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This free ATS resume checker for lawyers compares your resume with the 20 keywords that appear most often in Lawyer job posts, then checks your sections, formatting, contact details and bullet points. Paste a real job description in the tool for an exact match.
Lawyers and legal associates are hired by law firms, corporate legal teams, legal-tech companies and consultancies. ATS filters look for practice areas (corporate, litigation, IP, employment, real estate), legal drafting, contract management, legal research and Bar Council enrolment. Recruiters want matters handled, contracts reviewed, forums appeared before and the industries you advised — confidentiality respected.
Top 20 Lawyer resume keywords
These are the skills and tools the checker looks for when you don't paste a job description. Add the ones you genuinely have to your Skills section and use them in bullet points.
- Legal Drafting
- Contract Review
- Legal Research
- Litigation
- Corporate Law
- Due Diligence
- Compliance
- Legal Opinions
- Negotiation
- Arbitration
- Intellectual Property
- Employment Law
- SCC Online
- Manupatra
- Westlaw
- LexisNexis
- MS Word
- Contract Management Software
- Excel
- e-Courts
Sections to include in a Lawyer resume
Use standard headings so the ATS can map your information correctly. For lawyers, these sections matter most:
- Summary: State enrolment, practice areas, years of practice and sectors advised.
- Experience: Quantify matters, contracts reviewed, transaction values and forums appeared before.
- Education: LLB/LLM, university and any moot court or publication achievements.
- Skills: List practice areas, drafting types and research databases.
Common Lawyer resume mistakes
- Not stating Bar Council enrolment.
- No practice areas or matter types.
- Revealing confidential client names without permission.
- No volumes or deal values.
- Long paragraphs instead of clear bullets.
Sample Lawyer resume bullet point
Reviewed and negotiated 400+ commercial contracts a year for a SaaS company, cutting turnaround from 7 to 3 days.
Why it works: it starts with an action verb, names the tools a Lawyer ATS search looks for, and ends with a measurable result. Rewrite your own bullets in the same shape — action + tool or skill + result. Find more examples on our Lawyer keywords page.