KH

Modern Legal Résumé Essentials – Comprehensive Study Notes

Overview of the Modern Legal Résumé Module (Elon Law)

  • Scope of the module
    • Explains what belongs in a legal résumé and why each section matters.
    • Contrasts legal résumés vs. business résumés in look, language, format, and required detail.
    • Addresses common questions:
    • “Do I need to tailor my résumé for every job?”
    • “What is ATS and how do I deal with it?”
  • Underlying rationale: Legal employers are time–constrained, risk-averse, and detail-oriented. Anything that slows reading or hints at sloppiness can eliminate a candidate.

Key Elements in a Legal Résumé

  • The Look
    • Conservative, text-first, easy to skim.
    • Acceptable fonts: Calibri, Arial, Times New Roman.
    • Font size: Preferred (11\text{ pt}) everywhere (10.5–12 pt tolerance, but 11\text{ pt} is safest).
    • Color & layout: Black text, white background, single column, single page.
  • The Language
    • Use action–result phrasing (e.g., “Drafted 12 motions resulting in 95\% favorable rulings”).
    • Every bullet must start with a verb in the same tense.
    • Quantify accomplishments wherever possible (courts, clients, # of filings, \% outcomes).
  • Attention to Detail
    • Grammar, punctuation, and spacing must be perfect.
    • Maintain identical dash character throughout (use the keyboard hyphen “-” not the longer “–”).
    • Align dates and locations consistently.
  • The Format (recommended section order)
    1. Contact Information (never in the Word header!)
    2. Education (JD first, then previous degrees)
    3. Experience
    • Legal Experience
    • Additional Professional Experience (if relevant)
    1. Skills & Interests (hard skills; language proficiency; 1–2 personal interests)

Legal vs. Business Résumé – Visual & Structural Differences

  • LOOK COMPARISON • Legal Résumé
    • One column, no graphics, no color blocks.
    • No headshot or personal summary paragraph.
    • Strictly black on white.
      • Business Résumé (examples on pp. 5–7)
    • Multi-column grids, colored sidebars, icons, headshots, infographics.
    • Large “About Me” or “Career Objective” paragraphs.
    • Decorative fonts and non-black colors (e.g., teal, gray).
  • FORMAT COMPARISON
    • Legal order: Contact → Education → Experience → Hard Skills/Interests
    • Business order: Summary → Objective → Title → Experience → Education → Combo of Soft & Hard Skills

Deep‐Dive: Business Résumé Visual Examples (Pages 5–7)

  • “Hannah Morales – Fashion Designer”
    • Multi-column layout; languages listed with icons; skills represented graphically ("000" bubble); pastel color blocks.
    • Includes a narrative “About Me” instead of quantified bullets.
  • “Korina Villanueva – Marketing” & “Alfredo Torres – Marketing Manager”
    • Heavy branding colors; stylized headings; certifications listed in sidebars.
    • Uses career-objective paragraph; duplicates schooling in two separate spots.
  • “Rosa Maria Aguado – Studio Manager”
    • Social-media handle in contact area; bullet points with marketing metrics but still color-based layout.
  • Ethical / practical implication: These visually rich formats may trip Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and often violate confidentiality norms in legal hiring.

Sample Legal Résumé Layout (Page 9)

  • Header
    • Name + pronouns (optional) + email + phone + city/State + LinkedIn URL
  • Education Section
    • Elon University School of Law — JD (Accelerated) — Honors & Activities listed.
    • Prior institution (e.g., James Madison University) with degree & minor.
  • Experience sections split:
    1. LEGAL EXPERIENCE
      • Example: Franklin State Court of Appeals – Judicial Assistant – 4 bullets using “Action → Result” phrasing.
    2. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
      • Franklin Marketing – Senior Marketing Associate → bullet list.
      • Marketing Associate roles show growth; oldest experience last.
    3. VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE (optional when relevant).
  • Interests & Skills
    • Language proficiency hierarchy: Native → Fluent → Conversant.
    • Personal interests (basket weaving, skydiving) acceptable if professional and conversation-starting.

Why Strict Formatting? (“Because • Lawyers • Are • Busy” – Page 10)

  • Hiring attorneys often skim hundreds of résumés in minutes.
  • Clear, identical structure lets reviewers locate GPA, journal, clinics instantly.
  • Any deviation forces extra cognitive load and risks discard.

