Legal Careers
Law Student Volunteer Intern - Summer & Fall 2025
The Office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa prosecutes federal criminal offenses and defends the interests of the United States in civil cases. The United States Attorney's Office (USAO) for the Northern District of Iowa covers 52 of the state's 99 counties. The headquarters office is in the eastern Iowa community of Cedar Rapids, with a branch office in Sioux City on the western border of Iowa.
If you are looking for an exciting and challenging opportunity, this is the position for you! With a diverse and talented workforce of over 100,000 men and women, the Department of Justice leads the Nation in ensuring the protection of all Americans while preserving their constitutional freedoms. You can be part of a dedicated team helping to enforce Federal criminal and civil laws that protect life, liberty, and the property of citizens.
More information on the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Iowa can be found at: http://www.justice.gov/usao/ian/
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa has opportunities for Law Student Volunteers in our Cedar Rapids and Sioux City office beginning with the Summer and the Fall of 2025. Law Student duties may include but are not limited to assisting attorneys with legal research; writing pleadings; trial preparation; and drafting responsive motions, dispositive motions, memoranda of law, and appellate briefs. Law Student Volunteers become familiar with the Federal Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure, the Federal Rules of Evidence, the local rules of practice for the United States District Court, and the local and Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. In addition, they may attend depositions, meetings with investigative agents, and accompany the attorneys to observe court proceedings in cases on which they have worked or in cases of general interest in the office.
Law students who qualify to practice under the district court’s student practice rules may handle motion hearings. Our goal is to introduce law students to the federal legal system and to help them develop their practical legal skills.
Duration of the volunteer service and hours of duty are determined by the student in conjunction with a representative from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. This is an in-person opportunity.
Second and third-year law students with strong legal research, analysis, and writing skills. U.S. citizenship is required.
Due to the sensitive nature of the work performed by the office, all offers are conditional based on the successful completion of a required background check. This requires disclosure of any drug use, law enforcement and employment records, and financial credit information.
Please submit cover letter (including availability and desired office location i.e. Cedar Rapids or Sioux City), resume, law/graduate school transcript (unofficial), writing sample (no more than 10 pages), availability date(s)/hours, and a daytime telephone number. If applying via email, please combine all documents into a single pdf file attachment, if possible.
Interested persons should direct application materials to:
Carmen McElwee
United States Attorney’s Office
111 7th Ave SE, Box 1
Cedar Rapids, IA 52401
No phone calls please. Hand-carried applications must be received by 5:00 pm Central Time on March 28, 2025; mailed applications must be postmarked by Friday, March 28, 2025.
Applications may be emailed to USAIAN.HR@usdoj.gov
Persons applying by email are responsible for ensuring that email and attachments are received no later than 11:59 pm Central Time on March 28, 2025.
(NOTE: The Northern District of Iowa cannot be responsible for lost/misrouted/ delayed email transmissions.)
Uncompensated - Course credit may be available.
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.