Executive & Finance
Corporate Attorney, Litigation Partner & General Counsel Resume Writing
Law firm partners and general counsel searches read attorney resumes for matters, not adjectives: which deals, cases and investigations, at what size, in what role, with what result. In-house hiring adds a second test. Does this lawyer understand the business and manage risk at a sensible cost? Your resume and matter list have to answer both questions.
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Order My Attorney & General Counsel ResumeCheck my current resumeAttorney resumes go wrong in predictable ways. Associates list practice areas without matters. Partners attach a firm biography written for marketing. In-house counsel describe a legal department's functions without showing what they personally led. We build the resume around bar admissions, education and representative matters described with deal value or exposure, your role and the outcome, while respecting confidentiality and the professional responsibility rules that govern client information.
For general counsel and chief legal officer candidates, the document shifts toward leadership: size of the legal team, outside counsel spend and how you controlled it, board and committee reporting, and the business results your legal strategy supported, such as an acquisition closed on schedule or a regulatory matter resolved without a consent decree. We also prepare the standalone representative matters list that many firms and search consultants request alongside the resume.
Compensation band
Lawyers (SOC 23-1011)
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national estimates. Executive total compensation (bonus, equity) is not included in OEWS wages.
What reviewers check in the first 10 seconds
Check 1
Bar admissions and status
Every active state admission, plus federal court admissions where relevant, near the top so the reader does not hunt.
Check 2
Practice focus in one line
A headline such as Corporate M&A and Securities Counsel tells a search consultant where you fit.
Check 3
Representative matters
Three to five matters with value, role and outcome, disclosed within your confidentiality obligations.
Check 4
Business context for in-house roles
Team size, outside counsel budget, and the executives and board committees you advised.
ATS keywords & competencies
Hard skills and terms recruiters search for in attorney & general counsel profiles. Your writer places each one inside a real achievement, not a pasted list.
Before & after: 3 Attorney & General Counsel rewrites
Illustrative rewrites showing the method; client work is confidential.
Before
Handled M&A transactions for corporate clients.
After
Lead associate on 11 private M&A transactions ranging from $40M to $850M, running diligence teams of up to 8 and drafting purchase agreements, disclosure schedules and ancillary documents.
What changed: Gives deal range, role and team size, which is how a partner or GC judges M&A experience.
Before
Managed outside counsel.
After
Cut outside counsel spend 27% in 18 months by consolidating 40 firms to 9 preferred providers under negotiated alternative fee arrangements, with no increase in average litigation resolution time.
What changed: Shows cost ownership with a measurable result, the core test for in-house leadership.
Before
Worked on patent litigation.
After
Second chair in a federal district court patent infringement defense for a medical device manufacturer; won summary judgment of invalidity on 3 of 4 asserted claims, narrowing exposure before a favorable settlement.
What changed: States forum, role, procedural outcome and business effect without naming the client.
ATS and format notes
- In-house legal roles at large companies commonly run through Workday or Greenhouse, while lateral firm hiring often moves through recruiters and firm portals. Keep the bar admissions section in plain text with state names spelled out.
- Do not put representative matters in a multi-column table. Tables are a common source of reordered or dropped content when parsed; a simple bulleted list keeps each matter intact.
- Use the practice-area terms the posting uses, such as 'commercial transactions' versus 'contracts', and include both where they apply. Recruiter searches tend to match exact phrases.
Common mistakes we fix
- Attaching a firm marketing biography instead of a resume that shows your personal role in each matter.
- Disclosing client names or deal terms that are not public, which raises professional responsibility concerns.
- In-house candidates describing department functions rather than the decisions they made and the business effect.
- Burying bar admissions while giving law school honors more space than recent work, ten years into practice.
Recommended layout: Chairman Serif
Margaret L. Okafor
Chief Operating Officer
Chicago, IL · (312) 555-0147 · m.okafor@email.com · linkedin.com/in/margaretokafor
Executive Profile
Operating executive who has run $600M P&Ls in industrial services. Known for turnarounds: margin recovery, plant consolidation and leadership bench building, reporting to PE-backed boards.
Professional Experience
- Raised adjusted EBITDA margin from 9.4% to 14.1% in 30 months through pricing discipline and 4 site consolidations.
- Integrated two acquisitions ($180M combined revenue) on one ERP within 11 months.
- Rebuilt the senior team: 6 of 9 direct reports hired or promoted; 2 later became business-unit presidents.
- Ran 11 plants across 3 countries; cut recordable injury rate 52% while growing output 18%.
Core Skills
P&L leadership · M&A integration · Lean enterprise · Board reporting · Pricing strategy · Capital allocation
Education
MBA — Kellogg School of Management · B.S., Industrial Engineering — Purdue University
- Restrained classic serif signals seniority to search consultants and boards.
- Governance section lists board seats, committees and chair roles.
- No photos, no graphics: retained search databases strip them anyway.
Attorney & General Counsel resume FAQ
What is a representative matters list and do I need one?
It is a separate document listing significant deals, cases or projects with a short description of each, your role and the result, written within your confidentiality obligations. Many law firms and legal search consultants ask for one with a lateral application. In-house searches use it less, but it helps for senior counsel and GC roles.
How do I show business impact as a lawyer?
Tie legal work to outcomes the business cares about: deals closed on schedule, exposure reduced, spend controlled, products launched with regulatory clearance, or disputes resolved before litigation. Use numbers where you can disclose them. A GC search committee usually includes the CEO and CFO, and they read for judgment and cost.
Can a litigator move in-house?
Yes. Frame litigation experience around risk assessment, early case evaluation, budget management and client counseling, not only trial work. Highlight industry knowledge gained from your matters and any advisory or compliance work. A short summary naming the target in-house role helps the reader see the fit quickly.
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