How to Create a Legal Resume

Office of Career Services One Camino Santa Maria San Antonio, Texas 78228-8606 (210) 436-3511 Fax (210) 436-3643 https://law.stmarytx.edu/careers/

HOW TO CREATE A LEGAL RESUME St. Mary’s University School of Law; Office of Career Services https://www.stmarytx.edu/academics/law/careerservices/ https://law-stmarytx-csm.symplicity.com/students/ 210-436-3511 THE LOOK o Paper color: white, ivory, buff, or cream, should be very neutral o Font color-black, and hyperlink should be removed o Generally, font size should not be less than 11 point o Font type-use a simple font like Arial or Times New Roman; may use bold for certain headings; use the same font for the entire resume o Use italics infrequently as they may not scan well. Generally only use italics for Latin terms (i.e., cum laude) or for publications (i.e., The Scholar) o ONE PAGE – if you can’t get it on one page, see Assistant Dean Bracey and she will help you. o Don’t put an objective; don’t put References Available Upon Request o Generally don’t use abbreviations, including GPA, JD, TX or Apt. o Have someone proofread for typos and grammatical errors o Use active voice/action words, not “responsible for” or “assisted” o Do not put it in a binder or plastic cover THE FORMAT AND CONTENT—Very Conservative, Very Formulaic—little room for creativity. Be consistent in form and substance. Make certain verb tenses match throughout. o ALWAYS BE TRUTHFUL!! o Contact information—see sample headings to personalize your resume. Don’t abbreviate your name (A.J. Smith); put nickname in quotes if it will be used professionally, i.e., Hector Juan “H.J.” Garcia; Alexander “Al” Smith; Lishan “Lee” Wang; spell out address, no Ave. or St.; put city, state, zip code, phone numbers (including area code). Make sure you have an answering machine and appropriate message. Put e-mail address and check daily. o Looking for a job outside of San Antonio? List permanent address, if it gives you a geographic link to that area. EDUCATION o List in reverse chronological order, school, full legal name (the full name of UT is The University of Texas at Austin), city and state o On the next line, put the culmination of the time there, which is usually the degree received. Don’t abbreviate, put Doctor of Jurisprudence, Bachelor of Science, add major (if any), date received (may be just year or month and year) o If major and minor, list both with colons o If candidate for degree, list as Candidate for Doctor of Jurisprudence comma or space Month comma and year expected to receive. For example, Candidate for Doctor of Jurisprudence May, 2016 o If you have a major written piece, cite it, even if not published. It’s evidence on your resume of your writing ability. This includes comments written as a Staff Writer for Law Journal or Scholar, whether published (cite per BB) or not (indicate “for credit” in parenthesis after title).

o If the culmination of the time at a school did not result in a degree, put what you did accomplish there. If the degree was conferred elsewhere (you transferred your credits to another school) you can omit the original school from your resume once that degree is completed and listed on the resume. How to note it if you need to keep a law school you transferred from on your resume (Note: when you graduate from St. Mary’s Law it can be removed): St. Mary’s University School of Law, San Antonio, Texas Candidate for Doctor of Jurisprudence, May 2016 Transferred from: Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, Columbus, Ohio Completed 30 credits in first-year curriculum, Grade Point Average 3.04 How to note it if you need to keep school on your resume where no degree was conferred from another institution: Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas Completed 15 credits toward Masters in Business Administration, Fall 2011 Grade point average or rank: Always put law school rank (#/total) and percentage ranking. Definitely put grade point average. See Assistant Dean Bracey for ways to help “explain” a not so stellar GPA. For other schools, you do not have to list unless it is 3.0 or above. If you graduated cum laude, you don’t need grade point average. Honors and Activities—No heading, just list the ones that are academic in nature in the Education section and put them under the relevant school. Put scholarships, dean’s list, academic recognition. Summa cum laude, or other such designation goes on degree line. Put in 1L Moot Court participation as per sample resume (it is not required at all schools so you want to signal that you have had an oral advocacy experience). You do not have to list years or semester of honors/activities. Organization memberships that you belong to in school should be listed under organizations and membership section with any officer positions shown in parenthesis. EXPERIENCE (this should not be entitled Employment because some volunteer and internship experiences build skills to bring to the next employer) o List in reverse chronological order. Employer, city, state, time period (can be just years if there is no overlap). Use words for month. If the employment is current put “start date hyphen present” or put “start date to present”. o The job title always appears on its own separate line (if space is an issue, put dates on this line). o You must give enough detail in your past experience so the next employer knows what skills you have already used. There are two correct ways to list duties: 1. Short sentence fragments, separated by semi-colons, each fragment should start with a verb; no capital after semi-colon or 2. List with bullets, no periods, each bullet starts with a capitalized “action” verb o Keep relatively short descriptions. Try to quantify non-legal jobs. o For example, Supervised 14 sub-contractors; reconciled weekly average revenue intake of $12,000

