In House Counsel Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this In House Counsel resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
In house counsel is the legal department within a company that provides legal services to the rest of the organization. These lawyers handle everything from intellectual property disputes to labor contracts to compliance issues.
In house counsel is a great role for anyone who is interested in practicing law at a large organization but doesn’t want to spend all of their time working on administrative tasks or fighting over billing hours. Working in house allows lawyers to focus on more high-level matters while still being hands-on with clients and issues.
Because this job is so varied, it’s important to tailor your resume to the type of role you’re seeking. Here are some tips to help you write a great in house counsel resume that hiring managers will love.
How to Write an In House Counsel Resume
Here’s how to write an in house counsel resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
Bullet points are the most important part of your resume because they’re the first thing recruiters and hiring managers will see. And they’re the best way to showcase your experience and qualifications.
But many lawyers make the mistake of using generic bullet points that don’t really tell a story or provide any context. For example, rather than saying you “provided legal counsel,” you could say you “provided legal counsel for $10B+ publicly traded company in connection with SEC investigation into accounting practices.”
The second bullet point is much more interesting and provides more detail about what you did and the outcome of your work.
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you submit your resume for an in-house counsel role, it’s likely that it will be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS). This software looks for certain keywords related to the job opening in order to determine whether or not you are a good fit. So, if you want your resume to make it past the ATS, be sure to include keywords like “corporate law” and “legal research” throughout all sections of your resume.
Here are some of the most commonly used in-house counsel keywords:
- Corporate Governance
- Corporate Law
- Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)
- Legal Advice
- Commercial Litigation
- Civil Litigation
- Intellectual Property
- Due Diligence
- Legal Research
- Litigation
- Legal Writing
- Dispute Resolution
- Contract Negotiation
- Negotiation
- Dispute Resolution
- Corporate Governance Compliance
- Shareholder Agreements
- Arbitration
- Legal Compliance
- International Law
- Securities Regulation
- Privacy Law
- Labor and Employment Law
- Legal Issues
- Data Privacy
- Licensing
- Competition Law
- Privacy Law
- Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Transactions
- Due Diligence
Showcase Your Technical Skills
In-house counsel need to be proficient in a variety of legal research databases, case management software, and contract management tools. Additionally, they need to be familiar with the laws that govern their industry. So if you have experience with any of these programs or tools, be sure to list them on your resume.