Lawyer ATS CV Template — Interview-Ready, SRA-Specific CV Guide

Lead with an eligibility-forward headline that states your route to practice, for example “Solicitor (SRA)” or “Call to the Bar”, followed by your primary practice area and typical matter types. Then add a compact snapshot: your PQE range, jurisdiction coverage, and a quantified evidence line such as “60+ SPAs supported” or “40+ employment tribunal matters”. In the experience section, use ATS-friendly bullet points that start with your task and end with a measurable output (e.g., settlement reached within X weeks, claim value band, or hearing outcome). Where relevant, name the legal research tools you used day-to-day such as Westlaw, LexisNexis, or Practical Law, and reference drafting artefacts like contracts, legal opinions, or pleadings.

When listing education and qualifications, keep it clean and parseable (no dense tables) and include the exact credential wording your sector expects, such as LPC, SQE, or a qualifying law degree. If you hold additional specialist accreditations, include them in the same section as admissions so ATS can match them reliably. Finally, ensure your skills section reflects work you have genuinely performed: for example “GDPR compliance advice” or “DPA/NDA drafting”, not generic phrases like “strong legal knowledge”. Recruiters want fast confirmation that you can draft, research, and deliver across the same document types they handle.

Instead of describing responsibilities, translate your work into matter evidence that a recruiter can calibrate. For corporate and M&A, include deal bands (e.g., £5M–£200M), transaction count per year, and specific drafting support such as SPA schedules, disclosure letter coordination, and due diligence issue triage. For litigation, reference procedural tasks in plain terms that match job descriptions: Part 7 claims, CPR applications, disclosure planning, and witness statement drafting, plus your role in settlement negotiations. If your role involves employment law, specify typical matters such as unfair dismissal claims, settlement agreements, ACAS early conciliation support, or tribunal representation, and show how you managed deadlines and evidence bundles.

For data protection and regulatory work, demonstrate that you can produce usable outputs, not just advice. Mention drafting or review of GDPR documentation (for example DPAs, data transfer assessments, cookie notice support, or DPIA-style risk assessments) and link it to outcomes such as reduced risk, faster approvals, or stakeholder sign-off timelines. Use measurable KPIs where possible: turnaround times for research memos, number of contract redlines per matter, or how many documents you reviewed for disclosure. These details help both ATS and humans understand competence quickly, especially when screening across multiple practice areas.

Partners and ATS systems both respond to precise drafting language, so ensure your CV includes the document types you authored or heavily supported. For example, use phrasing like “SPA drafting and negotiation”, “legal opinion on X”, “claim/defence drafting under CPR”, “witness statement preparation”, or “contract amendments and negotiation support” rather than vague “handled legal documents”. If you have worked with evidence and discovery workflows, mention how you used e-disclosure processes and managed document review efficiently. When appropriate, reference the platforms or systems your firm used for document control and drafting workflows (e.g., iManage or SharePoint), but keep it honest and consistent with your experience.

In the skills and achievements lines, connect tools to outputs: if you used Westlaw/LexisNexis for research, say how that research fed drafting (e.g., “produced a research memo informing a negotiation position”). Where negotiation is part of your day-to-day work, show how you framed risk and drafted fallback clauses, rather than only stating that you negotiated. Finally, keep formatting ATS-safe: avoid columns, text boxes, or unusual characters that can break parsing, and ensure headings and dates follow a consistent pattern. A CV that reads cleanly will outperform one that looks impressive but cannot be indexed properly.