The Honors Program is a fantastic avenue to pursue employment at Justice for entry level attorneys. In order to compete for the program, applicants must complete an on-line application. Please review the eligibility criteria and instructions before starting the application.
Although worthwhile, completing the application takes time. Assembling the information listed below in advance will be a helpful time saver when filling out the application. Some of the information will not be relevant to every applicant; however, you will need much of the information listed below as you complete your HP application.
√ Identify a permanent e-mail address that will not change during the course of the application and hiring process (September - January of the year you apply)
√ Your resume, your most recent law school transcript, and your law school's grading scale and/or evaluation process
√ Information about your undergraduate degree (e.g, type of degree(s), major, year received, name of school, city and state where school is located)
√ Information about your graduate law degree (e.g, type of degree(s), specialty, year received, name of school, city and state where school is located)
√ Information about your non-legal graduate degree (e.g, type of degree(s), major, year received or will receive, name of school, city and state where school is located)
√ Information about each of your judicial law clerkships (e.g., full name of court(s) served, dates of clerkship(s), name of judge(s), telephone number in chambers)
√ Information about your legal fellowships (e.g., name of fellowship, sponsoring organization, dates, name of supervisor and contact information, salary, mission or purpose of the fellowship, website)
√ Information about previous DOJ experience (e.g., employing component, name of supervisor, supervisor's phone number or email address)
√ Information about other legal and/or non-legal experience including names and telephone numbers of supervisor(s), organization name(s), dates of employment, brief description of responsibilities
√ A minimum of three references who may be contacted, including names and telephone numbers, relationships, mailing and e-mail addresses
√ For current students, names of all law school courses you are taking in the fall that you apply and the number of credit hours
√ Information about any unique qualifications, training, special skills or competencies relevant to your application for employment
Once you have gathered all of the necessary information, here are a few tips for completing the online application.
- Talk to the Career Services Staff in your law school. Often the Career Services Office has valuable insights and tips about the Honors Program application.
- Keep a record of the unique User ID and Password you are required to create to log on and access your application.
- Once you log on, review the eligibility criteria and instructions. If you are eligible to apply to the Honors Program, complete the acknowledgements page and click on Apply to the Department of Justice.
- Do not submit multiple applications. If you submit more than one application, Justice will disqualify all but the first one you submitted.
- PROOFREAD. PROOFREAD. PROOFREAD. Make sure you are satisfied with your application and that it is accurate and free of typos or grammatical errors.
- Take time with the essay questions. Justice values thoughtful, well-crafted responses that demonstrate who you are, what you can contribute, and why you want to work for the specific components that you identified.
- Provide the information as prompted and click the “save this information” button at the bottom of each screen. Some questions are required. You will not be permitted to save your information or continue to the next screen if you fail to answer a required question.
- The online application will accept attachments associated with documenting veterans' preference eligibility.
- You cannot apply to both the Honors Program and the Summer Law Intern Program simultaneously. However, if you are a current law student and you apply to the Honors Program, then accept a clerkship, you may be able to transfer to the Summer Law Intern Program.
- After you have completed your application, we strongly suggest that you print it out and review it before you certify and submit it to the Department. To protect the integrity of the information you submit on your application, the system does not allow substantive changes to be made to data once it has been certified and submitted. Prior to actually certifying and submitting your application, you may update or change information provided you save your changes on the application program. You may print a blank application, a partially completed application, or your completed application.
- When you have reviewed your application for completeness and accuracy, certify and submit it to the Department for consideration for employment. You will receive an e-mail confirmation that we have received your application. If you do not receive a confirmation email, please check your status online. If your status does not indicate that your application was submitted, please contact Avue Digital Services for assistance. If your status does not indicate that your application was submitted, please check your application to confirm you properly submitted it. If you believe you did, and your online status does not reflect submission, contact Avue Digital Services for assistance.
Although the deadline to submit your application is the Tuesday after Labor Day, we recommend you allow yourself plenty of time to work on your application and submit it before the deadline. The Department does not accept applications received after the deadline. We regret that we cannot grant exceptions.