LAW STUDENT VOLUNTEER, SPRING 2024

USAO Northern District of Texas
USAO NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS - Dallas and Fort Worth Offices
Law Student Volunteer, Academic Year
1100 COMMERCE STREET, THIRD FOOR
Dallas, TX 75242
United States
23-NDTX-12132010-V Open: 9/18/2023 Closes: 10/16/2023
About the Office: 

The Office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas is the principal federal prosecution authority for the North Texas area with offices in Dallas, Fort Worth, Lubbock, and Amarillo. The Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office prosecutes all federal crimes in our jurisdiction including acts of terrorism, public corruption, white-collar crime, organized crime, narcotics trafficking, firearms crimes, internet-related crimes, and many other criminal offenses. The Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office is charged with defending agencies of the United States, enforcing regulatory agency authority, and recovering funds from violators of U.S. statues and other regulations.

Our office places a high value on diversity of experiences and perspectives and encourages applications from all qualified individuals from all ethnic and racial backgrounds, veterans, LGBT individuals, and persons with disabilities.

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 Northern District of Texas is offering internship opportunities in its Dallas and Fort Worth offices for the 2024 spring semester for current second- and third-year law students. Applications will be accepted until October 16, 2023, but the positions will be filled on a rolling basis. Selected candidates will be assigned work from the criminal, appellate and civil divisions. Our goal is to introduce law students to the federal system and litigation involving the United States. We strive to assist students in developing their legal research and writing skills. Students will perform legal research and writing; draft various pleadings, motions, briefs, and other documents; and assist with witness preparation, depositions, and hearings or trials. Students will also be provided with several opportunities to meet members of the judiciary, representatives of various federal agencies, and to participate in substantive programs to familiarize them with the federal legal system. The Criminal Division may give students an opportunity to work on a wide variety of practice areas, including narcotics, public corruption, healthcare fraud, cybercrimes, terrorism, and other federal crimes. Within the Civil Division, students may work in a wide variety of defensive and affirmative litigation, including employment discrimination, medical malpractice, general torts, constitutional torts, immigration, prisoner litigation, commercial, financial, and civil fraud.

 

Qualifications: 

The office is currently looking for second- and third-year law students to serve as interns for the 2024 spring semester in the Dallas and Fort Worth offices. Applications will only be accepted until October 16, 2023. Applicants must be a U.S. citizen. There is a required background check because of the sensitive nature of the work performed by the United States Attorney's Office. If you are interested, please submit a cover letter, resume, writing sample, and unofficial transcript to the following announcement in USAJobs, https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/749634700  . Applicants must indicate in their cover letter to which office they are interested in applying. Please call Ryan Niedermair at 214-659-8725 if you have any questions. If you have applied for this internship through your law school, there is no need to also send materials to this email address. Students will only be allowed to work remotely if the office is working remotely. Otherwise, students are expected to be present in the office.

Salary: 
Volunteer (uncompensated). Although the internship is unpaid, interns may be able to obtain academic credit with the permission of the intern's law school.
Travel: 
N/A
Application Process: 

We will accept applications until October 16, 2023. The hiring process will include an interview in person or virtually. However, we will make hiring decisions on a rolling basis. Interested students should submit an application that includes the following: cover letter, resume, and writing sample to https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/749634700

Application Deadline: 
Monday, October 16, 2023
Relocation Expenses: 
N/A
Number of Positions: 
2-3 in each office
Updated September 18, 2023

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Department Policies

Equal Employment Opportunity:  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.

Reasonable Accommodations:  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.

Outreach and Recruitment for Qualified Applicants with Disabilities:  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.   

Suitability and Citizenship:  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.

Veterans:  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).

USAO Residency Requirement:  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.

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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.