How to write a legal CV: tips recruiters want you to know

When it comes to securing your next legal role, your CV is your most important marketing tool. It is often the first impression a legal recruiter or hiring manager will have of you, so ensuring it reflects your experience and skills effectively is crucial. 

At Sellick Partnership, our experienced legal recruitment Consultants review hundreds of CVs every month, and we know exactly what makes a CV really stand out. Here are our top tips to help you create a legal CV that will get noticed for all the right reasons. 

Understand what legal recruiters look for 

Legal recruiters and hiring managers are searching for candidates who not only meet the technical requirements but also demonstrate the key skills needed to succeed in a legal environment. 

Make sure your CV highlights the following: 

• Relevant legal experience: Include specific areas of law you have worked in, such as commercial, property, family, corporate, childcare, housing, planning, contracts, governance or litigation, depending on your background.
• Technical skills: Showcase your proficiency with legal research databases, case management software, e-disclosure platforms, document management systems or other legal tools relevant to your practice area.
• Commercial awareness: Show an understanding of how legal work fits within the wider business, organisational or public service context. For private sector roles, highlight how your advice supports clients, commercial objectives, risk management, revenue protection, transactions or wider business growth. For public sector roles, show how your work supports governance, service delivery, risk management and wider community outcomes.
• Communication skills: Highlight experience where you have negotiated, advised, or liaised with clients. This could also include advocacy, committee reporting, stakeholder management or working with elected members, boards or senior leaders.
• Attention to detail: Ensure your CV is free from errors; accuracy is critical in law.

If you're not sure how to go about choosing a legal recruiter, take a look at our blog Choosing the right legal recruiter: key factors to consider.

Legal CV formatting tips 

Presentation and structure can make a big difference. Recruiters typically spend just a few seconds scanning a CV before deciding whether to read on.

Here are some key formatting tips:

• Don’t be restricted by the two-page CV myth: While two pages can be suitable for some legal CVs, it should not be treated as a fixed rule. Experienced candidates often need more space to properly evidence their caseload, specialisms, achievements, technical expertise and career history. A strong legal CV should be relevant, clear and easy to read, rather than cut down so heavily that important experience is lost.
• Use a clean, professional layout with clear headings and bullet points.
• Make sure your contact information is up to date and correct. 
• Choose a simple, readable font such as Arial or Calibri.
• List your experience in reverse chronological order.
• Tailor your CV for each role you apply to, using keywords from the job description.

• Update your LinkedIn profile: make sure your current job title, practice areas, location, qualifications and key experience match your CV. Recruiters and employers may check both, so consistency matters. You can also take a look at our tips to showcase your LinkedIn profile.

Avoid including:

• Photographs or headshots.

• Excessive personal information (e.g., age, marital status).

Common mistakes to avoid on your legal CV 

Many strong candidates are let down by avoidable errors. Here are some common mistakes:

• Being too generic: Tailor your CV to the specific legal role.
• Typos and grammatical errors: Proofread carefully.
• Poor structure: Avoid large blocks of text; make your CV easy to skim-read.
• Listing duties instead of achievements: Focus on what you achieved in each role, not just your responsibilities.
• Leaving unexplained gaps: If you have a career break, redundancy gap, period of study, caring responsibilities or time away from work, include a short, factual explanation.

We have added more detail below around the specific areas you may have on your CV: 

Personal statement 

Your personal statement is your CV's opening statement, summarising your legal career, aspirations, and highlighting your key skills and accomplishments. Keep it concise, around two to three lines. Tailor this section for each application, aligning it with the specific job description.

Accurately define your legal work experience

Often Recruitment Consultants will refine the information you have provided into a branded CV format before they send it to the employer, so they can tailor it for the particular role. Be sure to include enough relevant information to evidence your suitability for the role. Feel free to use bullet points, tailor your experience to the role and always include up to date and relevant information.

