Litigation Attorney / Litigator
Sample Resume & ATS Keywords
Litigation is the hottest named US practice area heading into 2026 — multiple staffing reports point to 600+ partner-level litigator moves continuing into the year and Q1 2026 lawyer unemployment at just 1.0% against a 4.3% national rate — but litigation is also the single largest US fee-earner practice area, meaning any litigation search draws from the deepest, most competitive candidate pool in the profession. Trial and motion-practice vocabulary (depositions taken, motions argued, trials first-chaired) is what separates a resume in that search from the hundreds of others carrying the same title.
All sample resume content on this page is original and illustrative — fictional candidates, realistic numbers. Use it as a pattern, not a template to copy verbatim.
Sample Litigation Attorney / Litigator resume summary
What a parseable, keyword-complete professional summary looks like for this role:
Litigation Attorney with 9 years' experience in commercial and employment litigation, first-chairing 3 jury trials and second-chairing 11 others. Manages a caseload of 30+ active matters, has taken 180+ depositions, and argued 45+ motions across state and federal courts.
Sample achievement bullets that pass ATS screening
Each bullet follows the pattern recruiters and parsers reward: exact keywords, a specific action, and a quantified outcome.
- First-chaired 3 jury trials in commercial disputes ranging from $1.5M to $8M in claimed damages, securing favorable verdicts or settlements in all 3.
- Second-chaired 11 additional trials over 9 years across commercial, employment, and product-liability matters.
- Took 185 depositions and defended 140 across state and federal litigation, including 12 corporate-designee (30(b)(6)) depositions.
- Argued 47 dispositive and discovery motions before state and federal courts, prevailing in 34 (72%).
- Managed an active caseload of 32 commercial and employment litigation matters simultaneously across 4 jurisdictions.
- Led arbitration proceedings in 8 commercial disputes under AAA rules, obtaining awards favorable to the client in 6.
- Negotiated settlements in 60+ matters totaling $22M in aggregate recovered or avoided damages for clients.
- Mentored 5 junior litigation associates on deposition technique and motion drafting, with 4 promoted within 2 years.
ATS keyword bank for Litigation Attorney / Litigator resumes
From our 2026 research into recruiter sourcing behavior for this role. Recruiter and ATS searches match exact strings — carry the terms your real experience supports, in the wording the posting uses.
| Keyword group | Terms recruiters search |
|---|---|
| Title variants | Litigation Attorney · Litigator · Trial Attorney · Commercial Litigation Associate |
| Trial & motion-practice vocabulary | depositions taken · motions argued · trials first-chaired · trials second-chaired |
| Bar admission & credentials | admitted to the [State] Bar · year of admission · federal court admission · J.D. |
| Practice-area & forum vocabulary | commercial litigation · employment litigation · arbitration · class actions |
| Quantified matter experience | cases managed · verdicts obtained · settlements obtained · matter value |
Litigation Attorney / Litigator resume formatting: do this, not that
Do
- State exactly how many trials you first-chaired versus second-chaired — recruiters and hiring partners search this distinction specifically.
- Quantify depositions taken and defended, and motions argued with win rate — these are the volume signals that differentiate litigators.
- Name bar admission jurisdiction and year, plus any federal court admissions, since litigation postings often require both.
- Match forum and practice-area vocabulary to the posting: commercial litigation, employment litigation, arbitration, class actions.
- Include settlement and verdict dollar figures where disclosable — they demonstrate matter significance directly.
Don't
- Don't write "extensive litigation experience" without a trial count, deposition count, or motion win rate attached.
- Don't blur first-chair and second-chair experience together; the distinction is a specific, searched seniority signal.
- Don't omit federal court admission if held — many litigation postings filter on it explicitly.
- Don't understate arbitration experience if you have it; it's a distinct, frequently searched keyword separate from trial litigation.
- Don't bury settlement value figures in a matters list; surface them in the bullet itself.
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