Landing an internship at a business law firm during bar school training often changes the trajectory of the early years of a legal career: in most cases, this final training internship is what leads to an associate position. A trainee lawyer's resume should therefore be treated as a first negotiating tool, not a simple administrative summary of the path so far.
What firms look for in a trainee lawyer
A business law firm recruiting a trainee lawyer for their final training internship is primarily looking for a signal of immediate reliability: the person hired must be able to join a team on a real matter within weeks of arriving, without a prolonged adjustment period. According to information published by the EFB 🔗 on the final six-month firm internship - which can be split into two three-month placements at different structures - this internship is supervised by a bar-admitted mentor with more than four years of practice, which means a firm invests real supervisory time in every trainee it takes on.
Three elements are examined first by recruiters:
The CRFPA ranking and the honors obtained in the Master's degree, which remain the first filters, especially at firms receiving several hundred applications per session.
A specialization already underway, shown through prior internships, the graduate thesis, or university clubs and associations (legal clinic, moot court, business law society). A trainee who has already touched M&A, private equity, or structured finance during a previous internship starts with a clear advantage.
The coherence of the professional project, particularly the choice of bar association and the specialization planned for the swearing-in - a firm doesn't want to train someone who will change direction six months after arriving.
A different read depending on the type of firm
An Anglo-Saxon firm and an independent French firm don't evaluate a trainee lawyer's resume the same way. The former expects near-native legal English and values international experience (LLM, university exchange, internship abroad). The latter places more weight on French academic ranking and the quality of written French, while still expecting solid professional English for cross-border matters.
Structure of a trainee lawyer's resume
The expected structure remains classic, on a single page, with no exception for an internship:
- Header: name, contact details, up-to-date LinkedIn
- Education: Master's degree (honors and ranking if favorable), CRFPA (session and honors), bar school and ongoing PPI specialization
- Professional experience: internships at firms or in-house, in reverse chronological order
- Skills: legal English level, other languages, legal research software (Lexis, Dalloz, Doctrine)
- Interests: only if they reinforce an image of rigor, international openness, or sector specialization
💡 To learn more: our guide on the business lawyer resume details specific expectations by specialization (M&A, litigation, financing) and by type of firm.
The CRFPA honors - a signal never to overlook
Unlike a resume later in a career, where the entrance exam ranking no longer really matters, the honors obtained at the CRFPA remain, at the trainee stage, one of the few objective and comparable indicators between candidates. It should appear clearly in the education section, never buried in a generic line.
Example of a trainee lawyer's resume for a business firm internship
As with a resume for an experienced lawyer, the most effective method remains a factual, quantified description of assignments already carried out, even for a first- or second-year Master's internship:
"Internship - Legal Department [Industrial Group], 4 months: drafted 15+ commercial contracts, contributed to a GDPR compliance audit, monitored legal documentation for 3 subsidiaries."
"Internship - [M&A boutique firm], 6 months: contributed to a disposal transaction (enterprise value ~€40M), drafted the data room, reviewed representations and warranties."
"University legal clinic: pro bono advice to associations on contract law questions, drafted concise legal memos aimed at non-lawyers."
This last example matters particularly for a candidate who hasn't yet had access to a business law firm: it demonstrates an ability to translate legal reasoning into plain language, a skill directly transferable to client advisory work.
Highlighting internships and student jobs
A common trap for trainee lawyers is undervaluing experience predating their business law specialization - a student job, or an internship in labor or criminal law taken during undergraduate studies. These experiences have a place, provided they're reframed around transferable skills: drafting discipline, handling urgency, client contact, autonomy on a matter.
⚠️ Warning: never hide a non-business-law internship by leaving it off the resume. A recruiter who spots a gap of several months in the timeline will systematically raise it at interview - better to own it and reframe it as an asset (versatility, adaptability) than to create doubt about the transparency of the application.
Standard student jobs (food service, retail, tutoring) also deserve a short line if they took up a significant part of the timeline: they show an ability to finance one's studies while maintaining a competitive academic level for the CRFPA, a signal of resilience that firms appreciate in a young candidate.
Applying to Anglo-Saxon vs. French firms
Anglo-Saxon firms (magic circle, American firms): the application is most often made directly in English, including for an internship. These firms recruit profiles with a dual degree or international experience and value a fine understanding of common law, beyond French law alone. Gide Loyrette Nouel 🔗, for example, presents internships as the preferred entry route toward a long-term associate position, with selection criteria centered on independence and team spirit rather than academic ranking alone.
Independent French firms and specialized boutiques: the cover letter and resume in French must demonstrate precise knowledge of the firm's positioning (mid-cap M&A, restructuring, business litigation) rather than a generic application sent to every firm on the market.
In-house legal departments: for a first internship even before the CRFPA, an in-house legal department values the ability to integrate quickly into a multidisciplinary team (finance, HR, procurement) more than an already-acquired narrow specialization.
📊 Go further: our guide on the in-house counsel resume details how to translate firm experience into corporate language, a useful skill from the very first in-house internships.
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