Paralegal resume example
A complete resume for a litigation paralegal at a mid-size firm, plus summaries, bullet points, skills and the certificates to list.
What hiring managers look for
Attorneys and legal recruiters reading a paralegal resume look first for your practice area and how many matters you support, then for the tools that save them time: Relativity or Everlaw for e-discovery, Clio or iManage for case management, Westlaw or Lexis for research, and state and federal e-filing. What sets a strong paralegal apart is ownership of deadlines, clean trial binders and discovery productions, and a record of catching problems before they reach the judge.
This example belongs to a litigation paralegal with six years at a mid-size civil defense firm and a smaller personal injury practice. The two-column layout puts the certificate and software list in the sidebar and fills the main column with case counts, document volumes and trial work. Corporate, real estate, family law and immigration paralegals can follow it with their own practice details.
Paralegal resume summary examples
Mid-level, 6 years
Litigation paralegal with 6 years supporting civil defense and personal injury cases in Georgia state and federal courts. Manages a docket of 45 to 55 active matters for 3 attorneys, runs e-discovery productions in Relativity and has prepared trial materials for 9 trials. Never missed a filing deadline.
New paralegal
ABA-approved paralegal certificate graduate with a 200-hour internship at a county public defender's office. Drafted motions, indexed discovery and summarized police reports for 30 cases. Fast, careful with deadlines and skilled in Westlaw and Microsoft Word formatting for court.
Corporate paralegal
Corporate paralegal with 8 years supporting mergers, financings and entity management for a 300-lawyer firm. Maintains records for 600 subsidiaries, runs closing checklists and signature packets, and handles UCC and Secretary of State filings in all 50 states.
Legal assistant moving up
Legal assistant with 4 years at a family law firm who now drafts petitions, financial affidavits and discovery responses under attorney review. Recently earned a paralegal certificate and handles a 35-case load on my own.
Paralegal resume bullet points
Strong bullets start with what you did and end with what changed. Borrow the pattern, then use your own numbers.
- Caught a statute of limitations error during intake, letting the firm file a $1.8M claim three weeks before the deadline.
- Indexed and Bates-stamped 85,000 pages for a production completed two days ahead of the court's order.
- Built a deadline calculator in Excel for Georgia civil rules that the whole litigation group adopted.
- Summarized 120 deposition transcripts in a year, flagging key admissions for trial teams.
- Coordinated 14 out-of-state depositions, booking court reporters, interpreters and video in four time zones.
- Trained 4 new paralegals on Relativity coding, privilege logs and the firm's filing procedures.
- Researched case law on Westlaw for 3 summary judgment motions, two of which the court granted.
- Reduced outside copy vendor costs by $22,000 a year by moving trial exhibits to electronic presentation in TrialDirector.
Skills for a paralegal resume
Skills job postings ask for
- Legal research (Westlaw, Lexis)
- Drafting pleadings, motions and discovery
- E-discovery (Relativity, Everlaw)
- Case management (Clio, iManage, PracticePanther)
- Court e-filing (CM/ECF and state systems)
- Trial preparation and exhibits
- Deposition summaries
- Calendaring and docketing
- Privilege logs and Bates numbering
- Medical records review
- Microsoft Word, Excel and Adobe Acrobat
Skills to show in your bullets
- Attention to detail
- Deadline management
- Discretion and confidentiality
- Working under attorney direction
- Clear writing
List the skills a posting names in its own words, and only the ones you can talk about in an interview. Qualities like these read best as results in your bullets, not as a list.
Tips for writing a paralegal resume
- 1
Lead with your practice area
Litigation, corporate, real estate and immigration paralegals do very different work. Put your area in the headline and summary so an attorney can match you in seconds.
- 2
Count your matters and documents
Active cases, pages produced, depositions summarized and trials supported show the size of your workload. Attorneys trust numbers more than "assisted with discovery."
- 3
Name your software exactly
Relativity, Everlaw, Clio, iManage, Westlaw and CM/ECF are what firms search for. Add any certification you hold in them.
- 4
Prove you own deadlines
Missed deadlines are the biggest risk in a law office. A line like "never missed a filing deadline across 50 active cases" speaks directly to what keeps attorneys up at night.
Paralegal certificates and credentials
Most states don't license paralegals, so certificates and national exams are how firms judge your training. List the program or credential with the issuer and year, and add software certifications that match the firm's tools.
- Paralegal certificate from an ABA-approved program
- Certified Paralegal (CP) or Advanced Certified Paralegal (ACP) from NALA
- Registered Paralegal (RP) from NFPA
- Professional Paralegal (PP) from NALS
- State credentials, such as California's paralegal requirements or Florida's FRP
- Relativity, Everlaw or other e-discovery certifications
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