Law Clerk Resume Sample, Example & How to Write Tips 2025
Many law students struggle with how to write and structure a resume, which can be a problem when the position is typically awarded to a candidate who has the right experience and education. Your resume needs to be structured in a way that highlights your strengths—and we’re going to help you with that by providing the perfect law clerk resume example.
Law Clerk Resume Sample
Taking a moment to look at our law clerk resume examples can only benefit you. We want you to succeed in your resume planning, so this sample will provide you with a clear view of what you should try to achieve—a resume with structure and organization. One that was developed with a lot of thought.
Take some time to review the law clerk resume description below. As you do, take note of the resume’s structure, flow, tone, and the attention to detail in each section.
As you can see, our candidate, Brett, has written a federal law clerk resume for a judge sitting on the District Court in New York. His resume is well organized, well structured, easy to read, and does a very good job of clearly articulating why he would be the ideal candidate to assume the available clerk position.
His resume for a law clerk starts with a professional summary that outlines his qualifications, strengths, and key interpersonal skills that will permit him to provide value to the judge’s office.
Further within the resume, he provides a few practical samples of previous jobs that show his leadership abilities, ability to multitask, and complete tasks on time. Within the education section, he provides his current school, the results of his LSAT exams, and the law school he has been accepted to for the upcoming semester.
What to Include in a Law Clerk Resume?
The point of clerking is to learn about being an attorney. Law clerks will become proficient at drafting legal briefs, pleadings, attending depositions, and gaining practical work experience. They'll get a chance to review case law, attend court proceedings, and, in some positions, learn civil litigation procedures. The candidate will either work for a judge or in a busy law office.
As with anything, you’ll find it easier to tackle any project when you can review a real-world sample. Since we want you to succeed when planning your legal clerk resume, we’ve provided you with a law clerk resume sample. While it looks simple enough, there was a lot of structure, organization, and thought that went into developing the finished product.
Take some time to review the resume sample below. As you do, take note of the resume’s structure, flow, tone, and attention to detail in each section.
As you can see, our candidate Brett has written a federal law clerk resume for a judge sitting on the District Court in New York. This document is organized, well-structured, easy to read, and articulates clearly why he is the ideal candidate to assume this clerk position. His resume starts with a professional summary that outlines his qualifications, strengths, and key interpersonal skills that will permit him to provide value to the judge’s office.
Further, he provides a few practical samples of previous jobs that show his leadership abilities, ability to multitask, and complete tasks on time. Within the education section, he provides his current school, the results of his LSAT exams, and the law school he has been accepted to for the upcoming semester.
How to Write a Good Legal Clerk Resume: Tips that Work
Before we get into a breakdown of how to write the individual sections of your resume, consider these overall tips.
First of all, it’s common for pre-law school students to apply for clerk positions—which are essentially internships under the direction of a judge or lawyer. However, it’s commonly misunderstood what law clerk duties include. To expedite this information, here is a general law clerk job description for resume writing.
A legal clerk is a law student who works for a law firm, individual attorney, or judge. Their job is to help their supervising legal professional with research to help them formulate legal briefs, opinions, or create a prosecution or defense. They likewise help the lawyer or judge to draft legal orders, write opinions, or prepare legal documents. Therefore, these law clerk resume duties should be mentioned in your final submission.
Now that you understand what is entailed in becoming a legal or judicial clerk, it should be easier to organize and write a stunning resume. Like any other project, a well-written resume should begin with an outline. We call this a master resume, which serves as a working document that can be added to, edited, fine-tuned, and structured with ease.
A resume for a legal clerk must be concise, well-organized, and easy to follow. You have to have a good understanding of legal issues and comprehend technical terms, including interrogatories, appellate briefs, discovery requests, intellectual property, and legal memoranda. Remember—you're applying for a legal assistant position, but you'll learn from an experienced paralegal and likely junior attorneys.
Although different firms or courts may require specific information to be included on your resume, these sections should always be added.
- Personal details
- Personal profile
- Top skills
- Experience
- Education
Let’s discuss these in greater detail.
Personal Details in a Law Clerk Resume
This section is nothing more than a placeholder for your basic personal information—information that doesn’t change along with your career. So once you’ve added it to your master resume, you only need to change it if any of your contact details change.
