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Entry-Level Attorneys

Deadlines and Key Dates

  • July 31 – application opens
  • Tuesday after Labor Day, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time – application deadline
  • Late September – interview candidates selected
  • Mid. Oct – early Nov. – interviews conducted
  • Late Nov. thru Feb. – offers extended

Participating Components

Application Checklist


Next Attorney
Recruitment Event

June

7

Fri

June 7, 2013

NALP/Diversity and Inclusion Summit

Chicago, IL

Office Locations & Practice Areas

(Participating Components for Fall 2013 Will Be Posted As Soon As Possible)

Honors Program Participating Components

The components listed below will participate in the 2012-2013 Attorney General's Honors Program. Actual hiring is subject to availability of funds; however, the components estimate that they will fill the number of positions listed below. Applicants must meet Honors Program eligibility requirements for all positions listed below. Some offices, in particular the Office of the Solicitor General and the U.S. Attorney's Offices, impose additional eligibility criteria (e.g., bar admission or judicial clerkship requirements). Additional eligibility criteria specified by a hiring component are effective at the time the application opens (July 31, 2012).

Name of Component Number of Hires

Antitrust Division

  • Washington, DC (10)
  • Chicago (1)
  • New York (1)
  • San Francisco (1)

13

Civil Division

4

Civil Rights Division

3

Criminal Division

  • Regular Trial Attorney (10)
  • Asset Forfeiture & Money Laundering Fellowship (3)
13

Drug Enforcement Administration
(Administrative Law Judges) The DEA hires for 1 year judicial clerkships. These are not prosecutorial positions. Individuals hired as law clerks may reapply to the Honors Program in a subsequent year for permanent positions in other components provided they meet eligibility criteria.

4

Environment & Natural Resources Division

8

Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR)

  • Office of the Chief Immigration Judge (65)
    (Immigration Courts Nationwide)
  • Office of General Counsel (1)
    (Washington, DC)
  • Board of Immigration Appeals (4)
    (Washington, DC)
  • Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (1)
    (Washington, DC)
  • Office of Legal Access Program (1)
    (Washington, DC)

EOIR Honors Program hires serve 1-2 year judicial clerkships and term appointments. Individuals hired through the Honors Program may reapply to the Honors Program in a subsequent year for permanent positions in other components provided they meet eligibility criteria.

72

Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
The Bureau of Prisons hires for 2-year fellowships. Individuals hired as BOP Fellows may reapply to the Honors Program in a subsequent year for permanent positions in other components provided they meet eligibility criteria.

4
National Security Division 4

Office of the Solicitor General

Eligibility restricted to law school graduates who have completed or are serving in a federal circuit court of appeals. Current law students and law school graduates lacking a federal circuit court of appeals judicial clerkship are not eligible and will not be considered. Bar admission is preferred but not required. This is a 1-year term appointment as Special Assistant to the Solicitor General.

This office does not consider where the applicant ranked it in order of employment preference on the online application when selecting interview candidates. In other words, the applicant can rank OSG at the bottom of his/her preference list and will be considered in the same way as an applicant who ranked it at the top.

1

Tax Division

  • Tax-Civil (2)
  • Tax-Criminal (1)

3

U.S. Trustee Program

The U.S. Trustee Program has identified the following locations for potential placement of Honors Program attorneys.
  • Phoenix, AZ
  • Riverside, Santa Ana, or Los Angeles, CA (Candidates must commit to taking and passing the California bar at the earliest opportunity after hiring if not already admitted in California.)
  • Washington, DC
  • Wilmington, DE
  • Miami or Orlando, FL
  • Atlanta, GA  (Candidates must commit to taking and passing the Georgia bar at the earliest opportunity after hiring if not already admitted in Georgia.)
  • Las Vegas, NV
  • Newark, NJ
  • New York, NY
  • San Juan, PR (Candidates must be bilingual and have demonstrated proficiency in both spoken and written English and Spanish.)
  • Alexandria, VA
  • Seattle, WA
6

U.S. Attorney’s Offices

  • District of Arizona (2)
    Interviewing in Phoenix, AZ.
    Hiring for Offices in Phoenix or Tucson, AZ.
    This is a permanent AUSA position.

    Open only to eligible applicants who are law school graduates with judicial clerkship experience who are already admitted to a bar (any U.S. jurisdiction) or who have taken a bar exam (results pending in fall 2012). Candidates are not required to become admitted to the Arizona bar.
    Current law students are not eligible and will not be considered. Candidates must be admitted to practice before entering on duty.

  • Central District of California (2)
    Interviewing in Los Angeles, CA.
    Hiring for Offices in Los Angeles, Santa Ana, or Riverside, California. This position may be a permanent AUSA position or not to exceed 24 months with the option to convert to permanent without further advertisement.
    Open only to eligible applicants who are law school graduates with judicial clerkship experience who are already admitted to a bar (any U.S. jurisdiction) or who have taken a bar exam (results pending in fall 2012). Candidates must commit to taking and passing the California bar at the earliest opportunity after hiring if not already admitted in California.
    Current law students are not eligible and will not be considered.

  • Southern District of California (up to 4)
    Interviewing in San Diego, CA. Hiring for the San Diego office.This is a permanent AUSA position.
    Open only to eligible applicants who are law school graduates with judicial clerkship experience who are already admitted to a bar (any U.S. jurisdiction). Candidates are not required to become admitted to the California bar. Current law students are not eligible and will not be considered.
  • Northern District of Ohio (2)
    Interviewing in Cleveland, Ohio. This is a permanent AUSA position for offices in either Cleveland or Toledo, OH. Open to ALL eligible applicants, including current third-year students. Candidates are not required to become admitted to the Ohio bar.

  • Southern District of New York (up to 5)
    Interviewing in Manhattan, NY. This is a permanent AUSA position.
    Open only to eligible applicants who are law school graduates with judicial clerkship experience who are already admitted to a bar (any U.S. jurisdiction). Candidates must commit to taking and passing the New York bar at the earliest opportunity after hiring if not already admitted in New York. Current law students are not eligible and will not be considered.
  • Western District of Texas (2)
    Interviewing in Austin, TX. Hiring for offices in El Paso (1) and Austin (1). This is a permanent AUSA position.
    Open only to eligible applicants who are law school graduates serving in judicial clerkships who are already admitted to a bar (any U.S. jurisdiction). Candidates are not required to become admitted to the Texas bar. Current law students are not eligible and will not be considered.
10 -17

Other Department components participate informally in the Honors Program. They may not follow the regular Honors Program timeline and may contact a candidate at any time during or after the review and selection process.

Informal participants may request to be listed on the online application. Applicants are then able to check a box to indicate their interest in being considered by that office.
INFORMAL PARTICIPANTS