2014 – May 2018

• Bachelor of Arts, Political Science (Major GPA: 3.89)
• Magna Cum Laude, Overall GPA: 3.81

3. Emphasize your soft skills

If you’re a student you probably don’t have lots of technical law experience yet (that’s what you’ll learn in law school, after all). So to show admissions you have the skills needed to succeed as a lawyer, you need to emphasize your soft skills.

Soft skills illustrate your ability to work with others, tackle challenges, and take initiative.

Work examples of your soft skills into your resume experience section by describing your past achievements or responsibilities, and providing examples that highlight the traits that helped you succeed.

Here a few examples of soft skills that are useful additions to your law school resume:

• Mediation
• Cooperation
• Conflict management
• Negotiation
• Management
• Analytical skills
• Critical thinking

As long as you aren’t redundant with the soft skills you work into your resume, it helps to illustrate as many as you can to impress admissions committees.

4. Achieve the ideal law school resume length

Law school admissions offices are typically swamped with applications. If you want the best chance of getting into your top school, your law school resume needs to communicate your qualifications quickly and clearly.

To do that, keep your resume length to a maximum of one page. Typically, law schools expect the same standard one-page resume format from every applicant.

Before sending your application in, check the requirements on each law school’s application page, take note, and follow directions. Don’t give admissions committees a reason to disregard your application just because your resume was too long.