Honors Program Participating Components
Listed below are the 2024-2025 Attorney General's Honors Program (HP) participating components (hiring organizations). Applicants must meet Honors Program eligibility requirements for all positions listed below. Offers for Honors Program positions will specify whether the position is permanent or time-limited (for example, not to exceed 24 or 36 months).
Time-limited appointments may, at the Department's discretion, be extended or converted to permanent positions without further competition. Time-limited appointments also qualify as Honors Program eligibility preserving activities. Individuals hired for time-limited positions may reapply to the Honors Program in a subsequent year provided they meet eligibility criteria.
Hiring organizations may participate formally or informally. Informally participating components may not adhere to the standard hiring timeline. Some offices (e.g. U.S. Attorneys' Offices) may impose additional eligibility criteria. Applicants must meet any additional specified eligibility criteria by the application deadline.
For information about a hiring organization's mission, scope of responsibility, legal practice areas, and whether it is participating formally or informally, click on the name of the hiring organization in the body of the chart below. To move directly to the listing for a specific hiring organization or fellowship, use the quick links directly below.
LITIGATING OFFICES: Antitrust Division | Civil Division | Civil Rights Division | Criminal Division | Environment & Natural Resources Division | National Security Division | Tax Division | U.S. Trustee Program
LEGAL POLICY & ADMINISTRATION: Executive Office for Immigration Review | Office of Information Policy
LAW ENFORCEMENT & CORRECTIONS OFFICES: Drug Enforcement Administration Office of Chief Counsel | Federal Bureau of Investigation Office of General Counsel | Federal Bureau of Investigations Office of Integrity and Compliance | Federal Bureau of Prisons
MEDIA & COMMUNITY OUTREACH: Office of Legislative Affairs
FELLOWSHIPS: Antitrust Division Assistant Attorney General's Honors Fellowship | Asset Forfeiture Fellowship | Cyber Fellowship | Gaye L. Tenoso Indian Country Fellowship
JUDICIAL CLERKSHIPS: Drug Enforcement Administration Administrative Law Judges | Executive Office for Immigration Review (Office of the Chief Immigration Judge & Board of Immigration Appeals)
U.S. ATTORNEYS' OFFICES: Eligibility restricted to law school graduates who are admitted to or pending admission to a bar. Not open to current law students.
District of Arizona | Central District of California | Eastern District of California | Southern District of California | Southern District of Florida |
FORMAL PARTICIPANTS (Candidates may apply to up to three formal participants. Some formal participants further allow candidates to designate their interest in specific locations, branches, sections, positions, or Districts on the application - internal designations do not count as one of the three.)
Name of Component | Estimated Number of Hires |
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The Antitrust Division offers twenty-four permanent positions and one two-year Fellowship opportunity in the locations listed below. Antitrust Division candidates may designate their interest in specific locations (and, as appropriate, civil or criminal enforcement), or the Fellowship on the application.
|
25 |
The Civil Division offers permanent positions in Washington, D.C. Civil Division candidates may designate their interest in specific branches on the application, but, with the exception of the Office of Immigration Litigation, not to specific sections within branches. |
25 |
The Civil Rights Division offers permanent positions in Washington, D.C. from among the sections listed below. Civil Rights Division candidates apply to the Division as a whole, with section preference identified at a later time. The number of positions to be filled is subject to availability of funds. |
10 |
The Criminal Division offers permanent trial attorney positions and time limited fellowship positions in Washington, D.C. Criminal Division candidates may designate their interest in the positions listed below on the application.
|
6 |
The Cyber Fellowship offers three-year appointments in the Washington, D.C. area which may be converted to permanent. Fellows will rotate through multiple Department components that protect the nation from emerging and critical cyber threats—including the Criminal Division's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, the National Security Division, and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices—and can expect to investigate and prosecute a broad range of the cyber cases performed by the Department (e.g., state-sponsored cyber threats; transactional criminal groups; infrastructure and ransomware attacks; and the use of cryptocurrency and money laundering to finance and profit from cyber-based crimes). Fellows must agree to a three-year commitment and be able to obtain a Top Secret security clearance. |
1-3 |
Drug Enforcement Administration Office of Chief Counsel The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Office of Chief Counsel offers a permanent position in Northern Virginia. |
1 |
Environment & Natural Resources Division The Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) offers permanent positions in Washington, D.C. from among the sections listed below. ENRD candidates apply to the Division as a whole, with section preference identified at a later time. |
10 |
Executive Office for Immigration Review The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) offers two-year judicial clerkships and two-year time-limited appointments that may be extended or converted to permanent positions. EOIR candidates may designate their interest in specific sub-organizations on the application. U.S. citizenship required. Nationwide Opportunities
Falls Church, VA
|
14 |
Federal Bureau of Investigation Office of General Counsel The FBI Office of General Counsel offers permanent positions in Washington, D.C. or Northern Virginia. FBI candidates apply to the Division as a whole. Selectees are assigned to a specific branch within the OGC, and assignments are dependent on available openings. Selectees may handle legal issues including, but not limited to: National Security Law, Criminal Law, Cyber Law, Civil & Administrative Litigation, Privacy & Civil Liberties Law, Fiscal & Property Law, and Science & Technology Law. The number of positions to be filled is subject to availability of funds and bar passage is required to maintain the position. Additionally, selectees must be eligible for a Top Secret security clearance and successfully pass the FBI background investigation. For more information about the FBI’s security clearance requirements, click here. U.S. citizenship required. |
3 |
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) offers permanent positions in Washington, D.C. |
2 |
The Gaye L. Tenoso Indian Country Fellowship The Indian Country Fellowship (ICF) offers a three-year time-limited appointment with a participating U.S. Attorney's Office with an Indian Country mission. Placement is determined by mutual consent of the incoming hire and the U.S. Attorney. Open to all eligible Honors Program applicants, including law students graduating in the current academic year. Fellows must meet District bar admission requirements within 12 months of appointment. Some Districts require bar admission in the State where the District is located and many Tribes have bar requirements. Visit the Indian Country Fellowship page for detailed information about the Fellowship, the participating jurisdictions, District and Tribal bar admission requirements, and the work the Fellow will perform at each District. Participating Districts are: District of Montana, District of Nebraska, District of New Mexico, District of North Dakota, Northern District of Oklahoma, Eastern District of Washington |