Be a perfectionist here and pay attention to the details. Make sure everything is error-free and that the details remain the same across your application, cover letter, and resume.
Here’s what this section should include:
- Email address: Make sure you use a professional sounding address—remember, anything you share can make an impression, so make a good one!
- Phone number: Include your area code and if the job is remote or international, make sure you include your country code as well.
- Address: Your mailing address, whether this is your street address or a post office box.
You may also want to sync your email to your cell phone if you haven’t already. Then you’ll be able to immediately respond if a hiring manager reaches out.
How to Format This Section
You can, of course, format your entire resume by yourself. However, using a template will significantly reduce the frustration of trying to perfectly format each line. CVMaker has a good selection of professionally prepared resume templates.
If you choose not to use a template, keep it simple and clean. Don’t worry about including your LinkedIn links—especially if it’s a PDF document. If the hiring agency or firm asks, provide them with the direct link to your social media profiles.
How to Write a Good Personal Profile for Law Clerk
The purpose of your personal profile is to highlight and summarize your skills, any professional strengths, your career goals, and anything else you feel would make you stand out as a candidate.
The challenge here is to keep it brief. If you look at the sample summary above, you’ll see it is short and to the point. You should have a synopsis of your work history and your qualifications. Include any relevant skills, especially any mentioned in the job description. Also include any notable achievements or experiences that are in line with the position.
Consider your personal profile as your opening statement in court. You need to clearly articulate why the intended audience should support your case. With a resume, the goal is to convince the recipient to contact you for that critical interview. It’s important to include the relevant skills and attributes that the best judicial law clerk candidates possess.
How to Format This Section
It’s important to keep your profile to three to four sentences. Each sentence should be strong and concise. It shouldn’t be vague or use an abundance of jargon. You shouldn’t include any irrelevant information. Check out our law clerk resume description above for a visual.
Top Skills to Include on Law Clerk Resume
The skills section is often added to the sidebar of a resume. This is simplified when you utilize a professional legal clerk.
For your soft skills it will be important to include things like:
- Communication: This would include things like the basics of communication—listening and questioning—but also your ability to communicate the more technical vocabulary of the law.
- Attention to detail: Do you pay close attention to even the smallest details?
- Organizational skills: This would include things like time management.
- Teamwork: Lawyers often have teams, so you need to prove you can be a team player.
- Research skills: You’ll often need to deep dive into case law.
- Public speaking
Technical or hard skills could include:
- PowerPoint
- Excel
- Adobe Suite
- Microsoft Office
How to Showcase Law Clerk Experience on a Resume
When you look at the resume of an experienced attorney, the first job on the document is typically their first legal intern or law clerk position. In fact, it’s quite possible that you have not held many jobs during college or prior. Because of this, many law clerk candidates struggle to find previous jobs to list on their resumes.
If this is the case, don’t worry about that—in fact, skip this section. If you’d like to be creative, consider renaming this section Relevant Experience. At that point, you can list previously held positions—such as volunteer work, where you’ve completed some of the required tasks of a legal clerk. However, if you have a work history, and it’s relevant to being a law clerk—this is where you want to showcase those positions.
How to Format this Section
The employment history or relevant experience section should be written in a reverse-chronological format. This means you start with your most recent position and continue listing your previous jobs in order. Best practices suggest listing the name of the employer, its location, job title, dates of employment, and providing a few bullet points of key accomplishments.
How to Write a Law Clerk Resume with No Experience
As previously mentioned, the very nature of the law clerk position often means it’s quite likely you have no experience. So you really shouldn’t panic or overthink this section. There’s a good chance the law firm or lawyer who is looking for a clerk is prepared to take on someone without a lot of experience.
Having said that, it’s still a good idea to highlight whatever experience you do have. Did you intern at all? That should be included on your resume. Plus, whatever case research you’ve done, preparing briefs, or document preparation should be listed on your resume.
How to Add Education to Law Clerk Resume
The great thing about becoming a law clerk is that you can apply for positions without actively being in law school. In fact, it’s common for many legal clerks to serve in smaller firms during summer breaks while earning their undergraduate or bachelor's degree.
Regardless of where you are actively enrolled in school, the critical detail to remember is to list your current educational status. If you’re between undergraduate and law school, it’s suggested to list both.
