Law Clerk Resume Example & Job Description for 2024

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As a law clerk, you’re a pro at preparing most complex documents that must be 100% correct. Contracts, deeds, agreements, wills, and bills – you’ve got them all covered. But what about your law clerk resume? Can this document help you win the case of getting hired?

Learn what skills can impress your future employer, how to create a perfect summary for a law clerk's resume, and get an interview with a law firm you admire!

This guide will show you: 

• A law clerk resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
• How to write law clerk resume descriptions to land more interviews.
• Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on a law clerk resume.
• How to describe your experience on a law clerk resume to get any job you want.

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Law Clerk Resume Example

That’s one of the ideal law clerk's resume examples. Now let’s learn how to build your own!

1. Select a Job-winning Format for Your Law Clerk Resume

Law clerks assist with preparing court papers, support lawyers during the entire litigation, and conduct legal research. The responsibilities are also related to preparing for trials, interviews, hearings, meetings, and depositions in which lawyers and sometimes law clerks participate.

Before writing your own law clerk resume, a description of your profession is something you should revisit. But since we already know it, let’s start talking about the structure of your resume. It’s a base you’ll build on, just like hard evidence is what you can build your case on. In both these cases, the better the foundation, the better the outcome!

How to properly format your law clerk resume?

1. Create resume sections:
1. Resume header, which includes your name, contact information, and your current position
2. Summary Statement or Career Objective
3. Work Experience 
4. Education 
5. Relevant Skills
6. Additional sections (certifications, conferences, hobbies, languages, voluntary work, etc.)
2. Select a good font for your resume. Arial, Calibri, and Times New Roman are only some of them. The best size is 10 to 12 points.
3. Save your resume in a PDF format. It ensures that the formatting will look well when someone opens it.
4. Name a resume file, i.e., Name-Job Title-Resume. 

Learn more about creating a resume for any legal profession: Law & Legal Resume Templates

2. Create a Perfect Law Clerk Resume Objective or Summary

The estimated 10-year prediction of job growth for law clerks is 3.47%. So there will be more and more competitors on your way to assist lawyers in their day-to-day routine. That means more and more resumes will land on their desks, and they will need more time to read through them all carefully. Luckily, there’s a way to say a lot about yourself in a few short paragraphs.

Writing a summary or objective is a perfect way to start a resume. They are both short introductory paragraphs. So what’s the difference? 

• You write a professional resume summary if you’ve got more than a year of relevant experience. 
• You write an objective for a resume if you have little to no experience.

Luckily for us all, some formulas are 100% legal that you can follow to make your resume summary or objective!

How to write your summary statement for a law clerk resume?

How to write an objective for a resume for a law clerk?

Now you have a short introduction to your skills, achievements, and goals. That should keep a recruiter interested for a while!

Pro Tip: Write your summary and objective last. Even though they are placed at the beginning of your resume, it’s easier to create them when you have all your resume sections ready.

3. Create the Perfect Law Clerk Job Description for a Resume

That’s perhaps the most important part of a resume. It’s like a closing speech you’ve helped prepare at 4 a.m. And since it’s such a crucial part of your resume, let’s ensure you know how to nail it!

How to make an outstanding work experience section on a law clerk resume:

• Follow the resume reverse chronology, highlighting your most recent accomplishments.
• Put the job title, company name, and dates on your resume at each entry. 
• Highlight your achievements on your resume in no more than 6 bullet points.
• Tailor your resume by addressing the requirements written in the job ad. 
• Add some resume action words and numbers to show your accomplishments.

You might wonder if you should include irrelevant work experience on a resume. But when it comes to our following sections, there’s no room for wondering. It’s a must!

If you have no experience to put on your resume and still want to apply, read our guide: Resume with No Experience

4. Prove Your Education Section is Impressive 

It’s nothing aliquid novi that you should use your education to impress the recruiters. Having a well-written education resume section is especially important if you’re a law clerk with little to no experience. But even if your first job was back when Constitution laws were developed— you still need to shine in this section!

How to create an excellent education section for a law clerk resume?

