What skills should a Judicial Law Clerk put on a resume?

O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Writing, and Speaking among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Judicial Law Clerk list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Aderant CompuLaw, Adobe Acrobat, Advanced Technologies Class Act, American Legalnet eDockets, and American Legalnet Smart Dockets. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Judicial Law Clerk work?

O*NET records 24 titles for this occupation, including Judicial Assistant, Judicial Clerk, Law Clerk, and Appellate Law Clerk. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Judicial Law Clerk need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 52% reported their level of education as "Doctoral Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Judicial Law Clerk role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Judicial Law Clerk resume example

A resume for a Judicial Law Clerk needs to show the work itself: assist judges in court or by conducting research or preparing legal documents. Day to day that means work like this: prepare briefs, legal memoranda, or statements of issues involved in cases, including appropriate suggestions or recommendations; research laws, court decisions, documents, opinions, briefs, or other information related to cases before the court. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Judicial Assistant
Judicial Clerk
Law Clerk
Appellate Law Clerk
Career Judicial Law Clerk
Career Law Clerk
Law Researcher
Pro Se Law Clerk
Term Law Clerk
Attorney Law Clerk
Chancery Clerk
Court of Appeals Law Clerk
District Clerk
District Court Law Clerk
Federal Appellate Clerk
Federal Appellate Law Clerk
Federal Court of Appeals Law Clerk
Federal District Clerk

O*NET records 24 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Prepare briefs, legal memoranda, or statements of issues involved in cases, including appropriate suggestions or recommendations.
Research laws, court decisions, documents, opinions, briefs, or other information related to cases before the court.
Draft or proofread judicial opinions, decisions, or citations.
Confer with judges concerning legal questions, construction of documents, or granting of orders.
Review complaints, petitions, motions, or pleadings that have been filed to determine issues involved or basis for relief.
Keep abreast of changes in the law and inform judges when cases are affected by such changes.
Attend court sessions to hear oral arguments or record necessary case information.
Review dockets of pending litigation to ensure adequate progress.
Communicate with counsel regarding case management or procedural requirements.
Respond to questions from judicial officers or court staff on general legal issues.
Enter information into computerized court calendar, filing, or case management systems.
Verify that all files, complaints, or other papers are available and in the proper order.

18 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Prepare briefs, legal memoranda, or statements of issues involved in cases, including appropriate suggestions or recommendations, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Research laws, court decisions, documents, opinions, briefs, or other information related to cases before the court, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Draft or proofread judicial opinions, decisions, or citations, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Confer with judges concerning legal questions, construction of documents, or granting of orders, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Aderant CompuLaw
Adobe Acrobat
Advanced Technologies Class Act
American Legalnet eDockets
American Legalnet Smart Dockets
Canyon Solutions Jcats
Compugov DocketView
Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
Infocom JACS
Justice Systems FullCourt Enterprise
Legal Files software
Levare Center Court
LexisNexis
LexisNexis CourtLink Strategic Profiles

36 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Computer inkjet printers
Computer laser printers
Document scanners
Laser facsimile machines
Personal computers
Photocopying equipment
Tablet computers

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

Thomson Reuters Westlaw
Aderant CompuLaw
Advanced Technologies Class Act

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Reading Comprehension
02Active Listening
03Critical Thinking
04Writing
05Speaking
06Active Learning
07Complex Problem Solving
08Judgment and Decision Making
09Time Management
10Coordination

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Law and Government
English Language
Administrative

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

52%Doctoral Degree
20%Post-Doctoral Training
17%First Professional Degree, awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Extensive Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Common questions

What does a Judicial Law Clerk do?: Assist judges in court or by conducting research or preparing legal documents. Day to day that includes work like prepare briefs, legal memoranda, or statements of issues involved in cases, including appropriate suggestions or recommendations and Research laws, court decisions, documents, opinions, briefs, or other information related to cases before the court.
What skills should a Judicial Law Clerk put on a resume?: O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Writing, and Speaking among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Judicial Law Clerk list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Aderant CompuLaw, Adobe Acrobat, Advanced Technologies Class Act, American Legalnet eDockets, and American Legalnet Smart Dockets. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Judicial Law Clerk work?: O*NET records 24 titles for this occupation, including Judicial Assistant, Judicial Clerk, Law Clerk, and Appellate Law Clerk. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Judicial Law Clerk need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 52% reported their level of education as "Doctoral Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Judicial Law Clerk role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.