3Ls/Current Judicial Clerks: Apply by Monday August 17 for a Post-Grad Job at U.S. Dept. of Transportation
The U.S. Department of Transportation seeks current 3L students (class of 2021) and recent graduates who are currently participating in a judicial clerkship that will conclude by August 2021 to apply for a post-graduate job with the Department. Apply via Symplicity OCI, “FALL 2020 OCI: U.S. Dept. of Transportation Resume Collect” by August 17, 2020. You will submit a cover letter, resume, transcript, and short writing sample (no more than 12 double spaced pages). Please do not submit on their website, as an application through Memphis Symplicity will be sent directly to a decision maker and will garner more personal attention.
Who We Are Overview
The mission of the Department of Transportation is to: “Ensure our nation has the safest, most efficient and modern transportation system in the world; that improves the quality of life for all American people and communities, from rural to urban, and increases the productivity and competitiveness of American workers and businesses.” The Department of Transportation’s Honors Attorney Program offers new law graduates (and recent law graduates completing judicial clerkships or fellowships) a unique opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the Department’s diverse law practice. During the two-year program, honors attorneys complete one rotation in the Department’s Office of the General Counsel and five rotations in the Chief Counsels’ Offices of the Department’s operating administrations.
Job Description
The Department’s Honors Attorney Program offers new law graduates and recent law graduates completing judicial clerkships or fellowships a unique opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the Department’s diverse law practice. During the two-year program, honors attorneys complete one rotation in the Department’s Office of the General Counsel and five rotations in the operating administrations’ Offices of Chief Counsel. Rotations provide each honors attorney with substantive and challenging assignments across a wide spectrum of legal fields. Honors attorneys find themselves working in practice areas such as administrative, aviation, environmental, constitutional, torts, labor and employment, and contract and procurement law. Honors attorneys may assist with litigation, draft legislation and participate in the rulemaking process. In addition to legal work, honors attorneys meet for lunch weekly to discuss current work assignments and program matters. The lunches also provide time for in-house training opportunities in such wide-ranging issues as the Freedom of Information Act, DOT’s crisis management procedures, and regulation drafting, as well as many other topics relevant to the practice of law at a cabinet level agency.
Honors Attorneys also make site visits to gain exposure to the transportation community. In the past few years, honors attorneys have visited a major air carrier’s ground operations at Washington Reagan-National Airport, Washington METRO’s command center and railcar maintenance facility, the automobile crash test facility at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, participated in an on-site inspection of semi-trailer trucks, and rode on the Federal Rail Administration’s track-test train.
Find more information at:https://www.transportation.gov/administrations/office-general-counsel/honors-attorney-program
Compensation
All honors attorneys are hired at the GS-11 or GS-12 pay grade, based on their prior experience, which includes the locality adjustment for the Washington, DC metro area. You may visit http://www.opm.gov for more information on the GS scale and to get the latest salary information. All honors attorneys are eligible to receive a promotion to the next pay grade after one year.
Honors attorneys receive all standard benefits currently available to Federal employees, including:
Federal Employees Retirement System
Thrift Savings Plan
Transit Benefits
Annual and Sick Leave
Health/Vision/Dental Insurance
Special discounts offered to Federal employees
Eligibility
The Honors Attorney Program is a two-year program. To be eligible for our next program starting in August 2021, you must be a U.S. citizen graduating from law school in Spring 2021 or completing a judicial clerkship or fellowship in Summer 2021.
Characteristics of a competitive candidate:
· Class Rank: GPA of 3.0 or higher preferred (Top 50% required)
· Exceptional writing and analytical skills
· Law journal or secondary journal preferred but not required
· Clinical activities, moot court, trial advocacy preferred but not required
· Demonstrated involvement in activities beyond required coursework
· Interest in public service
· Ability to adapt quickly to new work environments
All eligible candidates will be considered regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, or disability
