Some General Resume Guidance for Judicial Internships
1. Use conservative fonts and styles. Your resume should be very easy to read (many judges
are older) and should not appear “artsy” in any way. The templates provided by the
Office of Career Services provide a good starting point.
2. Emphasize legal research and writing. To the extent that you have the ability to tailor
your bullet points, you should always give precedence to writing you have done over
activities that show other skills such as leadership or organization.
3. Do not pile activities or honors together in a list. Each discreet item should have its own
bullet point. This may mean that you need to choose between activities. Try to delete
redundancies and focus your efforts on things in which the judges will be most interested.
4. Resumes should never exceed one page.
5. PROOFREAD! Judges are particularly detail oriented and a single type or grammatical
error is likely to lose you the job.
6. Use resume quality paper and resume quality envelopes when mailing your materials to
the judges.
7. Add an interests section if you are able. Judges are often looking for a personal
connection.
Below, please find some sample resumes for judicial internships.
Judy B. Smart
judysmart@virginia.edu
(434) 924-1111
School Address:
1 Ivy Drive, Apt. 5
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Home Address:
1 Main Street
NY, NY 00000
EDUCATION:
University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville, VA
J.D. Expected, May 2017
 Virginia Law Scholarship
 Virginia Law Women
University of Maryland, College Park, MD
B.A., International Relations, summa cum laude, May 2012
 Psi Chi National Psychology Honors Fraternity
 Delta Gamma Sorority, President
 Study Abroad, Paris, France
EXPERIENCE:
Department of Justice, Civil Division, Washington, D.C.
Honors Paralegal, October 2012–July 2014
 Prepared pleadings and motions for filing on cases dealing with education reform
 Conducted research on discreet issues needed by attorneys, including funds spent
per student across United States
 Worked as liaison between paralegals on different teams on large, multi-office
litigation
Calvert County Public Defender’s Office, Calvert, MD
Summer Intern, Summer 2011
 Wrote office manual for future interns regarding intake process
 Prepared analysis of critical documents for use as evidence in ongoing criminal
defense cases
 Designed new filing system to maintain client correspondence
Maryland Cryer Student Newspaper, College Park Maryland
News Editor, August 2010–May 2012
 Wrote weekly news stories about events around campus
 Edited the work of other writers for grammar, style and consistency
 Planned multi-week symposium issue on college program’s 50th anniversary;
researched and wrote keynote article for the symposium
INTERESTS:

Baking, trail running, and gardening
John Doe
1 Main Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902
johndoe@virginia.edu
434.924.1111
EDUCATION:
University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville, VA
J.D. Expected, May 2016
 Virginia Innocence Project
 J. B. Moore Society of International Law
Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, CA
B.A., Government, summa cum laude, May 2013
 Phi Beta Kappa
 Government Honors Thesis Award
 Intra-mural water polo team
 Academic Liaison
EXPERIENCE:
Professor James Jones, Government Department, Claremont, CA
Research Assistant, May 2012–May 2013
 Conducted research for three new courses to be offered in constitutional theory
and help design syllabi for these courses
 Co-authored article on the Federalist Papers in a modern context
Department of Justice, Programs Division, Washington, D.C.
Intern, January 2011–May 2012
 Wrote three short memos detailing different state-implemented programs to
consider on the federal level
 Assisted in drafting manual for use in intern training
 Received Intern of the Year award
Dewey Law, LLP, Eastchester, NY
Library Clerk, Summer 2012
 Researched tort law in all fifty states and compiled in a memorandum
Day Camp in the Park, New York, NY
Counselor, Summer 2010, 2011
 Designed curriculum for nursery aged group and supervised three junior
counselors
PERSONAL:
 Eagle Scout, Episcopal Youth Minister, Tae Kwon Do Black Belt