o Start fragments or bullets with verbs- present tense for present jobs; past tense for past jobs o Military experience-if it’s lengthy, condense with phrases such as “Granted multiple awards”, “Awarded several promotions in rank” rather than listing them all. Military experience can be tricky to condense so contact us for help. o How far do you go back? Depends on what you have—lots of legal experience, list that, not much beyond; otherwise as far back to show leadership skills applicable to being a lawyer i.e., business owner-yes; waitress-no. Just be sure to account for all gaps in time between your undergraduate degree and law school. o Do not list whether the experience was volunteer, paid or for internship credit o What skills do legal employers want to see from non-legal jobs? Leadership skills, such as supervising employees or leading a team Research and writing skills, such as writing job manuals, training aids Oral communication skills, such as making presentations Conflict resolution and public relation skills, such as working with diverse communities and appeasing unhappy customers Handling money because many jobs include settlement accounts, trusts and estates, etc. o Use action words to start each section when describing employment. See action words list in this handout. o Understand that each entry and description must have a purpose. Everything written in a resume should accomplish one or more of the following: Impress the reader; make the candidate standout; and connect the candidate with the reader. Bolstering a resume can include determining whether more detail is needed for certain entries, as details and specifics make writing more persuasive in general. For example, if the applicant is the recipient of a scholarship, the entry might standout if the applicant communicates he is the “sole” recipient. Also, for those who participate on moot court teams, off perspective on the pool. Such as, the candidate is one of only five new members selected to the team. If an entry is not impressive, don’t include it unless it provides an edge over other candidates. For instance, a common entry in resumes includes non-law-related jobs, such as retail or food service. Instead, remove those unrelated jobs and include the following as the last entry (bullet point) under your undergraduate (or law school) activities: “Worked 30 hours (or 20 hours for law school) per week to support my educational expenses.” This description makes a candidate stand out from others who may not have needed to work through college or law school. This entry also connects you to people who understand the challenges associated with trying to achieve academic excellence while committing to activities outside of school that require an incredible amount of time and energy.

ORGANIZATIONS, MEMBERSHIPS AND PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS o Entries are effective if they connect you with the reader. The person or people who are reading the resumes may prefer yours to some else’s if they can associate with you because people tend to want to hire people who are like them. These types of connecting entries include organizations you belong to, such as the Women’s Law Association, the Black Law Students Association, or fraternities or sororities. o List anything legal and anything in which you have a member or officer role. If you are not an officer but were responsible for a major task put that. o Looking in another geographic market? Look at joining their bar as a student member. o List social fraternity or sorority with Alumnus/Alumna; add in officer positions in parenthesis with year o Consider leaving off religious or political affiliations, your call o Add any certification/license you hold that is relevant to the type of law for which you are applying, i.e., plumbing license, no; K-12 superintendent license for education law job, yes o If you have no professional certifications delete that name from heading LANGUAGES, SKILLS AND INTERESTS o Add language, indicating proficiency, including whether you speak, read and/or write o Do not list standard legal research (Lexis-Nexis, Westlaw), word processing, spreadsheet, database as computer skills. Do add specialty certifications from Westlaw/Lexis-Nexis. Do put if you have any familiarity with unique software pertinent to area of law practice (IRS job-tax prep software; medical software for medical malpractice firm; billing software). o Some students include the following in this section, “Fluent in Spanish” (or any other foreign language), “running marathons,” “playing golf,” or “amateur guitarist.” Applicants want the reader to respond to what is written in this section by saying one of two things: “I like to do that too, and I could see myself doing that activity with this candidate;” or, “That is very interesting. I would really like to meet that person.” COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES (many firms, all public interest and government employers want to see this so if you do not have any you should start volunteering) o List community connections. Do not list volunteer work you did in undergraduate school or in the past. If there is something you MUST have on your resume, put it under the school where you were when you did the service. The employers are looking for current community activities. o Looking for community activities that require a minimum of time or money? See Sister Grace for ideas. Sign up on the Pro Bono TWEN site for legal opportunities. o Consider including interests if you have interesting hobbies or other appropriate activities. See separate handout regarding Skills and Interests. REFERENCES o Don’t list references on your resume. If the employer requests references use a separate sheet, which matches your resume paper. Don’t staple your reference sheet to your resume. Try to use legal references—professors, supervisors at legal jobs. After that, use supervisors at non-legal jobs. Avoid family, co-workers, friends, religious leaders. Always list the relationship to you and years (lots of folks have changed jobs and it’s not now obvious why they are a reference). Ask the references what contact information

they want you to list. ALWAYS MAKE SURE THE INFORMATION IS CURRENT FOR YOUR REFERENCES! Don’t submit your references to an employer unless they specifically request it. Do not submit letters of recommendation. Legal employers generally want to talk to your references. o Provide a copy of your resume to your reference and send a thank you note for serving as your reference. o If possible, alert your reference if you have reason to believe that he or she will be contacted and give the reference a copy of the job description. Doing so helps him or her tailor their answers if contacted. FINAL REMINDERS o Your resume is not a static document. You need to tailor and update it. o Target your resume to the specific employer if appropriate. o Always update your resume right away. Memories fade so update it after each experience so you do not forget the details. Revised 08.20.2015

