3Ls: Dept. of Transportation Honors Attorney, Apply by May 4
The Department of Transportation (Department) Honors Attorney Program is a two-year program that offers new law graduates and recent law graduates completing judicial clerkships or judicial 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 six rotations. One rotation will be in the Department’s Office of the General Counsel and five rotations will be 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, enforcement, and participate in the rulemaking process.
In addition to legal work, honors attorneys meet weekly to discuss current work assignments and program matters. These meetings also provide time for in-house training opportunities in wide-ranging issues such 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 the automobile crash test facility, an LNG facility, the White House, an FAA air traffic control tower, and the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center.
All interviews may be conducted virtually at this time. Applicants will not be required to travel during the application process. For more information about the Department’s Honors Attorney Program, please visit our website: https://www.transportation.gov/administrations/office-general-counsel/honors-attorney-program.
The Honors Attorney Program is a two-year program. To be eligible for our next program starting in August 2026, you must be a U.S. citizen graduating from law school in Spring 2026 or completing a judicial clerkship or judicial fellowship in Summer 2026. Candidates will not be hired based on their race, sex, color, religion or national origin. Applications are due by May 4, 2026
Required Qualifications:
• Law school GPA of 3.0 or higher; OR law school class rank of 50% or higher
Salary Range: $85,447.00 to $133,142.00 per year (GS 11-12)
Location: Washington, D.C. (many vacancies)
Applications are due by May 4, 2026
Resume must be no longer than 2 pages.
Writing Sample (no more than 10 double-spaced pages that is an accurate reflection of your legal writing abilities and not substantially edited by a third party). Candidates selected for second round interviews may be asked to participate in a brief writing assignment at that time.
The following four narrative questions provide an opportunity for you to highlight your dedication to public service for the hiring manager and agency leadership (or designee(s)). While your responses will not be scored, we encourage you to thoughtfully address each question. Please provide a response of 200 words or less to each question. In your response, you must provide a self-certification that you are using your own words and did not use a consultant or artificial intelligence (AI) such as a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT or Copilot.
(1) How has your commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the United States inspired you to pursue this role within the Federal government? Provide a concrete example from professional, academic, or personal experience;
(2) In this role, how would you use your skills and experience to improve government efficiency and effectiveness? Provide specific examples where you improved processes, reduced costs, or improved outcomes;
(3) How would you help advance the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired. Executive Orders can be found here: https://www.federalregister.gov/presidential-documents/executive-orders/donald-trump/2025;
(4) How has a strong work ethic contributed to your professional, academic or personal achievements? Provide one or two specific examples, and explain how those qualities would enable you to serve effectively in this position.
Apply via Symplicity post 9870 or https://www.usajobs.gov/job/863870600
