If it’s been a long time since you touched your resume, here are 7 updates to bring it into 2024:

1. Forego home address. Nowadays most people list their metro region, not the exact home address. The only time you should list it is if you live close to a company to show commute is not an issue.
2. Standardize your title. If you have a non-standard title (like Attorney III), it’s ok to list an industry standard title instead, or put the standardized title in parens next to your weird official one, e.g., “Attorney III (Senior Counsel).” The point is you want the reader to understand your job function and level immediately.
3. Standardize formatting. Do not use unusual fonts or color. Do not include photos or charts. This is a legal resume so no need to stand out for your stylistic choices.
4. Explain promotions succinctly. I notice lawyers get very technical and list all the titles they’ve ever had under an employer, plus all the associated years for each title. This format takes up a lot of space. Your goal is for the reader to get the gist of your trajectory at a glance, so I recommend you put your most recent title by the employer name. Then in the bullet addressing awards/recognition under that employer, write that you were promoted X times over Y period.
5. Explain awards. People need to understand the significance of the award you received, so you can include information like it’s granted to only top 1% of lawyers, or given for exemplary work in XYZ, e.g., closing the biggest deal of the year, supporting fastest-growing XYZ, etc.
6. Explain moves. Yes, you can explain why you moved right on the resume in a short parenthetical. Employers dislike job hopping and fear you would leave them too, so you want to give solid reasons to make clear prior moves were due to specific circumstances. Some parenthetical explanations helpful to include: your entire group moved to a new employer, your headquarters changed cities, the entire team was laid off, you were recruited by a former colleague/client, etc. Where to include this information? It depends. Try adding it next to the company name or your title or in a bullet somewhere. Play with placement until it doesn’t look weird.
7. Streamline formatting for employer names. If your entire group moved and the practice remained the same, list both employers together, and add a parenthetical explaining the group moved together (as mentioned in #6). If your employer was acquired by a better-known company, list that better-known company’s name and put parentheses around your old company’s name, e.g., “New Company (f/k/a Old Company).” If you worked for the same employer at different times, list that employer only once but with multiple dates. That way your resume looks less cluttered.