SAMPLE RESUME HEADINGS LUDMILLA “MILLIE” COLLINS 123 Broadway Avenue • San Antonio, Texas 78228 • (210) 963-6161 • [email protected]

John Smith [email protected] (210) 555-5555 9876 Somewhere Avenue San Antonio, Texas 78228

1234 Main Street Houston, Texas 77057

Francis “Frank” Lawstudent 1234 Main Street, # 1601 San Antonio, Texas 78228

Jane Someone Doe 123 Main Street, San Antonio, Texas 78228

JOHN SMITH

Mobile: (210) 555-5555 Email:[email protected]

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(210) 555-5555

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[email protected]

[email protected] ONE CAMINO SANTA MARIA SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 78228 210.555.5555

STUDENT SAMPLE RESUME—ONE PAGE WITH BULLETS—REVISED July 2015 LUDMILLA “MILLIE” COLLINS 123 Broadway Avenue • San Antonio, Texas 78228 • (210) 963-6161 • [email protected] EDUCATION St. Mary’s University School of Law, San Antonio, Texas Candidate for Doctor of Jurisprudence, May 2015 Grade Point Average: 3.09; Rank: #/total; Top 14% • St. Mary’s Law Journal, Staff Writer, 2013-2014 o Ludmilla Collins, Comment: An Analysis of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, 43 St. Mary’s L.J 791 (2014) • Linda and Dave Schlueter 2014 First Year Moot Court Competition, Octa-finalist and Best Speaker • St. Mary’s Institute on World Legal Problems at the University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria, summer, 2013; Distinguished Visiting Jurist: United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, Jr. University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas Master of Business Administration, Accounting, cum laude, May 2013 • Thesis: “Ethics in Accounting: Reviving a Dead Concept” Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois Bachelor of Science, Major: Economics; Minor: Accounting, December 2011 EXPERIENCE St. Mary’s University Center for Legal & Social Justice, San Antonio, Texas Student Attorney in the Civil Justice Clinic January 2014- Present • Interview and represent clients in civil matters and prepare cases for trial • Schedule and attend hearings on behalf of clients as the attorney of record • Arrange and conduct depositions, draft letters and motions and file motions with the court • Perform discovery; investigate claims and follow up on service of process and responses filed with the court by opposing party and negotiate with opposing counsel • Meet regularly with Supervising Attorney to discuss strategy and update regarding new developments Kaplan PMBR San Antonio, Texas Sales Representative August- December 2013 • Present Kaplan PMBR as the premier producer of law school study aids and bar preparation materials; sell Kaplan study aids to current law students at St. Mary’s University School of Law to assist them in their law school career and help them prepare themselves for the bar exam De Mott, Mouton and Van Ausdahl, P.C. Austin, Texas Legal Intern Summer 2013 • Drafted motions, researched deportation issues, wrote memoranda regarding the applicability of the PATRIOT Act and updated immigration petitions Law Offices of Michael Collins San Antonio, Texas Law Clerk September 2012- May 2013 • Filed documents in federal and state courts, maintained library resources, general office duties ORGANIZATIONS, MEMBERSHIPS AND PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS • Texas Certified Public Accountants Association, (Treasurer 2012-2013) • Certified Public Accountant • Women’s Law Association • Phi Delta Phi International Legal Honor Society • Student Bar Association’s “Boo Bash” for local children’s shelter residents, providing food and games, volunteer LANGUAGES, SKILLS, AND INTERESTS • Fluent in Spanish (read write and speak); proficient in accounting programs • Experienced with ProDoc and TimeMatters COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES AND INTERESTS • San Antonio Bar Association’s Community Justice Program’s Veterans’ Clinic, volunteer ; • Caritas Legal Services, volunteer; Talking Tapes for the Blind, volunteer reader; cook Thai food

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LUDMILLA “MILLIE” COLLINS 123 Broadway Avenue • San Antonio, Texas 78228 • (210) 963-6161 • [email protected]

EMPLOYMENT REFERENCES

Jane Doe Associate Professor St. Mary’s University School of Law One Camino Santa Maria San Antonio, Texas 78228-8605 Work: (210) 436-0001 Cell: (210) 482-2212 Email: [email protected]

John Doe Doe, Renie and Manning, P.C. 2343 South Roanoke Avenue Springfield, New York 02709 Work: (194) 363-4200 Email: [email protected] (Supervising Attorney at the Law Offices of Michael Collins) Vivian Mouton DeMott, Mouton and Van Ausdahl, P.C. The Westin Towers, Suite 100 7800 Beta Street Austin, Texas 75043 Work: (319) 889-0785 Home: (319) 481-4557 Email: [email protected]

Revised August, 2015