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Legal Careers

Law Student Volunteer, Spring Semester 2023

Hiring Organization
USAO District of Maryland
Job ID
22-MD-25
Location:
The Baltimore office is located at 36 S. Charles Street, 4th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21201
The Greenbelt office is located at 6406 Ivy Lane, 8th Floor, Greenbelt, MD 20770
MD - United States
Application Deadline:
About the Office

The United States Attorney's Office prosecutes all federal criminal cases and represents the interests of the United States in civil cases in Maryland. The United States Attorney has two offices - the Northern Division located in Baltimore and the Southern Division located in Greenbelt.

The Criminal Division prosecutes cases including violent crimes, narcotics conspiracies, white collar fraud, public corruption, child exploitation, civil rights violations, environmental crimes, and national security matters. The Civil Division defends the interests of the United States in civil litigation, pursues affirmative civil enforcement in a variety of fraud matters.

As the federal agency whose mission is to ensure the fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans, the Department of Justice is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. To build and retain a workforce that reflects the diverse experiences and perspectives of the American people, we welcome applicants from the many communities, identities, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, religions, and cultures of the United States who share our commitment to public service.

Job Description

The work of the law student volunteer includes assisting in all aspects of trial preparation, legal research, writing memoranda of law, drafting pleadings and appellate briefs, assisting in preparation and taking of depositions, assisting in pretrial conferences and trials of civil and criminal cases.

Law student volunteers are requested to work 16 to 24 hours up to full-time/40 hours a week.

Qualifications

Students must be second-year or third-year law students by the beginning of the summer term. Applicants must be U.S. citizens. Residency Requirement: For a total of three years (not necessarily consecutive years) of the past five years immediately prior to applying for a position, the applicant must have: 1) resided in the United States; 2) worked for the U.S. overseas in a federal or military capacity, or 3) been a dependent of a federal or military employee serving overseas. The Residency Requirement ensures an adequate background investigation can be completed. Due to the sensitive nature of the work performed by the Office, all offers to candidates are conditioned upon the successful completion of a required background investigation. Law student volunteers are not permitted to work in a legal capacity - private or public- during the internship.

Application Process

Any interested applicant should submit a cover letter, resume, and law school transcript via e-mail no later than 5:00pm on April 22, 2022. Your cover letter should be addressed to Tim Garrett, Deputy Administrative Officer, and reference the Announcement Number above and your location of preference, either Baltimore or Greenbelt. No telephone calls please. We will contact you if we believe an interview is appropriate or if further information is required. This announcement will close on September 12, 2022; therefore, cover letter, resume, and transcript must be e-mailed or received by the closing date. Application materials can forwarded to the following e-mail address: usamd.lawclerkjobs@usdoj.gov.

Salary

This internship is not compensated. No matching contributions available. Work-study or academic credit may be available through a student's law school. Students must make arrangements through his/her law school.

Number of Positions
More than one (1) selection will be made from this announcement.
Travel
None.
Relocation Expenses
None.

Department Policies

The U.S. Department of Justice is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer.  Except where otherwise provided by law, there will be no discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex - including gender identity, sexual orientation, or pregnancy status - or because of age (over 40), physical or mental disability, protected genetic information, parental status, marital status, political affiliation, or any other non-merit based factor.  The Department of Justice welcomes and encourages applications from persons with physical and mental disabilities. The Department is firmly committed to satisfying its affirmative obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advanced on the basis of merit within the Department of Justice. For more information, please review our full EEO Statement.

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. All DOJ employees are subject to a residency requirement. Candidates must have lived in the United States for at least three of the past five years. The three-year period is cumulative, not necessarily consecutive. Federal or military employees, or dependents of federal or military employees serving overseas, are excepted from this requirement. This is a Department security requirement which is waived only for extreme circumstances and handled 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 August 12, 2022