• List your degree on a resume. Don’t forget to mention the school name and the date you graduated.
• Include your major and minors on your resume to show more education details.
• Add all the student honors, relevant coursework, and other extracurricular activities to your resume.

You’ve proven your experience, and you’ve spoken about your education. But what you need to be a great law clerk is a set of specific skills. So let’s show’em bright and clear! Time for exhibit 5: a perfect set of skills!

Pro Tip: Place your education section above your resume job descriptions if you’ve just graduated or have little professional experience as a law clerk.

Creating a resume with our builder is incredibly simple. Follow our step-by-step guide and use content from Certified Professional Resume Writers to have a resume ready in minutes.

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When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and our ATS resume checker will tell you exactly how to make it better.

5. Let Your Skills Speak for Your Law Clerk Resume

Preparing legal documents, maintaining files, conducting research, and all the other things on your daily to-do list are doable only with a great educational background and years of experience. You must have a certain set of skills to fulfill these duties right. And you must put those skills on your resume to make the recruiter think, “Gee, that one’s skilled!”.

How to highlight your skills on a law clerk resume?

• Begin with creating a master list of all the skills you have. 
• Select hard and soft skills for your resume that are the most suitable for the law clerk position.
• List up to 10 professional skills on your resume that the company you’re applying to prioritizes. Try to search for the clues in the job ad and on their website!

Let’s take a look at some of the most wanted skills a law clerk’s resume should include:

Law Clerk Resume Skills

• Environmental Law
• Criminal Law
• Communication Skills
• Computer Skills
• Court Transcription 
• Familiarity with Legal Terminology & Documentation
• Document Filling 
• Agreement Drafting
• MS Office Skills
• Presentation Skills
• Attention to Detail
• Research Skills
• Knowledge of Compliance Laws
• Interpersonal Skills
• Decision-Making Skills
• Teamwork Skills
• Commitment

Experience, education, and skills. Seems like you can rest your case? Well, not just yet! There might be something more you want to write in your law clerk resume!

Do you want to appeal to be an even more attractive candidate? Read our guide: Top Skills For in 2024

6. Include Additional Sections in Your Law Clerk Resume

Including additional information on a resume is great if there’s something more your recruiter should know about you. Something relevant and impressive. Something that will make the judge go, “Guilty… of getting hired!”.

What should you put in additional sections on your law clerk resume? 

• Certifications and licenses on a resume can easily highlight your relevant skills.
• Conferences you attended show that you’re passionate about your job and still willing to learn more.
• Hobbies on a resume can be really impressive. But what’s more important, they can help reflect your soft skills on a resume.
• Language skills on your resume are always valuable for the company. Perhaps soon you will be working with a client who feels more comfortable speaking in another language than you happen to know!
• Volunteer work is just something recruiters love to see. Working pro bono cases are always welcome!

Do you possess some evidence proving you’re the right fit for the job? Let’s put them in the cover letter!

Pro Tip: A resume reference section is not something you put in additional sections of your resume. Recruiters know they can ask you for references, so you don’t need to put that information on your resume.

7. Attach a Cover Letter to Your Law Clerk Resume

You’ve got your file ready to take to court. But don’t use them just yet. First, let’s learn how to write a cover letter to boost your chances of getting the job. Especially since 83% of HR professionals claim that cover letters are essential when deciding who to hire.

How to write a perfect cover letter for a law clerk? 

• Follow the professional cover letter structure.
• Start your cover letter strongly to get remembered and to get the reader’s attention.
• Format your cover letter into 3–5 paragraphs.
• Compliment the employer and tell them why you want to work specifically for them.
• End your cover letter enthusiastically and offer an interview date. 
• Write an application follow-up email every week for a month if they don’t respond to your first e-mail.

Creating a perfect law clerk cover letter might be tricky. Unless you read our guide: Law Firm Cover Letter Examples

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Now you’re ready to hand in your law clerk application. Go, apply, and make the world a better, safer, and more righteous place!

Thank you for reading! Let’s talk about writing a perfect law clerk resume in the comment section below!

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