Legal Officer Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Legal Officer resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Legal officers are lawyers who work in the field of law. Legal officers help to protect their organization from litigation by drafting contracts and other legal documents, advising on potential issues that could arise, and representing their company in court.
Legal officers may also provide guidance on intellectual property issues, privacy concerns, and other legal concerns that arise in the course of business. And they may advise on matters related to labor and employment law, real estate law, or tax law—or any number of other specialties.
Because legal officers work in so many different areas of law, there’s no one-size-fits-all resume template that will work for everyone. But here are some tips and an example to help you write a compelling legal officer resume that will catch hiring managers’ eyes.
How to Write a Legal Officer Resume
Here’s how to write a resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
When you’re writing your resume bullet points, it can be tempting to just list your responsibilities. But that’s not enough to make a hiring manager take notice. Instead, you should use your bullet points to demonstrate how you’ve used your legal knowledge and skills to solve problems and achieve results.
For example, rather than saying you “reviewed contracts,” you could say that you “reviewed and analyzed contracts for potential legal issues, providing recommendations for revisions to ensure compliance with state and federal laws.”
The second bullet point paints a much clearer picture of what exactly you did and the type of work you did. And it also provides some quantifiable information about the impact of your work—in this case, by mentioning that you provided recommendations for revisions.
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you submit your resume online, it’s likely that it will be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS) for certain keywords. This software looks for specific terms related to the job opening, like “legal research” or “employment law.” If your resume doesn’t include enough of the right terms, the ATS might not rank your application high enough to be seen by a recruiter.
To increase your chances of getting noticed, make sure to include relevant keywords throughout all parts of your resume. You can add them into the work experience, skills, education, and summary sections. Here are some common legal officer keywords to get you started:
- Legal Advice
- Legal Writing
- Litigation
- Legal Research
- Corporate Law
- Commercial Litigation
- Legal Issues
- Civil Litigation
- Dispute Resolution
- Legal Document Preparation
- Contract Law
- Labor and Employment Law
- Legal Compliance
- Document Drafting
- Intellectual Property
- Contract Negotiation
- Document Review
- Privacy Law
- Competition Law
- Mediation
- Consumer Law
- Westlaw
- Due Diligence
- Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)
- Public Law
- EU Law
- Pleadings
- Commercial Law
- Legislation
- Arbitration
Showcase Your Technical Skills
As a legal officer, you will need to be proficient in the use of technology in order to effectively do your job. This includes being able to use legal research databases, case management software, and Microsoft Office Suite. You should also list any other relevant technical skills that you have, such as experience with e-discovery software or document management systems.