Summary
**Remote Restricted to Washington, D.C. area**
The Office of the General Counsel is seeking motivated and highly-qualified candidates for our Honors Attorney Program to start in Fall 2025. During the three-year program, attorneys will gain firsthand exposure to cutting-edge legal issues in various areas of practice.
Duties
The Honors Attorney Program will provide mentoring and training in a wide variety of legal practice including environmental law, legislation and regulation, litigation and enforcement, international law, nuclear energy, electricity and fossil energy, clean energy and energy efficiency, procurement, intellectual property, fiscal and privacy law, government ethics, and federal employment and labor law.
As Honors Attorneys rotate to new assignments, they will confront a wide variety of legal issues while learning the intricacies of each law specialty. The Honors Attorney will rotate to new assignments every four months and will join different Assistant General Counsel (AGC) offices. Honors Attorneys will learn the foundational areas of government law practice and be asked to deliver statutory interpretations to inform the implementation of programs, review rules and policies, consult on questions of environmental and administrative compliance, assist in litigation, and ensure that the DOE complies with all applicable laws while accomplishing its mission.
At the full performance level, the Honors Attorney will:
Review and becomes familiar with legal processes, statutes, regulations, office procedures and policies that affect the assignment area, and other requirements that have a bearing on the activities of DOE.
Perform legal research of laws, legal opinions, policies, regulations, legal texts and precedent cases bearing on the assignment. Typical research will involve the U.S. Code, decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court and other lower courts and administrative agencies as well as federal regulations.
Analyze factual or legal issues, and determines what further facts are needed and what sources are applicable.
Consult with operating officials, attorneys, industry representatives, and other concerned parties to complete investigations, provide advice and assistance, and draft legal documents.
Participate in litigation before federal administrative bodies and the federal courts.
Examine formal filings for legal sufficiency and appropriate disclosure; and program material for legal soundness and accuracy.
Provide legal guidance in response to inquiries from other DOE offices or inquiries from outside DOE.
Draft memoranda as well as briefs, motions, witness testimony, rulemakings, respond to Congressional inquiries, and assist DOE programs and staff with a variety of legal and statutory interpretation issues.
Recommend positions on issues and presents recommendations orally and in memoranda.
Present recommendations to the supervisor, and, upon request, to other interested officials. These recommendations may be utilized by more experienced attorneys in making final recommendations and decisions.
Prepare necessary legal documents and advisory opinions.
Participate with a team of DOE attorneys in resolving issues for clients.
Help
RequirementsConditions of Employment
- You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.This employer participates in the e-Verify program.If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. See www.sss.gov.If selected, your appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.If selected, you may be required to successfully complete a trial period.If selected, you must self-identify if you are or were (within the last 5 years) a Schedule A, Schedule C, or non-career SES political appointee as OPM approval is required prior to finalizing your selection.GS-0905-11 Attorney Requires - Proof of current active member in good standing in the bar of a State, District of Columbia, territory of the United States, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.Employees must become a member of the bar within 14 months and maintain active bar membership while employed as an attorney with DOE.This position is NOT included in a Bargaining Agreement.
Full-Time
Qualifications
You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
0904 Honors Attorney Program Law Clerk Requirements:
All applicants MUST:
Limited to graduating law students and recent law school graduates who entered judicial clerkships, graduate law programs, or qualifying legal fellowships within nine months of law school graduation. OR
Current law school students in their final year of law school or law school graduates within one year of graduation. AND
Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and be a United States Citizen. AND
Minimum 3.3 grade point average (4.0 scale, or equivalent). If a school does not use a GPA system, a class rank is permissible.
0905 Honors Attorney Program Attorney Basic Requirements:
All applicants MUST:
Meet the Honors Attorney Program Law Clerk Requirements; AND
Meet the minimum education requirements of successful completion of a full course of study in a school of law accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) with a professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.); AND
Must be a current, active member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:
GS-0905-11 Qualifications:
Law School Graduates: Law school graduates are individuals who have completed law school and have been awarded a law degree from an accredited law school. Law school graduates may preserve their eligibility to apply to the HAP for not more than two years following law school graduation (i.e., a spring 2022 law school graduate must both remain eligible and apply to the HAP not later than the 2023 application deadline for a fall 2024 start date).Law school graduates MUST preserve their eligibility by starting an "eligibility preserving activity" (see examples below within nine months of law school graduation. Generally speaking, eligibility preserving activities are approximately one year in duration, but they can be longer (e.g., a two-year clerkship, an 18-month fellowship). Short-term (e.g., less than nine month) "bridge the gap" fellowships designed to assist recent law school graduates to gain legal experience while seeking full-time employment do not qualify as "eligibility preserving activities." However, a recent graduate who participates in such a fellowship, but also starts an eligibility preserving activity within nine months of law school graduation is not disqualified by such participation. DOE reserves the right to determine whether candidates have preserved their eligibility, and may choose to rely on the U.S. Department of Justice's eligibility guidelines when appropriate.
Judicial Clerkships: Judicial clerkships (any U.S. jurisdiction) are qualifying eligibility preserving activities. An applicant can have multiple clerkships or combine judicial clerkships with other prior or subsequent eligibility-preserving activities (e.g., fellowships, graduate law programs).
Qualifying Full-time Legal Fellowships: There are an increasing number of legal fellowships that may preserve eligibility. Due to the wide variety of programs, DOE cannot provide an exclusive list. Candidates will be asked to provide specific information about the fellowship in order to permit DOE to determine whether eligibility was preserved. Full-time legal fellowships may be paid or unpaid, and are subject to the same requirements as other eligibility preserving activities (see above).
"Experience" refers to paid and unpaid experience. Examples of qualifying unpaid experience may include: volunteer work done through National Service programs (such as Peace Corps and AmeriCorps); as well as work for other community-based philanthropic and social organizations. Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills; and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
CTAP/ICTAP candidates: To be considered "well qualified" you must (1) meet all of the requirements as described in this section; and 2) be rated "well-qualified", which is defined as scoring in the in Well Qualified category (or higher).
You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
Education
Attorney positions do have an education requirement.
ALL Candidates must be a graduate of a law school accredited by the American Bar Association with a:
Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree; OR
Bachelor of Law (LL.B.) degree.
For the Honors Attorney Program 0904 Law Clerk position with an education requirement, you MUST submit:
A copy of your transcripts or equivalent. An official transcript will be required if you are selected.
For the Honors Attorney Program 0905 Attorney position with an education requirement, you MUST submit:
A copy of your transcripts or equivalent. An official transcript will be required if you are selected. AND
You must provide proof of bar or your bar number.
FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html
Education must be obtained from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Additional information
Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: Reasonable Accommodation
The U.S. Department of Energy fosters a diverse and inclusive workplace and is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional similar vacancies across DOE.
For general information on government-wide Telework polices visit: www.telework.gov
Hiring incentives may be authorized in accordance with agency policy and if funding is available.
EEO Policy: https://www.energy.gov/justice/eeo-complaint-process
Reasonable Accommodation Policy: https://www.energy.gov/hc/department-energy-reasonable-accommodation-program
Veterans Information: https://www.energy.gov/careers/veterans-military-spouses
Selective Service Registration: http://www.sss.gov/
The Fair Chance Act prohibits specific inquiries concerning an applicant's criminal or credit background unless the hiring agency has made a
conditional offer of employment to the applicant. An applicant may submit a complaint to the agency within 30 calendar days of the date of alleged noncompliance by completing the Fair Chance Act Intake Form and submitting it to the Administrative Investigations Program at AdministrativeInvestigations@hq.doe.gov.
Department of Energy (Washington, DC)