You should also ensure your legal qualifications are listed in full, and that temporary and locum roles are highlighted as such so that the recruiter can clearly differentiate them. If you have worked across locum, interim or fixed-term assignments, make the nature of each assignment clear, including the organisation type, caseload covered, reason for shorter dates where relevant and whether the role was extended or completed successfully. 

Present the information in reverse chronological order, including:

• Firm name, job title, and employment dates.
• Provide one or two lines briefly outlining the firm or your team, for example: 'Example LLP is a national Tier 1 Legal 500 full-service firm. I work within the ranked Private Client team, advising high-net-worth clients on complex estate planning, trust and probate matters.'
• Summarise your primary responsibilities and duties, including the types of matters in your caseload, matter values where relevant, client groups, complexity, level of supervision, advocacy or advisory work and any management responsibility. If a requirement is important to the role, make sure it is clearly evidenced on your CV. For example, a conveyancer would include: sales and purchases, freehold and leasehold, registered and unregistered titles, new builds, plot sales, shared ownership, transfer of equity, remortgages, title checks, searches, reporting, enquiries, exchanges and completions. Historic scheme experience, such as Help to Buy or Right to Buy, can also be included where relevant.
• Showcase your achievements, which might include billable hours, actual versus target performance, business development, team growth, successful project delivery, process improvements, client feedback or complex matters you have led.
• Include a couple of lines of example matters, such as your highest value matters, most complex matters or the types of clients you have supported. This gives the hiring manager a clear understanding of your caseload, what you can do and where your strengths lie.

Example: 

Solicitor | XYZ Law Firm | March 2020 – Present

• Advising clients on commercial property transactions, including lease negotiations and acquisitions.
• Successfully negotiated lease terms resulting in a 15% cost saving for a key client.
• Drafted and reviewed a variety of legal documents including contracts and agreements.
• Managed a caseload of 60+ matters simultaneously, consistently meeting deadlines.

Qualifications

For each qualification, you should include graduation dates, institution names, degrees/qualifications, and grades. Mention your admission date and the regulatory body. Include your degree, LPC, SQE, CILEX qualification, admission date, regulatory body and any relevant accreditations or panel memberships, such as Higher Rights, STEP or Children Panel membership. If a membership or accreditation has lapsed, make this clear.

Final top tips

• Text alignment: use consistent alignment, spacing and headings throughout. Left-aligned text is usually easiest to read, particularly when CVs are reviewed on screen.
• Font and formatting: Stick to a professional, easy-to-read font, and maintain consistent formatting. Bulleted lists and bold headings improve readability.
• Reverse chronological order: List your work experience and qualifications in reverse chronological order so the hiring manager can quickly understand your most recent and relevant experience.
• Proofreading: Attention to detail is vital; your CV should be free of grammar and spelling errors, especially since drafting might be a part of your job. Review it multiple times, even stepping away and returning later for a fresh look.
• Seek feedback: Have a friend or colleague review your CV from a different perspective, as they may spot anything you have missed.
• Honesty: Always be truthful, integrity matters in the long run, and it will always be found out. 
• Tailor your CV: Customise your CV for each application by aligning it with the job description. Ensure that everything in the job description is represented on your CV if it's relevant.
• LinkedIn profile: Keep your LinkedIn profile current and matching your CV, as hiring managers may look at your profile before interview.
• Action verbs: Start bullet points with strong action verbs ('negotiated', 'drafted', 'represented').
• It’s your CV: Describe your role and projects you managed, with what you accomplished. Minimise the use of phrases like 'I assisted with', or 'I helped with'.

Still need a hand getting your legal CV up to scratch? Here's a link to a Word document that our Legal team has put together, download it now! 

We've also put together a generic CV template Word document, download this here. 

For more support with your legal job search, visit our candidate resources section, read our CV writing guide or speak to one of our legal recruitment Consultants for tailored advice. You can also browse our latest legal jobs to find your next opportunity.