Law

Trainee attorney CV: example and template

This example is for trainee advocates and trainee legal advisers in Poland looking for work at a law firm or changing their supervising lawyer, and for law graduates before the training entrance exam.

A law firm partner wants to see your year of training, the areas you work in, the documents you draft and how independently you appear in court. We show you how to describe this.

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Example CV: trainee attorney

All the details in this example are fictional. Treat it as a model of layout and wording, and replace the content with your own experience.

Julia Ostrowska

Trainee attorney, 2nd year

Warsaw +48 123 456 789 julia.ostrowska@example.com

Professional profile

Second-year trainee advocate at the Warsaw Bar Council. For 3 years I have worked at a law firm specialising in commercial disputes, drafting court pleadings and legal opinions and appearing in court on behalf of an advocate. I am interested in company law and insolvency proceedings.

Work experience

Trainee attorney

01.2023 - present

Law firm, commercial disputes, Warsaw

Drafting statements of claim, defences, appeals and complaints in commercial cases.
About 40 hearings a year on behalf of an advocate before district and regional courts.
Legal opinions and contract reviews for business clients.
Preparing for settlement negotiations and taking part in mediation.
Researching case law and literature for litigation strategy.

Legal assistant

07.2021 - 12.2022

Law firm, Warsaw

Drafting pleadings and contracts under an advocate's supervision.
Keeping the case diary and dealing with courts.
Preparing documents for hearings.

Education

Law, master's degree

2016 - 2021

University of Warsaw

Advocate training

2023 - present

Warsaw Bar Council

Skills

Court pleadings
Civil and commercial procedure
Company law
Contract review
Court appearances
Legal information systems

Exams and training

Entrance exam for advocate training, 2022
Commercial mediation training, 2024

Languages

English: C1, including legal English
German: B1

Additional information

Publication: a case commentary in a law journal, 2024

I hereby consent to the processing of my personal data for the purposes necessary to carry out the recruitment process, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 (GDPR).

How to write a trainee attorney CV

Professional summary

Give your year of training, your bar council, areas of law and types of cases. Add whether you appear in court on behalf of an advocate on your own. This is the most important information for a law firm partner.

Law graduate preparing for the entrance exam for advocate training. I have a year of experience as an assistant at a family law firm and draft documents under supervision. I am looking for work at a litigation firm.

Experience: duties and achievements

Describe the types of documents, number of hearings, areas and clients, without details that would identify them. Show what you do on your own and what you do under your supervisor.

Weaker: Writing documents.

Better: Drafting statements of claim, defences, appeals and complaints in commercial cases.

Weaker: Attending hearings.

Better: About 40 hearings a year on behalf of an advocate before district and regional courts.

Weaker: Legal opinions.

Better: Legal opinions and contract reviews for business clients.

Skills worth listing

List the areas of law and practical skills. Under personal skills, show precision, resilience and the ability to talk to clients.

Professional skills

Court pleadings
Selected areas of law
Court appearances
Contract review and drafting
Case law research
Foreign legal language

Personal skills

Precision
Argumentation
Handling stress
Talking to clients
Managing deadlines

Exams, training and publications

List the entrance exam with the year, specialist training and publications, such as case commentaries or articles. Public speaking contests and moot courts are valued by law firms too.

Law graduate CV before training

Describe placements at law firms, courts and legal departments, university legal clinics and student research groups. Say which documents you drafted.

Say which area you want to specialise in and that you are preparing for the entrance exam. Law firms are happy to hire assistants who plan to start training.

Tailoring your CV to the job offer

A litigation firm looks for hearing and pleading experience, a transactional firm for contract review and languages, and a company legal department for knowledge of the client's industry. Move what the offer is about to the top.

The most common mistakes on a trainee attorney CV

No year of training or bar council.
A general "legal services" without types of cases and documents.
Client data or case details.
Leaving out foreign legal language.
Language errors, which are particularly damaging for a lawyer.
Long lists of every course passed at university.

Questions and answers

What should a trainee attorney put on a CV?

Year of training and bar council, the law firm and areas, types of documents, number of hearings on behalf of an advocate, legal opinions, training, publications and languages.

Can a trainee attorney appear in court?

Yes, after the first months of training a trainee advocate can stand in for an advocate before most courts. It is worth giving the scale of these appearances on your CV.

How do I describe cases without revealing clients?

Give the type of case and document, for example "appeals in payment disputes between businesses", without names or details.

Are publications worth putting on a lawyer's CV?

Yes. Case commentaries, articles and conference talks show knowledge and commitment to your specialisation.

Create a trainee attorney CV in the builder

In the CV Majster builder you enter your details step by step and see right away what the document looks like. You can copy the wording from this page and adapt it to yourself. The finished CV as a PDF costs a one-off PLN 5, with no subscription, and you see the preview before you pay.

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