Examples & writing guide
Legal CV example and writing guide for 2026
Updated 7 August 2026
A convincing legal CV makes close reading easy: the reader can quickly see what you handled, how you approached it and what changed because of your work. This guide provides a practical legal CV template, a strong legal personal statement and worked guidance for turning duties into specific, defensible evidence.
Examples by experience level
Junior Legal Assistant
TemplateAshford1 / 5
Why this works
This legal CV sample pairs grounded legal research and drafting skills with measurable evidence from work, volunteering and education.
Continue writing your CVLegal Adviser CV
TemplateGrey Frame5 / 5
Why this works
Shows steady progression from paralegal work to independent matter management, with clear evidence of research, drafting, client communication and measurable delivery.
Continue writing your CVSenior Legal Counsel
TemplateBlue Horizon3 / 5
Why this works
Shows leadership, a substantial matter portfolio and clear commercial outcomes without losing sight of precise drafting and accessible advice.
Continue writing your CVJunior vs senior: what changes
| Aspect | Junior | Senior |
|---|---|---|
| Personal statement | Lead with legal education, placements, part-time work and a few transferable strengths. State the type of legal work sought without claiming experience that has not been gained. | Lead with the scope of legal work handled, leadership responsibility and the strongest defensible outcomes. Make the target role and relevant area of work clear at once. |
| Experience evidence | Use placements, volunteering, projects and other employment. Show legal research, drafting, plain English communication or commercial awareness through specific examples. | Prioritise recent legal roles and show the scale, complexity and results of the work. Include team, matter or process responsibility only where the scope and figures can be defended. |
| Achievement bullets | Focus on personal contribution: documents checked, research completed, deadlines met or information explained. Modest numbers help when they are genuine. | Connect decisions and leadership to measurable outcomes such as turnaround time, workload, accuracy or team delivery. Distinguish personal accountability from the wider team's contribution. |
| Skills section | Choose a compact set supported by study, placements or transferable work, including legal research, document drafting, digital tools and clear communication where relevant. | Show advanced use of the core skills through complex information, data analysis, digital collaboration and prioritisation across competing deadlines. |
| CV length and selection | For an entry-level application, a single page is preferred when it can present the strongest evidence clearly. Remove repetition before reducing the type size or margins. | Around two pages is preferred for a legal CV. Use the space for relevant depth and outcomes rather than a complete account of routine duties. |
| Education placement | Education can appear near the top when it supplies the strongest relevant evidence. Add concise notes on relevant work only when they strengthen the application. | Put recent, relevant experience before education when it provides stronger evidence for the vacancy. Keep older academic detail brief unless it directly supports the application. |
How to write a legal CV
Use reverse-chronological order, putting your most recent experience first. A legal CV should generally be around two pages, while an entry-level candidate may be better served by one tightly edited page. Treat those lengths as editing targets, not invitations to shrink the type or crowd the margins.
| Section | What to include |
|---|---|
| Contact details | Name, UK location, mobile number, professional email and relevant profile link |
| Personal statement | Target role, strongest relevant evidence and the type of contribution you can make |
| Experience | Employer, title, dates and concise achievement bullets |
| Skills | Abilities you can prove through work, study or volunteering |
| Education | Qualification, institution and dates, followed by selective relevant detail |
| Extras | Languages, publications, volunteering or interests only when they strengthen the application |
Keep the layout plain and consistent. Use readable headings, restrained formatting and enough white space to separate sections. Leave out a photograph, date of birth and reference details. Proofread every line: spelling and grammar carry particular weight in a document intended to demonstrate precision.
Tailor each version to the job specification. Reorder evidence so the closest match appears early, and reuse the employer's terminology only when it accurately describes your experience. The personal statement should be a short argument for fit rather than a list of adjectives. Experience bullets should identify the action, scope and result. The skills section should contain evidence-based terms, not self-ratings or progress bars. Education can carry more detail early in a career; experienced candidates can shorten it to create room for recent work. Extras earn their place only when they reveal relevant knowledge, responsibility or sustained involvement.
If direct legal experience is limited, draw on placements, university work and part-time employment. Use legal experience to show informed interest in the field, then use other work to demonstrate transferable evidence such as commercial awareness. For a solicitor application, make clear which evidence relates to the role rather than assuming general legal experience is enough. Do not claim knowledge, responsibility or figures that you could not explain at interview.
Personal statement examples
Detail-focused legal assistant with experience researching issues across selected legal databases, preparing clear first drafts and maintaining accurate matter records. Trusted to explain procedural information in plain English and organise competing deadlines, with a record of producing careful work for review in busy teams.
Hard-working legal professional looking for an exciting new challenge. I have excellent communication and organisational skills, work well alone or in a team, and would be an asset to any employer.
Writing your experience
A duty tells the reader what the post involved. An achievement shows what you did, the scale of the work and the result. Build each bullet around a simple pattern: action + matter or audience + measurable outcome. Useful measures include caseload size, document volume, turnaround time, deadlines met, error reduction or hours saved. Use only figures you can verify and explain.
