Reminder: DOJ And Other Honors Program Applications Are Due Soon
Check out these great job opportunities for graduating law students and recent law school grads.
Earlier this week, I spoke (as I do each year) to a group of 1Ls at Columbia Law School — specifically, the Legal Methods class of Professor Philip Bobbitt. The students had many great questions about legal career paths and job opportunities for law students and law school graduates.
Several asked about how to become a federal prosecutor, a position I held before entering the media world. I gave them some advice on paths to becoming an assistant U.S. attorney — including, but not limited to, the Justice Department’s Attorney General’s Honors Program, which is “the largest and most prestigious federal entry-level attorney hiring program of its kind.”
For last year’s application cycle, the Program advertised 216 positions. For this year’s application cycle, i.e., the 2016-2017 Honors Program, there appear by my count to be a total of 236 positions, a robust 9 percent increase (and that’s not counting the seven to eight possible slots for informal participants).
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Once again, there are ample opportunities for immigration lawyers: 108 out of 236 slots, or 46 percent of the total openings, are with the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). Hey, someone’s got to litigate against those children.
(Snark aside, and in fairness to EOIR, giving lawful status to children who happen to make it across the border arguably just encourages more parents to send unaccompanied minors to the United States. And the federal government has spent millions on lawyers to represent unaccompanied minors in immigration proceedings.)
If you’re interested in applying to the DOJ Honors Program, consider this your annual friendly reminder from Above the Law: the application deadline is SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 (and note that the Labor Day holiday falls during this period, which could affect your ability to obtain transcripts or contact references). For complete application information and the full hiring timeline, see the DOJ website.
As we’ve mentioned before, the DOJ Honors Program isn’t the only opportunity for law school graduates or young lawyers to serve in the federal government. Here are a few other honors programs and their deadlines (click on each department’s or agency’s name for more information):
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- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): September 11, 2016
- Department of Homeland Security (DHS): September 15, 2016
- Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): September 19, 2016
These are just examples. For more opportunities, surf over to USA Jobs and run searches for terms like “attorney” and “honors program.”
Good luck to everyone applying to the various federal government honors programs this year. With private-practice hiring still weak, it’s good to see government picking up some of the slack.
Earlier: Reminder: DOJ And Other Honors Program Applications Are Due Soon (2015)
Reminder: DOJ (And Other) Honors Program Applications Are Due Soon (2014)
Reminder: DOJ Honors Program Applications Are Due Soon (2013)
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David Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at [email protected].
