Paralegal resume skills. The words recruiters search for.
The 17 skills, tools and credentials that come up in paralegal job posts, sorted by type, and how to put them in bullets a recruiter believes.
By Nazir Elmurodov, Founder, LaunchCV · Updated
/ The list
Keywords by type. Use only the ones that are true for you.
Hard skills · 12
- Litigation support (used in Rachel's sample resume)
- Discovery (used in Rachel's sample resume)
- Document review (used in Rachel's sample resume)
- E-filing (used in Rachel's sample resume)
- Docketing (used in Rachel's sample resume)
- Legal research (used in Rachel's sample resume)
- Deposition summaries (used in Rachel's sample resume)
- Trial preparation (used in Rachel's sample resume)
- Privilege logs (used in Rachel's sample resume)
- Bluebook (used in Rachel's sample resume)
- Conflict checks (used in Rachel's sample resume)
- Legal writing (used in Rachel's sample resume)
Tools & software · 4
- Relativity (used in Rachel's sample resume)
- CM/ECF (used in Rachel's sample resume)
- Westlaw (used in Rachel's sample resume)
- Clio (used in Rachel's sample resume)
Licenses & certifications · 1
- Certified Paralegal (CP) (used in Rachel's sample resume)
17 of 17 appear in Rachel's sample resume. See where
/ How to use them
Put keywords in bullets, not just in a skills list.
A skills list tells the software you have a skill. A bullet shows a recruiter what you did with it.
Discovery
Weak: Skills: Discovery
Strong: Draft discovery requests and responses, subpoenas and deposition notices for attorney review, and summarize deposition transcripts
Relativity, Privilege logs
Weak: Skills: Relativity, Privilege logs
Strong: Manage document productions in Relativity, running searches, applying privilege tags and preparing privilege logs
CM/ECF
Weak: Skills: CM/ECF
Strong: E-file in state court and federal court through CM/ECF, and docket every deadline in the firm's calendaring system the day it's set
Bluebook
Weak: Skills: Bluebook
Strong: Built trial binders and exhibit lists for 4 trials and 2 arbitrations, and checked citations in briefs against the Bluebook
Strong bullets come from Rachel's sample resume and our paralegal bullet examples. Names and figures are illustrative.
/ Use them honestly
Keywords get you found. Proof gets you hired.
Mirror the job post's wording for skills you really have. If a paralegal post asks for Litigation support and you've used it, say Litigation support, in the post's spelling, and show where.
Mirror the job post's wording
If a paralegal post says "Discovery", write "Discovery", not a near-synonym — as long as it's accurate. Recruiters search for the post's exact term.
Only claim what you can back up
Expect to be asked about every term you list. If you couldn't spend two minutes on Litigation support — what you did and what changed — leave it out.
Show it in a bullet
A skills list says you know Relativity. A bullet like the one under Litigation Paralegal in the example above shows what you did with it.
No stuffing, no hidden text
Repeating a word or hiding keywords in white text doesn't make you a better match. A person reads the resume in the end.
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/ Questions
Paralegal keywords, answered.
Something else? support@launch-cv.com
How many keywords should a paralegal resume have?
There's no magic number. Rachel's sample resume uses all 17 terms on this page, because each one fit that job. Cover what your post asks for that you can back up, each where it fits; repeating a keyword doesn't help.
Should I copy keywords exactly from the job post?
Use the post's wording for skills you really have. If a paralegal post says "Litigation support", write "Litigation support" rather than a synonym, so a recruiter searching for that term finds you. Don't add skills you don't have just because the post lists them.
Where should keywords go on my resume?
In your summary, a short skills section and, above all, the bullets under each job, where you show what you did with the skill. In Rachel's sample, Discovery is in the summary and Relativity shows up in a bullet under Litigation Paralegal. Plain text in the body of the page is easiest for applicant tracking systems to read.
Which tools should I list on a paralegal resume?
The ones you've used and the post mentions. Common ones in paralegal posts include Relativity, CM/ECF, Westlaw and Clio. Name the tool in the bullet where you used it, not only in the skills list.
How should I list Certified Paralegal (CP) on my resume?
Spell it the way the job post does, and include both the abbreviation and the full name if you have room. Put licenses and certifications in their own section or next to your education, and only list ones that are current.
Keywords for related roles
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