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Legal Careers

Law Student Volunteer Intern - Fall 2025

Hiring Organization
USAO Eastern District of North Carolina
Hiring Office
Eastern District of North Carolina
Job ID
VolunteerIntern_Fall2025
Location:
150 Fayetteville Street
Ste. 2100
Raleigh, NC 27601 - United States
Application Deadline:
About the Office

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina investigates and prosecutes federal crimes and represents the interests of the United States in both criminal and civil cases and matters in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, as well as in the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

The office has three litigating divisions—Criminal, Appellate, and Civil. The Criminal Division is concerned with the prosecution of all federal criminal violations, which include controlled substance violations, violent crime, organized crime, fraud, tax violations, white-collar crime, civil rights violations, crimes against children, and national security offenses.  The Appellate Division handles the office’s criminal appeals and provides guidance to criminal AUSAs. The Civil Division is devoted to cases involving bankruptcy, collections, affirmative civil enforcement (including forfeitures), federal tort claim defenses, EEOC matters, and prisoner petitions. All of our employees, except for some assigned to our Wilmington Branch, work from our headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Job Description

The student internship program is overseen by experienced Assistant U.S. Attorneys who provide daily supervision and coordinate work assignments. The following are a few of the activities students normally perform while working in this office:

  • providing research on legal issues and stating their findings orally and/or through written memoranda;
  • assisting and/or preparing pre-trial and post-trial motions and responses;
  • assisting in the writing of trial and appellate briefs;
  • helping to moot attorneys before appellate oral arguments;
  • observing various stages of federal proceedings (witness interviews, depositions, trials, sentencings, appellate arguments, etc.);
  • assisting in the preparation of affidavits, exhibits, and notebooks for trial; and
  • for students who qualify under the student-practice rules, participating in court hearings.

The office’s workload demands and students’ preferences are considered when determining which division each student will be primarily assigned to assist.  We encourage students to communicate if they would like to assist on projects from the other divisions, and when possible, we may be able to rotate interested students through multiple divisions.

School-year interns usually intern a minimum of ten hour per week, and the office is flexible as to how these hours are generated during the school semester.

We are currently recruiting multiple volunteer law students for Fall 2025.

Qualifications

Must be at least a 2L in good academic standing during your internship with the office.  For students interning as 3Ls, preference will be given to those who have completed a course in evidence. 

 

Application Process

We request the following information be sent as one combined PDF attachment to USANCE.law.interns@usdoj.gov no later than May 24, 2025:

  • Cover letter to the attention of Kristine Fritz that includes your contact information, the litigating division(s) you are interested in, and the dates you are available for the internship.  We encourage you to addresses your interest in the USAO’s work and your ties to (or interest in) the Eastern District of North Carolina.
  • Your resume.
  • Your law school transcript. If your grades are unavailable when you submit your application, you must provide them as soon as they become available.
  • A legal writing sample (not to exceed 15 pages).

The title of your PDF attachment should include your last name and the internship session(s) for which you wish to be considered.

Those selected for interviews will be notified.  We typically participate in on-campus interviewing (OCI) at law schools in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area (Campbell University, Duke University, North Carolina Central University, and University of North Carolina).  For students farther afield and when on-campus interviews are not feasible, arrangements will be made for interviews online via WebEx or in person at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.   

Salary

This is a voluntary position without compensation or benefits.  Academic credit available if arranged by the student through the law school.

Number of Positions
6
Travel
Not Required
Relocation Expenses
Not Authorized

Department Policies

The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non-merit factor. To learn more, please visit the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency.  Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.

The Department encourages qualified applicants with disabilities, including individuals with targeted/severe disabilities to apply in response to posted vacancy announcements.  Qualified applicants with targeted/severe disabilities may be eligible for direct hire, non-competitive appointment under Schedule A (5 C.F.R. § 213.3102(u)) hiring authority.  Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to contact one of the Department’s Disability Points of Contact (DPOC) to express an interest in being considered for a position. See list of DPOCs.   

Unless otherwise required by law, the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits employees of the U.S. Department of Justice or a federal contractor acting on its behalf from inquiring about an applicant's criminal history record, either in writing or orally, before that individual receives a conditional offer of employment. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, may submit a written complaint within 30 days of the date of the alleged non-compliance directly to the hiring office using the contact information listed in the announcement.

It is the policy of the Department to achieve a drug-free workplace and persons selected for employment will be required to pass a drug test which screens for illegal drug use prior to final appointment.  Employment is also contingent upon the completion and satisfactory adjudication of a background investigation. Congress generally prohibits agencies from employing non-citizens within the United States, except for a few narrow exceptions as set forth in the annual Appropriations Act (see, https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/non-citizens/). Pursuant to DOJ component policies, only U.S. citizens are eligible for employment with the Executive Office for Immigration Review, U.S. Trustee’s Offices, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unless otherwise indicated in a particular job advertisement, qualifying non-U.S. citizens meeting immigration and appropriations law criteria may apply for employment with other DOJ organizations. However, please be advised that the appointment of non-U.S. citizens is extremely rare; such appointments would be possible only if necessary to accomplish the Department's mission and would be subject to strict security requirements. Applicants who hold dual citizenship in the U.S. and another country will be considered on a case-by-case basis. 

There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Justice considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans' preference must include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., the DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty and other supporting documentation) to their submissions. Although the "point" system is not used, per se, applicants eligible to claim 10-point preference must submit Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, and submit the supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed (visit the OPM website, www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf for a copy of SF 15, which lists the types of 10-point preferences and the required supporting document(s). Applicants should note that SF 15 requires supporting documentation associated with service- connected disabilities or receipt of nonservice-connected disability pensions to be dated 1991 or later except in the case of service members submitting official statements or retirement orders from a branch of the Armed Forces showing that their retirement was due to a permanent service-connected disability or that they were transferred to the permanent disability retired list (the statement or retirement orders must indicate that the disability is 10% or more).

Assistant United States Attorneys must reside in the district to which appointed or within 25 miles thereof.  See 28 U.S.C. 545 for district specific information.

 

This and other vacancy announcements can be found under Attorney Vacancies and Volunteer Legal Internships. The Department of Justice cannot control further dissemination and/or posting of information contained in this vacancy announcement. Such posting and/or dissemination is not an endorsement by the Department of the organization or group disseminating and/or posting the information.

Updated April 16, 2025