In today’s competitive legal market, hiring decision‑makers expect resumes that speak their language — highlighting accomplishments, transactions, litigation wins, and technical proficiency in specific practice areas. This new section acknowledges that one size does not fit all: different legal specialties demand different framing, structure and keyword choices. The guide is built to support everyone from early‑career associates refining their first resumes to senior lawyers articulating leadership and business‑development achievements.
Learn more from this guide: Attorney Resume Guide Section 2: Practice Areas C-D
Key Practice Areas Covered
Section 2 covers a robust range of specialties, including but not limited to:
- Construction law (transactions and litigation)
- Corporate law (governance, securities, technology, venture)
- Data privacy (compliance, transactional and litigation)
- And other disciplines beginning with letters “C” and “D”.
Specialized Guidance by Practice Area
For each area, the guide offers:
- When to select or avoid that practice area heading — helping attorneys assess whether their experience aligns. For example, selecting “Construction/Developer – Agreements & Transactions” is recommended if you’ve drafted major developer contracts rather than simply handling general real‑estate closings.
- Keywords and phrases to include in your resume that reflect the language firms expect. For instance, for construction‑litigation work: “mechanic’s lien”, “delay claims”, “design defect”, “construction arbitration”.
- What to avoid — to prevent mis‑alignment and ensure your document targets your true strengths rather than an unrelated specialty.
Application Example – Construction Practice
If your work involves both transactional and dispute‑resolution elements around construction projects, you would opt for “Construction – General.” Here you’d highlight experience negotiating owner‑contractor agreements, managing subcontractor risk, handling lien issues and overseeing project delivery. If instead your background is strictly defect‑litigation on behalf of plaintiffs or defendants, the guide helps you pick “Litigation – Construction Defect (Defense)” or the plaintiffs’ counterpart, and tailor your content accordingly.
Application Example – Corporate Practice
Attorneys advising on corporate matters will find discrete frameworks for specialties such as asset/investment management, securities & capital markets, technology transactions, and venture capital/emerging companies. Each sub‑category comes with tailored keyword sets. For example, securities/capital markets work would call for “IPO”, “Form S‑1”, “underwriting agreement”, “Rule 144A”.
Application Example – Data Privacy Practice
With data‑protection laws and global compliance regimes gaining prominence, the guide offers dedicated sections:
- For advisory/compliance work: keywords like “GDPR”, “CCPA”, “vendor contract”, “data‑breach incident response”.
- For litigation roles: “data‑breach litigation”, “privacy class action”, “Cybersecurity incident response”.
Take‑Away for Attorneys
- Align the heading of your resume with the practice area you truly serve.
- Use the keywords recommended by the guide to reflect your niche and appeal to recruiters.
- Avoid misleading headings that overstate or mischaracterize your experience.
- Tailor the resume not only by role (associate, senior associate, partner) but also by law‑practice discipline.
- Remember: your resume is a marketing piece — it must communicate your unique value quickly and clearly.
Learn more from this guide: Attorney Resume Guide Section 2: Practice Areas C-D