What Law Firms Look For in a Lawyer CV
Legal recruiters and partners scan CVs for academic pedigree, firm calibre, practice area expertise, and deal or case experience. Your university, law school, and qualifying firm matter enormously in the legal market. List your LLB or JD degree with classification (First Class, 2:1, Distinction), your LPC/SQE/Bar course with results, and your training contract or pupillage firm prominently. For experienced lawyers, the focus shifts to practice area depth (M&A, litigation, employment, IP, banking) and the sophistication of matters handled — deal values, court level, client seniority.
Legal CV Practice Area Section
Create a dedicated Practice Areas or Legal Experience section that clearly states your specialisms. For transactional lawyers: list deal types (M&A, private equity, leveraged finance, real estate, JVs), deal values, and jurisdictions. Example: "Advised on 12 M&A transactions (aggregate deal value £2.4Bn) across UK, Germany, and UAE." For litigators: mention court levels (High Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court, arbitration tribunals), matter types, and outcomes where possible. In-house lawyers should highlight commercial contract volume, risk advisory, and regulatory compliance work.
Qualifying Information — SRA, Bar Council, International
Always include your admission status and regulatory body. UK solicitors: "Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales, admitted [year], SRA number [number]." Barristers: "Called to the Bar of England and Wales, [Inn], [year]." International lawyers: include local bar admission details (e.g., New York Bar, Dubai DIFC Courts, ADGM Courts). If dual-qualified, list both admissions — it is a significant competitive advantage in international law firms and global in-house teams. CVcraft's legal template has dedicated fields for all major jurisdictions.
In-House Legal CV vs Law Firm CV
In-house legal CVs differ from private practice CVs. In-house employers prioritise: pragmatic commercial advice over technical legal analysis, stakeholder management and business partnering skills, and the ability to manage outside counsel effectively. Quantify your in-house impact: "Negotiated and executed 200+ commercial contracts annually," "Reduced external legal spend by 22% through preferred panel management," "Led GDPR compliance programme across 14 European subsidiaries." CVcraft's in-house legal template variant emphasises these business-facing competencies alongside your legal expertise.
Admission Status Fields
Dedicated fields for SRA number, Bar admission, and international bar qualifications across all jurisdictions.
Deal & Case Section
Structured transaction and matter list section — deal values, counterparties, and your role clearly shown.
Private Practice & In-House Templates
Separate template variants optimised for law firm applications and in-house corporate counsel roles.
Ready to Build Your Legal CV?
Join 2,000,000+ job seekers. Free forever. No sign-up needed.
Start Building Now — It's Free