Summary

The General Counsel's Office (GCO) is a component of the EOUSA in the Department of Justice and is responsible for providing a full range of legal advice and services to the 94 United States Attorney's Offices (USAOs) throughout the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

This position is for current Law students. For more information on the Department of Justice and the United States Attorneys' Offices, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao/eousa

This job is open to

The public

U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Clarification from the agency

First-year (second semester), second and third-year law students currently enrolled in an accredited college or university.

Duties

Interns will assist Assistant General Counsels (AGC) with preparing to respond to document production requests, written witness questionnaires, and legal research for draft pleadings in federal administrative proceedings.

Interns will also work with AGCs on a variety of subject matters such as ethics, standards of conduct, and employment law. Interns will work with an attorney who will provide specific guidance and direction.

Students interested in administrative law; federal employment law, or litigation are encouraged to apply.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

You must be a United States Citizen or National.
Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory pre-employment adjudication. This includes fingerprint and credit reports. Continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation
You must meet half-time student enrollment requirements.
You must submit a transcript or proof of enrollment with your application.
You must be at least 18 years of age or older.
You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.
Must be able to commit to a minimum of 20 hours a week for 8-10 weeks in the summer and 10 hours a week during the fall 2026 academic semester for 14-16 weeks.

Qualifications

To be eligible for this internship ALL of the following requirements must be met:

Student Status: Acceptance of applications for this announcement will be extended to rising second or rising third year Law Students. An eligible student is an individual enrolled in law school pursuing a Juris Doctor degree. Successful candidates must have outstanding academic records, superior writing skills and be in good academic standing at his/her university. Student interns must be United States Citizens. You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.
Grade Point Average: You must have at least a 2.5 GPA.
Citizenship: Student Interns must be United States citizens or owe permanent allegiance to the United States. (Currently, natives of American Samoa, Swains Island and certain inhabitants of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are the only groups that owe permanent allegiance to the United States).
Background Investigation: You must successfully complete a suitability review and receive a favorable determination based on information provided in their security forms, a credit report, and fingerprint check to determine suitability for Federal employment.

Education

All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at an institution that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, see http://www.ed.gov.

Foreign Education Note: You may use foreign education to meet qualification requirements if you send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency in with your transcript. It is your responsibility to timely provide such evidence by submitting proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency with your application materials. More information may be found at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html. All documentation must be in English or include an English translation.

Additional information

Payment of relocation expenses will not be authorized.

Selectees for this position are ineligible for life insurance, retirement (including the Thrift Savings Plan), long term care insurance, and within grade increases.

Selective Service: 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 http://www.sss.gov.

Reasonable Accommodation Statement: Federal Agencies must provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities, where appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the hiring agency directly. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.

EEO Statement: The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non-merit factor.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Review our benefits

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed on this announcement. If you are basically qualified for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses on the Occupational Questionnaire. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job.

The Occupational Questionnaire will take you approximately 10 minutes to complete.

Required Documents

You must provide a complete Application Package, which includes:

- Required: Your responses to the Online Occupational Questionnaire (This is completed automatically during the apply online process).

- Required: Your resume cannot exceed two pages - you will be deemed ineligible and receive no further consideration if your resume exceeds two pages - see USAJOBS for formatting requirements. Include relevant employment history as outlined below for each job:

Official position title (if Federal, include series/grade),
Employer name and contact information,
Start and end dates (for full consideration you must include month, day, and year),
Indicate full-time or number of hours worked per week if part-time, and
A list of duties performed and accomplishments.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). 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.

- Required: Current Unofficial transcript or proof of current enrollment, e.g., recent letter from the registrar's office.

-Required: Legal writing sample, no more than 10 pages.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below.
The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 03/20/2026 to receive consideration.
1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
2. Click the Submit My Answers button to submit your application package. (It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.)
3. To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, http://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.

To preview the Assessment Questionnaire, please click the following link:https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12899606

You are encouraged to apply online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application. If you are unable to apply online, contact Samantha Grover at 202-252-5351 or samantha.grover@usdoj.gov as soon as possible to arrange an alternative application process.

Agency contact information

Samantha Grover

Phone: 202-252-5351
Email: samantha.grover@usdoj.gov

Address: General Counsel's Office
175 N Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
US

Next steps

We will notify you of the outcome after each step of the recruitment process has been completed. After making a tentative job offer, we will conduct a suitability/security background investigation, to include a credit check. We expect to make a final job offer within 80 days after the closing date of the announcement.

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