Paralegal
Best for senior and mid-level candidates
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Build my resume Aria had utilised her strategic mindset and analytical thought processes from past legal projects to ensure all details were covered while she worked as a barista. However, while she couldn’t imagine turning down a good latte, she could definitely see herself saying “Yes!” to a new job as a paralegal . . . She’d just have to build a resume first.
As she researched paralegal CV examples, Aria set down her cup of coffee, dreaming of how it would feel to place it on an office desk. She brightened up once she found a host of professional resume templates and other resources—there was even advice on how to enhance her CV with a cover letter generator! Within weeks, she received that life-changing email.
Keep reading for tried-and-tested advice and resume samples that will help you succeed like Aria!
Why this CV works
- Your paralegal resume summary should include any specializations you bring to the table. Display proficiencies gained in your 10+ years of experience in the industry.
- We recommend that you customise your summary for each job you apply for and that you mention the company name and job title.
- Include a range of responsibilities and achievements that build on one another, demonstrating ownership of projects and duties.
- It’s important to show the hiring manager that you understand what’s required and that you’ve done, and will do, exceptional work—a great point to elaborate on further in your paralegal cover letter.
- Be confident in your value, skills, and competencies. Employers are much more likely to interview and hire applicants they consider confident.
- Incorporate specific software knowledge into your paralegal CV. These hard skills can be taught, but hiring managers appreciate a paralegal who can dive in and start researching and drafting casework straight away.
Why this CV works
- Are you entering a niche like immigration law? Make a special effort to highlight your expertise in a particular area.
- For example, perhaps you’re bilingual, so you’d want to include that in your list of skills on your immigration paralegal CV. Highlighting specialisations can set you apart from other candidates and secure you an interview.
- Citing an understanding of immigration application forms and demonstrating a high regard for client satisfaction will also make your application more competitive.
- If you have extensive experience, demonstrate how your responsibilities have evolved throughout your career. Let employers know you’re ready to take on new responsibilities in your next position.
- List your work experience in a reverse-chronological format to emphasise job growth and development, with your most recent at the top of the page.
View more immigration paralegal resumes >
Why this CV works
- Plenty of experience in a specific area? Especially in niche jobs, highlighting this experience will show employers you require less training. This saves them time and money, so tailor your personal injury paralegal CV to fit the job role you’re seeking.
- This means including software specific to the type of law, if applicable, unique forms and documents, the number of clients you worked with (this will vary greatly based on case sizes, case difficulty, and firm type), and specific tasks significant in your field.
- Check your resume for passive word choice; ensure your work experience begins with strong action verbs, avoids unnecessary filler words, and consistently uses the past tense.
View more personal injury paralegal resumes >
Why this CV works
- More than anything, when creating a litigation paralegal CV, you need to demonstrate you can handle all aspects of the requirements mentioned in the job description.
- Highlight areas such as file management, working with the solicitor, problem-solving, legal knowledge, software expertise, and how you improved efficiency.
- If you’re applying for a litigation paralegal position, you’re more likely to get an interview if you have prior experience in litigation paralegal work.
- However, you can use any paralegal experience to focus on relevant skills.
- Emphasise the skills and experience you have that relate to the job you’re applying for, so the employer knows you can meet the specific requirements of the role.
View more litigation paralegal resumes >
Why this CV works
- Property paralegal roles require specialised skills in law and daily procedures to finalise transactions within expected timeframes while adhering to regulations. Recruiters are interested in how you can contribute to navigating complex property landscapes to achieve results.
- Your property law paralegal CV must highlight your understanding of property law, research skills to expedite processes, and the number of project deals completed on time with minimised cost.
Why this CV works
- While having educational qualifications is a must for any paralegal, you can take this one step further in your family law paralegal CV.
- Include any nationally recognised certificates like “National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA)” to demonstrate that your skills and knowledge have been assessed by industry professionals and convey that you possess techniques not only to document cases but also to influence favourable negotiations in disputes.
Why this CV works
- It’s not about your responsibilities in your previous prestigious company that matter, but what you achieved with your skills. Your qualifications and relevant experiences hold the key to making a perfect impression on suitable employers.
- Achievements such as cases won, costs saved, improved process efficiency, and regulatory compliance should give your senior paralegal CV the much-needed boost to get noticed.
Why this CV works
- Align the career objective to the job description. If they’re looking for students who are studying but already have valuable skills in legal tools, then you know you’re a good fit!
- Start the objective by stating that you’re aiming to gain some practical experience. You can further enhance your paralegal student CV by listing all the relevant legal skills you’ve utilised in the past, along with a few collaborative software tools.
Why this CV works
- Entering a new career field will always be challenging, but it’s certainly not impossible. Having any previous jobs can demonstrate your diligence and commitment. Don’t hesitate to include previous experience outside of your desired field.
- Emphasise expertise relevant to the job you’re applying for, even if it comes from an unexpected source. Include relevant projects, volunteering experience, and work placements.
- If you’re light on work history, consider adding a resume objective.
- A worthwhile objective should be tailored to the specific job you’re applying for (mention the company by name) and be a powerful snapshot of your most relevant experience or skills.
- Your resume skills are essential. While you may not have worked as a legal assistant before, your skills can demonstrate to employers that you have the right temperament and qualifications to succeed in the role.
