Skills
Judicial Law Clerk Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in judicial law clerks, and how to build and show them.
What skills do judicial law clerks need?
Judicial Law Clerks need technical skills such as legal research, legal writing, and opinion drafting, plus people skills like discretion and attention to detail. They also use tools such as Westlaw or Lexis and Court case management systems.
Technical (hard) skills
- Legal research
- Legal writing
- Opinion drafting
- Citation checking
- Case analysis
- Court procedure
People (soft) skills
- Discretion
- Attention to detail
- Objectivity
- Reliability
Tools, equipment and technology
- Westlaw or Lexis
- Court case management systems
- Bluebook
- Microsoft Word
- E-filing systems
- Docket software
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how judicial law clerks put their skills to work:
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Legal research” and “Legal writing.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “discretion,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as J.D. near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our judicial law clerk glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Judicial Law Clerk training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.