Leopard Blog Member Question:  How do you feel about combining several contract positions under one heading on the resume? Particularly in Japan, this seems useful to explain to attorneys who are unfamiliar with the project attorney contracting system.

Leopard Blog Answer:  The decision to combine several contract positions under one heading on your resume depends on a few factors.

1. Did you engage in a lot of legal contract work over a long period of time?
2. Did you work for many different companies as a legal contractor over a short period of time?
3. Is the legal contractor work similar in nature (i.e. same practice areas)?

If you worked as a legal contractor for several companies over a long period of time, for example 3 years, you may want to include this work under one heading if they are in the same practice area. For example, if they were all in "Family Law," you could include them under that heading. If they were in different practice areas you may want to consider using a combination of the functional resume and chronological resume format highlighting skills you commonly used at all of your legal contract positions with the heading "Legal Contractor."

If you only worked as a legal contractor for a short period of time and/or have other significant legal experience (as a non-contractor attorney) you may want to mention you legal contract work in your cover letter only. If you feel that you need to explain the attorney contracting system to a potential employer do so briefly in your cover letter or as a footnote in your resume.