How to Format This Section
The education section of your resume should follow the reverse-chronological format you’ve been using. Since it’s often expected that you’re still in law school when applying for a clerk position, don’t hesitate here. List when you started law school and your school. It’s also a good idea to share your LSAT exam scores.
Finally, if your school is the same school as the judge, lawyer, or firm you’re applying to, this is a bonus. You might get favored treatment in this case.
References
If there is an entry-level legal position where having the right references makes a difference, it’s applying for a law clerk job. Since it’s likely that you don’t have a lot of practical work history, you’ll benefit from references who can vouch for your ability to serve as a clerk.
All references included must be aware that you are using them in an application resume. Always ask them for a letter of recommendation, which you can add to the application when you initially apply.
Other Legal Resume Templates
It’s always a great idea to review other legal industry resumes to get an idea of how they are written and formatted. We’ve taken time to collect multiple resumes from lawyers, law school students, and specific legal specialties. Take time to review some law clerk resume examples or some of the links below, so you can gain valuable insight into how professional resumes are written.
Key Takeaways
Writing an effective law clerk resume requires attention to detail, structure, and an approach that will showcase your skills and experiences. By focusing on the essential components of a resume, you'll set yourself apart in a competitive field. Here are the key takeaways for creating a standout law clerk resume:
- Professional Structure and Clarity: Ensure your resume is well-organized and easy to navigate. A clear structure helps highlight your strengths and keeps the reader engaged. Start with a professional summary that outlines your qualifications, strengths, and relevant interpersonal skills in a few sentences.
- Tailored Content: Customize your resume to reflect the specific requirements of the clerk position you're applying for. Include experiences and skills that align with the duties of the post, such as legal research, drafting briefs, and attending court proceedings.
- Highlight Key Skills: Your resume should feature both hard and soft skills that are pertinent to the role. This includes communication, attention to detail, organizational skills, and technical proficiencies like Microsoft Office and legal research databases.
- Education and Experience: Emphasize your educational background by listing your current and past academic achievements, LSAT scores, and any relevant coursework. Even if you lack direct experience, showcase any internships, volunteer work, or relevant roles that demonstrate your potential as a law clerk.
- Professional Presentation: Use a clean and professional format, possibly with the help of a resume template, to give your document a polished look. Avoid clutter and focus on clear, concise language.
- Adaptability for Entry-Level Applicants: If you don’t have any prior legal experience, create sections that highlight your transferable skills and relevant academic experiences. This shows employers your readiness to learn and adapt to the role.
FAQ
Q: What key responsibilities should be highlighted in a law clerk resume?
A: A law clerk resume should highlight your legal research, drafting, case preparation, and support with trial preparation and court proceedings. Tailor your responsibilities to the specific legal field.
Q: What are the essential skills to include on a law clerk resume?
A: You should include skills like legal research, writing, case analysis, attention to detail, time management, your knowledge of legal software, and communication skills.
Q: How can I make my law clerk resume stand out to employers?
A: Highlight your relevant experience and emphasize your legal research and writing skills. Tailor your resume to the job description, and include whatever accomplishments you have, like successful case contributions or commendations.
Q: Should I list specific legal software skills on my law clerk resume?
A: Yes. If you have skills in legal software like Westlaw, LexisNexis, or Clio you should list them.
Q: What is the best format for a law clerk resume? A: Use a reverse-chronological format, starting with recent experience, and include sections for contact info, summary, skills, work experience, and education.
Q: How do I showcase research and writing experience on my law clerk resume?
A: Highlight it under the work experience or, if you have one, your projects section. Detail tasks like drafting legal documents, preparing case briefs, or conducting in-depth legal research.
Q: Are legal certifications or licenses important to include on a law clerk resume?
A: Yes, include any certifications like paralegal credentials or relevant licenses to showcase your specialized qualifications and expertise.
Q: How can I demonstrate attention to detail on my judicial law clerk resume?
A: Highlight tasks like proofreading legal documents, ensuring compliance with filing deadlines, or organizing case files.
Q: Should I include internships or volunteer experience in legal fields?
A: Yes. This will demonstrate practical experience and commitment to the legal field.
Q: What common mistakes should I avoid on a law clerk resume?
A: Avoid vague job descriptions, including irrelevant experience, using overly complex language, or omitting key skills and accomplishments that are related to the field.