Law Student & Judicial Clerkship CV

What a good one includes

• A prominent education section at the very top detailing your law school, GPA, class rank, and key academic honors like Latin honors or Order of the Coif.
• Explicit mentions of your journal memberships, editorial board positions, and Moot Court involvements to prove your advanced legal research and writing capabilities.
• A dedicated legal experience section detailing previous judicial externships, clinic work, or summer associate roles using strong action verbs that demonstrate analytical depth.
• A list of published legal scholarship, notable seminar papers, or a brief mention of your writing sample's topic to showcase your scholarly contributions.
• Your current bar admission status or expected examination date, alongside relevant professional affiliations and language proficiencies.
• Traditional serif typography, like Times New Roman or Garamond, structured with consistent one-inch margins and no distracting colors or graphic elements.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Using modern, multi-column, or colorful resume templates that legal recruiters and judges view as unprofessional or distracting.
• Omitting your GPA or class rank when applying to competitive positions, as employers often assume the worst when these metrics are missing.
• Describing your legal work with generic administrative tasks rather than highlighting your specific research, drafted briefs, and analyzed legal issues.
• Allowing a single typo or citation error to slip through, which immediately signals a lack of the meticulous attention to detail required in chambers.

Frequently asked questions