Attorney Resume Examples & Template (2026 Guide)
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Law firms and legal departments read an attorney resume for bar admissions, practice area and what you have handled yourself: trials, motions, transactions, the size of the matters and the clients. Law school, honours and law review still matter early in a career.
The example below is a complete resume for a commercial litigation partner, with bar and court admissions listed under certification, a practice summary, and bullets that state trials, verdicts, docket size and amounts in controversy.
Attorney resume example
A complete sample in the Modern template FitMyRole exports. The person and employers are fictional; the structure, skills and bullet style are what to copy.
Theo Park
[email protected] • (555) 018-7742 • Chicago, IL • linkedin.com/in/theopark
Professional Summary
Commercial litigation partner with 11 years of experience trying and resolving business disputes in Illinois state court, federal court and AAA and JAMS arbitration. Has first-chaired 4 jury and bench trials and 3 arbitrations to verdict or award, including a $14.2M jury verdict for a manufacturing client, and manages a docket of 20 to 25 matters with amounts in controversy from $1M to $60M. Practice covers breach of contract, post-closing M&A disputes, trade secrets and partnership claims for middle-market companies, private equity sponsors and lenders. Admitted to the Illinois bar, the Northern District of Illinois General and Trial Bar, and the Seventh Circuit. Gives every client a written budget and a candid exposure range at the start of a matter, and writes the key briefs personally.
Core Skills
- Practice Areas: Commercial litigation, breach of contract, post-closing M&A and earnout disputes, trade secrets and restrictive covenants, partnership and shareholder disputes, business torts, lender liability
- Trial & Advocacy: First-chair jury and bench trials, arbitration (AAA, JAMS), oral argument, opening and closing statements, expert witness examination, preliminary injunctions
- Litigation & Motion Practice: Dispositive motions, summary judgment, Rule 12(b)(6) motions, Daubert motions, motions in limine, appellate briefing, depositions including Rule 30(b)(6)
- Transactions Support: Commercial contract review, dispute resolution and forum clauses, M&A due diligence, indemnification and escrow claims, settlement agreements
- Client & Practice Management: Client counseling, litigation budgets and exposure analysis, business development, team leadership, associate mentoring, matter staffing
- Research & Technology: Westlaw, Lexis+, Relativity, ESI protocols, CM/ECF, Illinois eFileIL, TrialDirector
Education & Certification
- Articles Editor, Northwestern University Law Review; trial advocacy program and coursework in Federal Courts, Complex Litigation and Mergers and Acquisitions.
Work Experience
- Won a $14.2M jury verdict as first chair for a manufacturing client in a breach of supply agreement case in the Northern District of Illinois, after defeating summary judgment on the lost-profits claim.
- Secured a full defense award for a private equity seller in a $38M AAA arbitration over a post-closing M&A earnout and indemnification claim by rebuilding the damages case around the buyer’s own integration plan.
- Resolved 17 commercial matters by dispositive motion or negotiated settlement since 2023, reducing total pleaded exposure of $61M to $9.4M paid by clients.
- Manage a docket of 20 to 25 active matters covering breach of contract, trade secret, partnership dissolution and business tort claims, with amounts in controversy from $1M to $60M.
- Took or defended 40+ depositions in two years, including Rule 30(b)(6) corporate witnesses and opposing damages and forensic accounting experts.
- Grew annual originations to $3.1M by expanding work for two anchor manufacturing clients into their lender and distributor disputes and bringing in four new middle-market clients.
- Revised dispute resolution, limitation of liability and forum clauses in 30+ supply and distribution agreements for general counsel after recurring disputes exposed gaps in clients’ form contracts.
- Lead trial teams of three to six associates and paralegals, staffing brief and deposition work to each associate’s development goals and reviewing every dispositive motion before filing.
- Obtained dismissal with prejudice of a $22M fraud and breach of fiduciary duty claim against a family-owned distributor by drafting and arguing the Rule 12(b)(6) motion in federal court.
- Won a preliminary injunction within 11 days for a logistics client under the Defend Trade Secrets Act, stopping a departed executive’s use of a customer pricing database.
- Second-chaired 3 jury and bench trials in the Circuit Court of Cook County and the Northern District of Illinois, examining 9 witnesses including the opposing valuation expert.
- Wrote the appellate brief that won affirmance in the Seventh Circuit of summary judgment for a lender client on a $9M guaranty claim.
- Ran discovery in a 1.4 million document commercial dispute, negotiating the ESI protocol and supervising a 12-reviewer Relativity team that finished 18% under budget.
- Drafted 30+ motions and briefs for partners in commercial contract and insurance coverage cases, including summary judgment, Daubert and motion in limine filings.
- Took 12 and defended 8 depositions, and argued 20+ discovery and scheduling motions in the Circuit Court of Cook County.
- Reviewed litigation exposure, material contracts and pending claims in due diligence on 6 middle-market M&A transactions with targets valued from $15M to $120M.
- Researched Illinois contract, UCC Article 2 and fiduciary duty law and wrote memos that partners used to advise clients on case strategy and settlement.
- Represented 16 tenants pro bono in eviction defense through a Chicago legal aid clinic, resolving 14 cases by dismissal or a negotiated agreement over 300+ hours.
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Tailor my resumeWhy This Resume Works
- Bar admissions are listed as their own credentials with dates (Illinois, the Northern District of Illinois General and Trial Bar, the Seventh Circuit), so a firm or general counsel can confirm admission at a glance.
- The practice area is stated precisely in the summary and skills: commercial litigation with post-closing M&A, trade secret and partnership disputes, not a vague "practiced law".
- Outcomes are framed the way litigators are judged, first-chair results with stakes: "Won a $14.2M jury verdict as first chair" and a full defense award in a $38M AAA arbitration.
- The J.D. line carries the signals hiring partners look for, cum laude and law review, and the progression from Associate to Senior Associate to Partner shows trial responsibility growing at each step.
- At partner level the resume proves a practice, not just skill: $3.1M in originations, a 20 to 25 matter docket and trial teams of three to six people.
Common Resume Mistakes
- No matter or deal metrics.
- Missing practice area or bar keywords.
- Vague "practiced law" without focus.
Keywords Recruiters Look For
- Litigation
- Trial
- Commercial
- Transactions
- Research
- Client
- Bar
- M&A
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