Writing the Perfect Legal CV: Tips & Tricks for Lawyers and Legal Assistants
Nov 6, 2025
Writing a CV for legal roles can be challenging. It’s hard to know where to start, what to highlight, and what to redact. Should your legal CV template be formal or more relaxed? What font should you use? How should you format your legal CV to make sure it stands out? Don’t worry, Scriberly is here to help!
Below are some essential tips to write the perfect CV for legal roles, whether you’re a fresh graduate, a legal assistant, or a senior legal advisor looking for your next challenge.
Education: The Foundation of Your Legal CV
Your education is crucial when applying for any legal role, especially early on in your career. Employers want to know where you studied, what you studied, and what grades you achieved.
For junior roles, such as a law firm associate or legal secretary, your education should be prominently placed at the top of your legal CV template. It’s often the most important experience you have at this stage, so it deserves attention. Include your PGCE, your Bachelor’s degree, relevant coursework, any extra-curricular activities, and any awards or recognitions.
For mid-level professionals, your education is still important, but you may want to place more emphasis on your work experience. While you still list your education at the top of your CV format for a legal professional, there may be less need to include detailed extra-curricular activities or awards.
For senior legal professionals, education moves lower on your CV, after your work experience. At this stage, your work history speaks volumes, but listing your degrees and certifications briefly will still provide valuable context.
Experience: Highlight What Matters in Your Legal CV
Experience is the cornerstone of your legal CV template. This section shows your professional journey and skills development.
For junior legal professionals, highlight your QTS year or your first legal role. Focus on what you taught, which year groups you worked with, and the feedback you received. Be sure to also mention any initiatives or projects you took on during this time.
For mid-career professionals, your most recent roles should take center stage in your legal CV templates. This is where you’ll highlight the specifics of the matters you’ve worked on, the clients you’ve served, and the impact you’ve had. It’s vital to show depth and variety in the work you’ve done.
For senior professionals, your extensive experience will take precedence. For roles such as legal advisor or legal counsel, use your legal CV template to demonstrate your leadership, strategy, and specific expertise. Be sure to mention any key clients or cases you’ve handled, and the results you’ve achieved. The more quantifiable your achievements, the better.
Skills, Publications, and Professional Achievements
Skills and achievements are a great way to differentiate your legal CV from the competition.
Skills: A legal secretary CV template or legal advisor CV template should list key hard and soft skills such as communication, negotiation, research, and legal writing. These skills can be displayed clearly in a bullet-point format, making it easy for employers to see what you bring to the table.
Publications: If you’ve published articles or papers, especially in the legal field, it’s worth including these in your legal CV templates. This shows a deeper understanding of the law and positions you as an expert in your area.
Professional achievements: What are you proud of in your legal career? Did you lead a successful case? Did you mentor junior staff? Did you drive efficiencies in the firm? These are important to include in your legal CV template, as they show initiative and leadership.
Hobbies and Interests: What Else Makes You Stand Out?
While it might seem unrelated, your hobbies and interests play a role in presenting you as a well-rounded professional.
This section can break the ice during interviews and help potential colleagues connect with you. Whether it’s sports, volunteering, or a hobby like photography, it can show that you have a life outside the office, which can help potential employers see you as a valuable, relatable team member.
Don’t forget to include any hobbies that relate to the role you’re applying for. For instance, if you’re applying for a legal counsel CV template, and you have experience with international law, you might mention foreign language skills or involvement in global legal forums. It could set you apart from other candidates.
Where to Start: Build Your Legal CV with Scriberly
Instead of stressing over formatting and wording, let Scriberly do the hard work. With legal CV templates, you can easily create a professional and polished legal CV that gets noticed. Whether you’re applying for a legal secretary role, legal advisor position, or looking to make a career move into a more senior legal counsel role, Scriberly has you covered.
Choose from a range of legal CV templates that are designed with your profession in mind.
Get step-by-step prompts to guide you through the process.
Let our auto-formatting features ensure your CV looks perfect, every time.
You don’t need to be a design expert to create a stand-out legal CV template. With Scriberly, you can craft a flawless CV in just minutes. It’s fast, easy, and guarantees you’ll present yourself in the best possible light.