# Tear apart a lawyer's resume **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 28, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tear-apart-a-lawyers-resume/735930 "2015-10-28T03:09:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tear-apart-a-lawyers-resume/735930/21 "2015-10-28T20:30:59Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Nitpicky, perhaps, but I agree with **RNATB** : it’s fair to say you’re licensed in two states, but your federal court simply admits you to practice on the basis of your state licenses. Unless there’s something unique about the District of New Jersey, I’d change that wording. Just to harp on this a bit further, I would change licensed to read “admitted to practice”. I think it sounds better to say that you are admitted to practice in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tear-apart-a-lawyers-resume/735930/22 "2015-10-28T21:41:34Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > This is strange advice. I disagree: it shows professionalism. It also demonstrates intelligence: it allows you to change your actual email address without changing the one you give to the world. Suppose the OP decides he’s dissatisfied with GMail? With a personal domain, he just changes the domain to point to his new email provider. With a GMail address he’s stuck with GMail. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tear-apart-a-lawyers-resume/735930/23 "2015-10-28T23:44:31Z")
Others have mentioned the formatting, but one thing specifically stuck out to me: the bullet point for the first job is a circle; the bullet points for the following jobs are squares. > [@Bricker](#): > > Nitpicky, perhaps, but I agree with **RNATB** : it’s fair to say you’re licensed in two states, but your federal court simply admits you to practice on the basis of your state licenses. Unless there’s something unique about the District of New Jersey, I’d change that wording. I may be misunderstanding you, but it seems like you’re saying that it’s silly to say he’s admitted to practice in the Federal District of New Jersey because he’s already admitted to practice in New Jersey (state) court. But that’s not true - there’s additional hoops to jump through. Just having admission to practice in a state court doesn’t grant you admission to practice in the federal jurisdiction. If you’re just quibbling about the use of the word “law license” then yes, I agree. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tear-apart-a-lawyers-resume/735930/24 "2015-10-29T00:38:19Z")
Can’t speak for **Bricker** but I was primarily quibbling about the verbiage. It’s not as though it’s difficult to be admitted to the federal districts in a state where you are admitted, but a firm that has a federal practice would presumably be happy to save the application fee. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tear-apart-a-lawyers-resume/735930/25 "2015-10-29T01:10:14Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > I disagree: it shows professionalism. It also demonstrates intelligence: it allows you to change your actual email address without changing the one you give to the world. Suppose the OP decides he’s dissatisfied with GMail? With a personal domain, he just changes the domain to point to his new email provider. With a GMail address he’s stuck with GMail. Lawyers are generally non-technical and would largely not give two shits about what email domain a candidate uses. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tear-apart-a-lawyers-resume/735930/26 "2015-10-29T02:38:38Z")
Cut to one page by deleting most of the law school stuff and reformatting. Put the education bit first. It’s better than leading with the contract attorney gig. What kind of jobs are you applying for? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tear-apart-a-lawyers-resume/735930.md?page=1)