Legal
Paralegal Resume Example
This page shows a full resume for a litigation paralegal with 7 years of paralegal experience in civil litigation, electronic discovery (e-discovery), and trial preparation. Use it as a guide for your own resume.
Under the example, you find summary examples for new and experienced paralegals, and strong bullet points. You also find the software and certifications that law firms ask for, and the keywords that applicant tracking systems (ATS) look for.
Updated
The job in numbers (US)
1.2 times the median for all jobs.
- Paralegal$62,890
- All jobs in the US$50,980
- Jobs
- 404,900 jobs (2025)
- Job outlook
- Little or no change (2025–35)
- Typical education
- Associate's degree or certificate in paralegal studies
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook. Median pay: $62,890 per year (May 2025).
Full paralegal resume example
The example uses the free LaTeX template. The person, the employers, and the numbers are fictional.
Luis Ortega
Litigation Paralegal | E-Discovery and Trial Preparation
luis.ortega@example.com · (555) 018-3307 · Sacramento, CA, US
Summary
Litigation paralegal with 7 years of paralegal experience in civil litigation, now at a 60-attorney business litigation firm. Support 4 attorneys on 30–35 active cases in California state court and federal court. Run e-discovery in RelativityOne for productions of up to 900,000 documents and prepared exhibits for 6 jury trials. NALA Certified Paralegal (CP) and Certified E-Discovery Specialist (CEDS); bilingual in English and Spanish.
Experience
Business and employment litigation firm with 60 attorneys in Sacramento and San Francisco.
- --Support 4 attorneys on 30–35 active cases in California superior courts and federal district courts.
- --Run e-discovery in RelativityOne for 12 cases: load client data, run search term reports, apply privilege screens, and produce up to 900,000 documents with Bates numbers.
- --Prepared exhibit lists, witness binders, and TrialDirector presentations for 6 jury trials and 4 arbitrations; ran exhibits in court for 22 trial days.
- --Draft about 150 discovery requests and responses a year for attorney review.
- --Built a privilege log template and a 12-point quality check that cut log review time per production from 3 days to 1 day.
Personal injury and insurance defense firm with 15 attorneys.
- --Calendared court and discovery deadlines for 85 open cases in CompuLaw; the firm missed no court deadline from 2019 to 2022.
- --Summarized 210 deposition transcripts in CaseMap and indexed medical records for 70 cases.
- --Issued about 40 records subpoenas a month and tracked each one until the records arrived.
- --E-filed and served about 600 documents in state court and in federal CM/ECF.
- --Interpreted intake calls and translated letters for about 25 Spanish-speaking clients a year.
Family law practice with 4 attorneys.
- --Answered about 40 calls a day and scheduled consultations for 4 attorneys.
- --Prepared about 30 Judicial Council forms a month for divorce and custody cases for attorney review.
- --Opened about 15 new client files a month and ran conflict checks for each one.
- --Scanned and indexed 1,200 closed client files into the document management system in 8 months.
Education
Skills
Certificates
Languages
English (Native) · Spanish (Native or bilingual proficiency)
How to write a paralegal resume summary
Write 3 or 4 sentences. Start with your practice area and years of experience. Then give your scope: the number of attorneys and cases that you support, and the courts. Add one large task or result, such as a trial or a big production. End with your certification and a second language if you have one.
- 1Title and years of experience
- 2Setting and scope
- 3One result with a number
- 4Certifications or licenses
Litigation paralegal with 7 years of paralegal experience in civil litigation. Support 4 attorneys on 30–35 active cases in California state court and federal court. Run e-discovery in RelativityOne for productions of up to 900,000 documents and prepared exhibits for 6 jury trials. NALA Certified Paralegal (CP); bilingual in English and Spanish.
Paralegal with a certificate in paralegal studies (ABA-approved program, May 2026) and a 120-hour internship at a civil litigation firm. Drafted 18 discovery requests, summarized 9 deposition transcripts, and prepared 2 trial binders for attorney review. Trained in Westlaw, Relativity, and Clio. Bilingual in English and Vietnamese.
Senior litigation paralegal with 12 years of experience who leads a team of 5 paralegals at a 120-attorney firm. Managed e-discovery for a class action with 2.3 million documents and supported 11 jury trials. NFPA Registered Paralegal (RP) and Certified E-Discovery Specialist (CEDS).
Paralegal resume bullet points
Start each bullet with a verb. Name the task, the size, and the result: documents, cases, deadlines, or trial days. Write "for attorney review" after a document that you drafted, because a paralegal works under the supervision of an attorney. Put e-discovery and trial work first if the posting asks for them.
Weak
Handled discovery.
Strong
Draft about 150 discovery requests and responses a year for attorney review in 30–35 active cases.
Weak
Did e-discovery.
Strong
Run e-discovery in RelativityOne for 12 cases and produce up to 900,000 documents per production with Bates numbers and privilege logs.
Weak
Helped with trials.
Strong
Prepared exhibit lists, witness binders, and TrialDirector presentations for 6 jury trials; ran exhibits in court for 22 trial days.
Weak
Responsible for calendaring.
Strong
Calendared court and discovery deadlines for 85 open cases in CompuLaw; the firm missed no court deadline from 2019 to 2022.
Weak
Summarized depositions.
Strong
Summarized 210 deposition transcripts in CaseMap for 3 attorneys who used them to prepare 4 summary judgment motions.
