A litigation CV is a different animal from a corporate one, and using a generic template does it no favours. A senior advocate, a disputes team, or a chamber reading your CV wants to see specific things: that you can research, draft, and understand how litigation actually works, and that you have real exposure to matters and courts. If you are aiming for litigation, let me show you exactly what to include, what to cut, and how to present your dispute experience well, whether you are a student, a fresher, or a few years in.

Quick answer

A strong litigation CV highlights your disputes-relevant experience: the kinds of matters you have worked on, your drafting and research work, any court exposure, and the practice areas of litigation you have touched. Present this with specific, evidence-based bullets, and where you have real matter experience, a concise matter list (covered in a separate guide) is powerful. Cut anything irrelevant to litigation and keep it focused. The reader wants to see that you can do the research, drafting and thinking that litigation runs on.

What to include

• Matters and disputes experience: the types of matters you have assisted on (civil, criminal, commercial, constitutional, arbitration and so on), described within confidentiality. This is the core.
• Drafting work: the kinds of pleadings, applications, notes or submissions you have helped draft. Litigation prizes drafting, so make it visible.
• Research: substantive legal research you have done, especially where it fed into real matters.
• Court exposure: hearings observed or attended, and any court-related work, at whatever level (district, High Court, tribunals).
• Relevant internships and chamber experience, described specifically. A senior advocate or chamber stint is gold here.
• A matter list (for those with real experience), presented concisely.

What to cut

Keep it focused on disputes. You can usually cut or minimise corporate or transactional experience that is not relevant to the litigation role (unless it shows a transferable skill), generic activities that say nothing about litigation aptitude, and padding. A litigation CV that is tightly focused on disputes-relevant work reads far stronger to a disputes reader than a scattered one that tries to show everything. Relevance is the filter.

Before and after: a litigation bullet

• Before: “Assisted in litigation matters and did legal research.”
• After: “Researched the maintainability of a writ petition on the ground of alternate remedy and summarised the key authorities for the drafting counsel; assisted in preparing a chronology of events for a commercial suit.”

The second version shows a disputes reader exactly the kind of litigation work you can do, with the legal substance visible. That specificity is what makes a litigation CV credible.

YLCC ACTION STEP: Go through your CV and, for every litigation-related entry, make the bullet specific: what matter type, what drafting or research, for whom, and any court exposure. Then cut anything not relevant to disputes. If you have real matter experience, start building a concise matter list to attach (see the matter-list guide).

PLEASE DON’T DO THIS: Please don’t hand a disputes reader a generic or corporate-flavoured CV; it signals you have not thought about the role. And please don’t breach confidentiality to show off matters; describe the type and nature of the work and your role, without naming clients or revealing sensitive details. Specific-but-confidential is exactly right.

If this is you

• Student or fresher aiming at litigation: Lead with your chamber and litigation internships, your drafting and research, and any court exposure, all described specifically. Even modest disputes experience, described well, signals genuine interest and aptitude.
• Switching into litigation from another area: Foreground transferable skills (research, drafting, analysis) and any disputes-adjacent work, and be clear about your genuine interest in litigation.

FAQs

1. What should a litigation CV include? Disputes-relevant experience: matter types, drafting work, research, court exposure, and relevant chamber or litigation internships, all described specifically. A matter list helps for those with real experience.
2. How is a litigation CV different from a corporate one? It emphasises matters, drafting, research and court exposure over transactional work. The reader wants evidence you can do litigation-specific work.
3. What should I cut from a litigation CV? Experience and padding are not relevant to disputes, unless they show a transferable skill. Keep it focused on litigation aptitude.
4. How do I show matters without breaching confidentiality? Describe the type and nature of the matter and your role, without naming clients or disclosing sensitive specifics. See the matter-list guide.
5. I’m a student aiming at litigation; what do I emphasise? Chamber and litigation internships, drafting and research work, and any court exposure, all described specifically. Genuine interest shows through specifics.

Thank you for reading!
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