- Your entry-level paralegal CV will be on the right track when you incorporate skills into your work experience. Use a bullet point generator to demonstrate abilities like time management, communication, and organisation within your work history.
View more entry-level paralegal resumes >
Why this CV works
- As you’re writing your corporate paralegal CV, don’t forget to include metrics.
- For example, you can discuss the number of legal software systems you are proficient in, the number of solicitors you work with, the types of legal documents you’ve drafted, the amount of time you’ve saved solicitors on research, etc. Metrics demonstrate your performance as a paralegal, and any employer will recognise that value.
- Using 6-10 specific skills for your resume is a great way to ensure you get through the ATS.
- Remove skills that are irrelevant or vague. Honestly, these days, most of us know how to email and use Microsoft and Google suite software. Focus on the more specialised software, like LexisNexis, instead.
View more corporate paralegal resumes >
Why this CV works
- Let’s be honest, nobody likes property disputes and that’s exactly what you need to prevent. Even if you haven’t directly been involved in the probate process of a will, including a qualification such as the California Advanced Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law will inspire more confidence in employers.
- Remember to back up this credibility by showing how you’ve used tools like Clio for drafting key estate documents in your probate paralegal CV.
Why this CV works
- What’s going to help your patent paralegal CV is a strong and successful background in getting patents approved on the first attempt.
- The sooner you can settle legal matters for clients, the better. Create effective bullet points such as – Filed 511 patent applications with a 92% acceptance rate on initial submissions – to demonstrate to your prospective law firm that you’re an invaluable addition to the team.
Why this CV works
- Don’t underestimate the value of a good resume template for your legal assistant/paralegal resume.
- In the role you want, it’s expected that you’ll provide documents in an easy-to-understand, streamlined, logical format. Use your CV as an opportunity to demonstrate your skills!
- Many people are hesitant to boast on their CVs, but this is the opportunity for you to take pride in your achievements.
- Avoid words like “assisted” and “helped.” Instead, emphasise tasks you took ownership of. Words like “collaborated” and “coordinated” allow you to convey that you worked with others without diminishing the significance of your responsibilities.
Related CV guides
How to Write a Paralegal CV
You’re the backbone of solicitors, and your paralegal CV should be able to convey the same. Otherwise, your legal expertise may get buried in a pile of applications. Below, we’ve broken down the most important parts of writing your resume:
Format your CV correctly
Ready to support senior solicitors and draft legal documents for clients? Before you go wild sending applications to lawyers, keep these CV formatting rules in mind:
- Keep it to one page: Whatever you do, ensure your paralegal CV is confined to a single page. A two-page CV is only suitable for those with significant experience.
- Bullet points: When describing your previous roles, use at least 3–4 bullet points to summarise your contributions to each position.
- Reverse-chronological format: It’s best to list your most recent work experience at the top and older ones below. This gives employers a quick look at your current capabilities and career progression.
- Add all key sections: The stronger your skills, work, and experience sections, the higher your chances of getting hired, so don’t try to cut corners here.
Highlight your legal experience
Even if it’s simply been supporting advocates from behind the scenes, include your previous roles and use metrics to highlight achievements rather than responsibilities. Not sure how to approach this? Use our examples below to see the type of impacts you should include:
- Prepared over 15 types of legal documents for clients, maintaining a 98% on-time delivery rate.
- Introduced Clio Management, helping senior barristers expedite the average case details time by 16 minutes.
Showcase your skills
Your skills section should ideally contain a mix of organisational, software, and legal expertise. If you’re unsure what to add, skim the job description and see what the company wants in their next paralegal professional. Pick out keywords they’ve mentioned and mirror them.
Here are some skills you can include:
- LexisNexis
- Clio Management
- DocuSign
- Time Management
- Detail Oriented
Add education and qualifications
In your education section, add your degree in law and any qualifications such as the Certified Paralegal (CP) to demonstrate your familiarity with all legal frameworks. If you have multiple qualifications, include only the most recent or most relevant ones and mention the date of each.
Key points
- Ensure your paralegal CV is formatted correctly using reverse-chronologically ordered work experiences, quantified bullet points, etc.
- Tailor your CV to the job description as closely as possible. From skills to work experience, include everything they are seeking.
- Include your law degree and qualifications to establish yourself as a legal expert.
Paralegal CV FAQs
When creating a paralegal CV, include a degree in law and your proficiency in using legal software. Then, describe how you’ve utilised these tools in practice and highlight their impact with quantified work experience bullet points.
Assist clients in all stages of litigation, such as disclosure, trial preparation, filing, and case management. Select keywords from the job descriptions and seamlessly incorporate them into your work experience to align yourself precisely with the role’s expectations.
Most paralegal CVs should include basic legal research, consultation, and software skills. If you’re looking to stand out from the average candidate, you can add advanced skills such as:
✅ Case planning
✅ Litigation management
✅ Courtroom advocacy
✅ Drafting legal documents
✅ Estate planning
✅ Settlement negotiation
✅ Multi-jurisdictional practice
✅ Evidence management
It should use a simple, professional CV layout, making it easy for application screening bots to quickly scan all sections and recruiters to find your strengths. Also, showcase relevant skills and how you’ve used them to achieve goals in your previous roles. Finally, be concise by only including essentials that add value to your qualifications.