Use only numbers that are true. If you do not know an exact number, give a range or a frequency, such as “10–15 per day”. Do not put the names or private details of patients, clients, or students in a bullet.
Skills for a paralegal resume
Job skills
- Discovery drafting
- Document review
- Privilege logs
- Deposition summaries
- Trial exhibit preparation
- Court deadline calendars and docket control
- E-filing in CM/ECF and state courts
- Legal research
- Subpoenas and records requests
- Bates numbering and productions
People skills
- Attention to detail
- Deadline control
- Clear communication with attorneys and clients
- Discretion with privileged information
- Calm work under trial pressure
- Teamwork with attorneys and vendors
Software and tools
- RelativityOne
- Everlaw
- CaseMap
- TrialDirector
- CompuLaw
- Clio
- Westlaw
- Adobe Acrobat Pro
Certifications and licenses
Put a certificate from a school under education, with the school name and "ABA-approved" if it applies. Put a certification from a professional association, such as CP or RP, in a separate section with the issuer and the year. Most states do not license paralegals, but some states set rules for the title. Check the rules in your state.
- Certificate in paralegal studies
- Many employers ask for a certificate or an associate's degree in paralegal studies. Write "ABA-approved" if the American Bar Association approved the program. Many people with a bachelor's degree in another field add a certificate to start paralegal work.
- Certified Paralegal (CP)
- Optional. NALA, the Paralegal Association, gives it after an exam. You must complete continuing education to keep it. Write "Certified Paralegal (CP), NALA" and the year.
- Registered Paralegal (RP)
- Optional. The National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA) gives it to paralegals who pass the Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam (PACE). NFPA also gives the CORE Registered Paralegal (CRP) credential to newer paralegals.
- Certified E-Discovery Specialist (CEDS)
- Optional. The Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS) gives it. It helps for litigation support and e-discovery jobs.
- State rules and state certifications
- California sets education rules and requires continuing legal education for anyone who uses the title "paralegal" (Business and Professions Code section 6450). The rule also covers the title "legal assistant" (section 6454). North Carolina has a voluntary certification from the State Bar. Check the rules in your state.
ATS keywords for a paralegal resume
An applicant tracking system (ATS) is the software that employers use to collect and sort applications. Recruiters search it for words from the job posting. Job postings for this role often use the words below. Use a word only when it is true for you.
- litigation support
- civil litigation
- e-discovery
- Relativity
- document review
- privilege log
- discovery requests
- deposition summaries
- trial preparation
- exhibit binders
- case management
- calendaring
- docketing
- e-filing
- legal research
- Westlaw
- subpoenas
- Bates numbering
- client intake
- CaseMap
Which of these words does your resume have? Paste a job description, and PDF CV shows the match.
Check your resumeTips for a paralegal resume
Name your practice area in the title
Most firms hire a paralegal for a practice area. Write "Litigation Paralegal", "Corporate Paralegal", or "Family Law Paralegal", not only "Paralegal". If you work in more than one area, name the main one in the title and the others in the summary.
Show your scope in numbers
Write the number of attorneys that you support and the number of active cases. Add the size of your largest production and the number of trials that you prepared. These numbers show how much work you can do.
Name each e-discovery step
"Did e-discovery" tells a reader little. Write the platform and the steps: data load, search terms, privilege review, production, and privilege log. Attorneys want to know if you can run a production without help.
Show the courts and the filing systems that you know
Name the courts where you file, such as state superior court and federal district court. Write the e-filing systems that you use, such as Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) for federal courts. Deadline rules differ by court, so this tells a firm that you need less training.
Use one page for the first 8 to 10 years
Use one page until you have about 8 to 10 years of paralegal experience. After that, a second page can hold trial lists, software, and certifications. Do not use tables or text boxes, because some applicant tracking systems cannot read them.
Frequently asked questions
How do I write a paralegal resume with no experience?
Put your paralegal certificate or degree near the top, with courses such as civil procedure and legal research. List your internship with the firm type, the hours, and the tasks, such as discovery drafts or deposition summaries. Add the legal software that you used in class, such as Westlaw or Clio. Office or customer service work also counts: show scheduling, records, and confidential information.
What certifications should a paralegal put on a resume?
Most paralegal jobs do not require a certification. Put your certificate in paralegal studies first, if you have one. The Certified Paralegal (CP) from NALA and the Registered Paralegal (RP) from NFPA are optional, and they show knowledge that an exam tested. For e-discovery jobs, the Certified E-Discovery Specialist (CEDS) credential also helps.
Is a paralegal resume the same as a legal assistant resume?
The work often overlaps, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts both jobs together. But many firms use "legal assistant" for administrative work, such as scheduling and filing, and "paralegal" for legal work under the supervision of an attorney. Some states, such as California, set rules for who can use the title "paralegal". In California, the rule also covers the title "legal assistant" (Business and Professions Code section 6454). Use the title that matches your real tasks, the job posting, and the rules in your state.
Should I put my paralegal certificate under education or certifications?
Put a certificate from a school under education, because it is a program of study. Put a certification that you got from an exam, such as CP or RP, under certifications. If you have both, use both sections.
What software should a paralegal list on a resume?
List the tools that the job posting names. For litigation, start with an e-discovery platform, such as Relativity or Everlaw. Add a case analysis tool, such as CaseMap, and a trial presentation tool, such as TrialDirector. Then add a docket or practice management system, such as CompuLaw or Clio. Add Westlaw or Lexis for legal research, and Adobe Acrobat for Bates numbers and redactions.
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