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Helped with legal research | Researched 18 authorities across selected legal databases and produced a 12-page note that enabled the supervising lawyer to prepare advice two days before deadline |
| Drafted documents for the team | Prepared first drafts of 24 routine legal documents in one quarter, with 22 approved after one review cycle |
| Spoke to clients about their cases | Explained procedural steps in plain English to an average of 15 clients each week, reducing repeat status enquiries by 20% |
The improved versions work because each one fixes the reader's attention on evidence. They specify the action, establish scope and finish with a result. The result need not be financial. Faster review, fewer corrections, reliable deadline performance and clearer client communication can all be useful when they are true and relevant.
Choose verbs that describe your actual contribution: researched, drafted, reviewed, analysed, organised, reconciled, explained, negotiated, advised, coordinated or supervised. Avoid inflated verbs if you only supported the work. "Led" should mean that you directed people or owned delivery; "advised" should reflect advice you were authorised to provide.
For research work, name the question, range of sources and use made of the output without exposing confidential information. For drafting, show document type, volume, accuracy or review outcome. Digital work may cover document preparation, legal research, data analysis or collaboration, while spreadsheet-based analysis can support calculations and valuations. Client-facing bullets should show how you made legal processes or standard terms understandable in plain English.
Keep each bullet to one or two lines where possible. Remove repeated openings such as "responsible for" and do not turn every task into a percentage. A few solid, varied measures read more credibly than a page crowded with suspiciously neat gains.
Key skills & ATS keywords
Hard skills
Soft skills
ATS keywords
Education & certifications
List education in reverse-chronological order with the qualification, institution and completion year. Recent candidates can add a small number of relevant modules, a dissertation topic, a clinic project or an academic result when it supports the vacancy. Once professional experience carries the application, reduce this section to the facts the employer needs and give the space to recent outcomes.
Do not imply that one academic route applies to every legal job. The grounded route here concerns entry to the Legal Practice Course: eligibility requires either a Qualifying Law Degree, usually at 2:2 or above, or a Graduate Diploma in Law or another accepted route. State this only when that route is relevant to your application. Write the exact qualification name you hold, the provider and the completion date; do not convert an unfinished course into an awarded qualification.
| Situation | Presentation |
|---|---|
| Completed qualification | Give the exact title, institution and year |
| Current study | State the qualification and expected completion date clearly |
| Relevant academic project | Add one concise line on the subject and your contribution |
| Unrelated earlier study | Keep the entry brief and use experience to establish fit |
Keep certificates separate from education when that makes the chronology easier to scan. Include only credentials that the vacancy values and that you genuinely hold. Add an issuer and date where useful, and distinguish training attendance from an assessed qualification. If a role asks for a role-specific qualification, mirror that generic phrase in the CV only after checking the vacancy wording.
Common mistakes to avoid
AvoidSending the same legal CV for every vacancy, with no clear link between the candidate's evidence and the job specification.
InsteadTailor the personal statement, skills and experience bullets to the advertised work. Reorder genuine evidence so the closest match appears first, while keeping every claim accurate and defensible.
AvoidAllowing spelling, grammar or formatting errors to remain in a document intended to demonstrate precise written work.
InsteadProofread in separate passes for language, dates and layout. Ask another person to check the final PDF, including its headings, spacing and contact details.
AvoidDescribing duties without showing what changed, how much work was handled or why the contribution mattered.
InsteadTurn each relevant duty into a short evidence statement covering the action, scope and result. Use only figures that you can check and explain at interview.
AvoidLeaving out transferable evidence because earlier work was outside the legal sector.
InsteadUse part-time or non-legal work to show relevant strengths such as commercial awareness, careful communication and deadline handling. Make the connection to the target vacancy specific.
AvoidUsing space for a headshot, date of birth or reference details instead of evidence relevant to the vacancy.
InsteadLeave those details off the CV. Give the space to relevant achievements, skills and experience, and provide references separately if an employer requests them.
AvoidWriting dense legal prose when a recruiter needs to understand the candidate's contribution quickly.
InsteadUse plain English, short achievement bullets and precise legal terms where they add meaning. Explain specialist work clearly enough for a reader outside that area.
Frequently asked questions
Around two pages is preferred for a legal CV. An entry-level CV is preferably no longer than one page, provided it still contains enough relevant evidence and remains easy to read.
Use legal study, projects, placements or volunteering where available, then draw carefully chosen evidence from part-time or other work. Show transferable strengths such as commercial awareness, clear communication and handling competing deadlines without presenting non-legal work as legal practice.
Leave out a headshot, date of birth and reference details. Contact information, relevant experience, skills and education make better use of the space.
List your education in reverse-chronological order with accurate titles, institutions and dates. Include concise details of relevant study or projects where they strengthen the application, but leave out minor or unrelated training.
Name the legal work being targeted, explain the direction of the move and support it with specific evidence. That evidence may come from research, drafting, data work, digital collaboration or explaining complex information in plain English.
Take relevant terms from the job specification and use them naturally where your experience supports them. Legal CV examples can suggest a structure, but copied phrases without evidence make an application vague and difficult to defend.
From example to application
Turn this legal example into a CV that sounds like you.
Keep the structure that works. Tailor the details around your experience, strengths, and the role you want.