1 |
The Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA) offers two-year time-limited appointments that may be converted to permanent in Washington, D.C. |
2 |
Open only to law school graduates. Some Districts require incoming attorneys to agree to a service commitment, but this varies by District. Formally participating Districts are listed here. Additional Districts, participating informally, are listed below. Candidates may designate their interest in specific Districts on the application. U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona (2) U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California (1) The Central District of California offers a permanent Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) position in its Criminal & National Security Section. Open only to eligible applicants who have a J.D. and are serving in (or will soon begin) a qualifying eligibility preserving activity and are admitted to a bar (any U.S. jurisdiction) or have taken a bar exam (results pending in fall 2024). Current law students are not eligible and will not be considered. Candidates must be admitted to practice and have an active bar membership (any U.S. jurisdiction) before entering on duty. U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California (1) The Southern District of California offers a permanent Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) position in the Criminal Division in San Diego, CA. Open only to eligible applicants who have a J.D. and are serving in (or will soon begin) a qualifying eligibility preserving activity and are admitted to a bar (any U.S. jurisdiction) or have taken a bar exam (results pending in fall 2024). Judicial clerkship experience is strongly preferred. Current law students are not eligible and will not be considered. Candidates must be admitted to practice and have an active bar membership before entering on duty.
|
4 |
The components and Districts listed below are participating informally in the Honors Program, subject to availability of funds. These components may not follow the regular Honors Program timeline or procedures and may contact a candidate at any time during or after the formal review and selection process. Candidates may, at their discretion, apply to any number of informally participating components and also may apply only to an informally participating component. The tentative number of hires is listed by the name of each informally participating component. These selections do not count as one of an applicant's formal employment preferences.
Other Department hiring offices and USAOs may participate informally in the Honors Program on an ad hoc basis throughout the year. Applicants who wish to be considered by informally participating U.S. Attorneys’ Offices or Department of Justice offices that are not listed on the application may check a box on the application requesting to be included in a general USAO or Department-wide candidate pool. Candidates will be required to identify the specific States or U.S. territories to which they would relocate if they received an offer.
Drug Enforcement Administration Administrative Law Judges (3) Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrative Law Judges offer two-year judicial clerkships in Arlington, VA. These attorney positions are not prosecutorial positions. DEA may extend these appointments for a third year. |
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Office of Integrity and Compliance (1) The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Office of Integrity and Compliance (OIC) offers permanent positions in the Washington, D.C. area. FBI candidates apply to the Division as a whole. Selectees are assigned to a specific unit within OIC, and assignments are dependent on available openings. Selectees may handle legal issues including, but not limited to: (1) implementing and providing guidance on ethical standards established by federal statutes and DOJ and FBI policies, and (2) providing legal and policy advice and guidance on compliance issues and ensuring that FBI activities comply with all constitutional, statutory, policy, and legal requirements. The number of positions to be filled is subject to availability of funds and bar passage is required to maintain the position. Additionally, selectees must be eligible for a Top Secret security clearance and successfully pass the FBI background investigation. For more information about the FBI’s security clearance requirements, click here. U.S. citizenship required. |
National Security Division (3-5) The National Security Division (NSD) offers permanent positions in Washington, D.C. The NSD sections and offices participating in the Honors Program vary by year but will be one or more of the sections and offices listed below. Honors Program attorneys are asked to agree to a three-year commitment and must be able to obtain a Top Secret security clearance. |
Office of Information Policy (1) The Office of Information Policy (OIP) offers a permanent position in Washington, D.C. The OIP requests a two-year commitment. |
The Tax Division offers permanent positions in Washington, D.C. Tax Division candidates may designate their interest in specific sections on the application. The Tax Division requests a three-year commitment.
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U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California (1) The Eastern District of California offers a permanent Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) positions its Civil Division in Sacramento or Fresno. Open only to eligible applicants who have a J.D. and are serving in (or will soon begin) a qualifying eligibility preserving activity and are admitted to a bar (any U.S. jurisdiction) or have taken a bar exam (results pending in fall 2024). Current law students are not eligible and will not be considered. Candidates must be admitted to practice and have an active bar membership (any U.S. jurisdiction) before entering on duty. |
U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida (1- 2) The Southern District of Florida offers two-year time-limited Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) appointments (with possible conversion to permanent). Open only to eligible applicants who have a J.D. and are serving in (or will soon begin) a qualifying eligibility preserving activity and are admitted to a bar (any U.S. jurisdiction) or have taken a bar exam (results pending in fall 2024). Judicial clerkship experience is strongly preferred. Current law students are not eligible and will not be considered. Candidates must be admitted to practice and have an active bar membership (any U.S. jurisdiction) before entering on duty. The Southern District of Florida requests a two-year commitment. |
The United States Trustee Program (USTP) offers two-year time-limited appointments that may be converted to permanent with placement in its 90 field offices across the country (geographic preferences to be identified after selection for interview). U.S. citizenship required. |