Mississippi Bankruptcy Court Clerkship for Graduates and Graduating 3Ls
UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
Vacancy Announcement – Term Law Clerk Announcement
Number: 2022-01
Position: Term Law Clerk to United States Bankruptcy Judge
Classification Level: JSP 11-14
Salary Range: $66,214 – $144,976 – Dependent upon qualifications and experience in accordance with the Judicial Salary Plan.
Location: Aberdeen, Mississippi
Opening Date: May 9, 2022 Closing Date: Open until filled
Term: One year, subject to renewal; position only open until filled and will start upon hiring.
The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Mississippi is accepting applications for the position of Term Law Clerk to the Honorable Jason D. Woodard, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge. This is a full-time, 40 hours per week position that requires some travel (including overnight). A law clerk to a United States Bankruptcy Judge performs substantive review, research, and writing on matters pending before the Court. There is daily interaction with the judge, other chambers staff, and Clerk’s office employees.
Representative Duties and Responsibilities Include:
Reviews complaints, petitions, motions, and other pleadings that come before the Court to determine the issues involved and the basis for relief;
Reviews dockets of pending litigation and monitors progress; Performs legal research;
Identifies issues before the Court and makes recommendations; Provides information to the judge in connection with pending litigation;
Drafts bench memos for the judge’s consideration; Prepares orders and opinions, verifying citations; Prepares seminar materials;
Keeps abreast of changes in the law and briefs the judge;
Assists the judge during courtroom proceedings; Travels to attend conferences, hearings, and trials that are scheduled out of the area;
Shares in the administrative tasks of chambers; and Performs other duties as assigned.
Qualification Requirements: For appointment at a JSP Grade 11, an applicant must be a law school graduate at the time of appointment (or be certified as having completed all law school studies and requirements and merely awaiting conferment of degree) from a law school of recognized standing, and have one or more of the following attributes:
Standing within the upper third of the law school class from a law school on the approved list of either the American Bar Association or the Association of American Law Schools;
Graduation from such a school with an LLM degree;
Experience on the editorial board of law review or journal; or
Demonstrated proficiency in legal studies, which in the opinion of the judge, is the equivalent of one of the above.
For appointment at a JSP Grade 12 or above, an applicant must be a member of the Bar of a state, territorial, or Federal Court of general jurisdiction and must possess the following year(s) of full-time legal work experience after graduation from law school:
JSP 12 – one year of legal work experience;
JSP 13 – two years of legal work experience; or
JSP 14 – three years of legal work experience; two of three required years of legal work experience must have been served in the federal judiciary. Benefits: Judicial law clerks appointed to “term” appointments are subject to Social Security and Medicare deductions, and are eligible for some of the same benefits as other federal employees such as: Eleven paid federal holidays per calendar year;
Paid annual and sick leave;
Participation in the Federal Employees Health Insurance (FEHB) Program, the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP), and Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program; and
Supplemental benefits including health and dependent care reimbursements. Term law clerks are not eligible to participate in the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) or the Thrift Saving Plan (TSP).
Applicant Information: Interviews will be held in Aberdeen, Mississippi and travel expenses cannot be reimbursed. Only the most qualified applicants will be considered for this position. As a condition of employment, background checks or investigations are mandatory for all new employees who are appointed to positions in the federal courts. An individual may be hired provisionally, pending successful completion of the necessary records checks. All court employees are “at will” employees, and therefore, may be removed from this position at any time. Employees are required to adhere to the Code of Conduct for Judicial Employees, which is available for public review on the United States Courts website at http://www.uscourts.gov. This position is subject to mandatory electronic funds transfer (direct deposit) of bi-weekly earnings. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or eligible to work in the United States. The court reserves the right to modify the conditions of this job announcement, to withdraw the announcement, to fill the position sooner than the closing date indicates, or to fill more than one position, without any prior written or other notice.
Application Procedure: Submit one PDF format document via email to MSNB_Jobs@msnb.uscourts.gov that includes the following:
A detailed cover letter;
Current resume, including a list of three professional references; Writing sample, no more than ten pages in length; and
A completed AO 78, Federal Judicial Branch Application for Employment (available on the court’s website at http://www.msnb.uscourts.gov).
Only timely electronic application documents will be reviewed for consideration. Applicants who fail to submit all required documentation or who submit application materials through any other means other than as provided above will not be considered.