Page Length Standard

  • One page only for JD students and most entry-level attorneys.
    • A “master résumé” (multi-page document with every job bullet ever written) is acceptable for personal use but must be distilled.
    • Recruiters often view only the top half of the first page; hence place strongest credentials up top.

Personal Information Placement (Page 13)

  • Never embed name/contacts inside the Word “Header” tool; many ATS strip header content.
  • Acceptable line formats:
    • “Elon Lee (they/them) • elee@elon.edu • 336\text{-}555\text{-}1234 • Greensboro, NC • linkedin.com/in/elon.lee”
    • Or formal “Mx. Elon Lee • elee@… • 201 \text{ N. Greene St., Greensboro, NC 27401}”.
  • No photos, birth date, marital status, or full street address required (city + state is enough).

Attention to Detail – Legal vs. Business (Page 14)

  • Legal résumés demand zero grammatical or punctuation errors.
    • All bullets must start with a verb.
    • Consistent indentation, line spacing, and date alignment.
  • Business résumés sometimes forgive minor mistakes and allow bullets that begin with nouns.
  • Ethical note: In law, one misplaced comma in a contract can carry \$\$ multi-million risk; résumé precision signals future drafting competence.

Tailoring the Résumé for Each Job (Pages 15–16)

  • Mandatory to tailor for:
    • Demonstrating understanding of the employer’s practice areas.
    • Navigating ATS keyword filters.
    • Signaling genuine interest (reviewers can sense generic submissions).
  • Practical steps
    • Mirror the exact job-description phrases (e.g., “municipal finance,” “client counseling,” “Rule \, 12(b)(6) motions”).
    • Re-order bullets so most relevant experience appears first.
    • Swap elective courses & clinic lines to match the employer’s sector.

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) – Fundamentals (Page 17)

  • Definition: Software that scans, ranks, and filters résumés.
  • Operates on percentage-based keyword matching (e.g., 80\% threshold may trigger human review).
  • Many free tools (Jobscan, ResumeWorded) compare your document against a job posting and output a keyword match score.

Writing for ATS – Technical Checklist (Page 18)

  • Font: 11\text{-point} Arial (safest choice for most parsing engines).
  • Bullet style: Solid black circle (•); fancy graphics or arrows can be unreadable.
  • Contact info at very top of body (not in header/footer).
  • Include a custom LinkedIn URL (instructions: LinkedIn help article ID: a542685).
  • Use only standard hyphen “-” (ASCII code 45) consistently; differentiate from en-dash or em-dash.
  • Avoid:
    • Text boxes, tables, columns (unless fully simple and single-bordered).
    • Graphics, icons, and shading.
    • File types other than .docx or PDF (text-based, not scanned images) depending on employer instructions.

Ethical, Philosophical, and Real-World Implications

  • A legal résumé is effectively a short legal document; it shows your adherence to rules, clarity in advocacy, and respect for the reader’s time.
  • Misrepresentation or embellishment can be character & fitness issues for bar admission.
  • Inclusion of pronouns signals inclusivity but remains optional; gauge firm culture.
  • Listing niche interests (e.g., “underwater basket weaving”) can humanize you and serve as an interview ice-breaker, but keep it professional.

Quick Reference – Numerical & Formatting Rules

  • Page count: 1 (JD), up to 2 for LL.M./senior.
  • Margins: 0.75\text{ – }1\text{ inch} all sides.
  • Sections to include: Education (with grad dates), Experience, optional Skills & Interests.
  • Date alignment: Right-flush, abbreviated months or seasons (e.g., “May 2023” or “Summer 2022”).
  • GPAs: Include if > 3.0; format (3.46 / 4.00).

Action Plan for Students

  • Build a master résumé with every experience and verb-rich bullet.
  • For each application:
    • Duplicate the master → trim to one page → tailor keywords.
    • Check with an ATS simulator (\ge 80\% score target).
    • Proofread line by line; reverse-print trick (read bottom to top) to spot errors.
  • Submit in employer’s requested format; follow-up courteously within their timeline.

Connection to Earlier Career-Development Lectures

  • Aligns with prior sessions on personal branding (consistent LinkedIn messaging).
  • Builds on cover-letter drafting: Résumé bullets supply specific achievements that letters narrate.
  • Anticipates upcoming workshop on interview storytelling (STAR method), using résumé bullets as anchors for behavioral examples.