Company: Department of Transportation - Office of the Secretary of Transportation

Location: Washington, District of Columbia Washington, District of Columbia

Type: Full Time

The Department’s Honors Attorney Program 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. To be eligible for our next program starting in August 2025, you must be a U.S. citizen graduating from law school in Spring 2025 or completing a judicial clerkship or judicial fellowship in Summer 2025.

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Conditions of Employment

You must be a U.S.Citizen and eligible for consideration.
Submit application and resume by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date.
This is an Excepted Service position.
Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered for Selective Service.
TRIAL PERIOD: This is an Excepted Service position. This job will be filled by an alternative hiring process and is not in the competitive service. Applicants selected for an excepted service position may be subject to a two-year trial period.
ETHICS/CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT: All employees are subject to the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch, set out in Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, section 2635, including restrictions on owning financial interests that may conflict with performance of their duties. Some employees, like those involved in contracting or regulating non-Federal entities, are subject to Executive Branch Financial Disclosure requirements set out in Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, section 263.
DUTY LOCATION: This vacancy is located in Washington, DC. You must be willing to relocate to the Washington, DC area.

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet the EDUCATION REQUIREMENT for the series, provide a copy of your law school transcript for verification, and meet the education and relevant experience qualifications for the grade at which you are requesting consideration.

To qualify for the GRADE 11, you must have:

Be a graduate of an accredited law school with a LL.B., J.D., or equivalent.
Be an active member in good standing of the bar in a state or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
A law school GPA of at least 3.0 for schools on a 4.0 scale.

To qualify for the GRADE 12, you must have:

Be a graduate of an accredited law school with a LL.B., J.D., or equivalent AND at least one (1) year of professional legal work experience OR a second professional law degree (LL.M.) which requires one full year of graduate study.
Be an active member in good standing of the bar in a state or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
A law school GPA of at least 3.0 for schools on a 4.0 scale.

Note: If you are not yet admitted to the bar of a State, the District of Columbia, a U.S. territory, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, to qualify on Education, you must possess a professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.). An applicant who has not been admitted to a state bar may be selected for a Law Clerk, GS-0904-11 position. Appointment as a Law Clerk is limited to 14 months, during which time appointee must be admitted in good standing to the bar of a court of general jurisdiction of a state, territory or possession of the United States. Upon admission to the bar, the position will be converted to a permanent appointment as an Attorney-Adviser.

Desired Qualifications

All applicants are reviewed for the following competencies:

Legal analysis, reasoning and writing, including the ability to effectively integrate and synthesize facts and law to make legally sound decisions, including in compressed timeframes.
Interpersonal and communication skills.
The ability to work both independently and as a team member in a demanding environment.
The ability to exercise sound judgment in challenging situations.
Willingness to consider diverse perspectives and ability to navigate changing circumstances.
Ability to effectively manage multiple work assignments and competing priorities concurrently.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:

Technical - Uses knowledge that is acquired through formal training or extensive on-the job experience to perform one's job: works with, understands, and evaluates technical information related to the job; advises others on technical issues.
Communication - Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical sensitive controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately.

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.

For additional information about applying to Federal positions, please click on the following link: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=e4

All applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

MANDATORY EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS:

In order to qualify for this position, candidates must have successfully completed a full course of study in a school of law accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and have a professional law degree, and must currently be a member in good standing of the bar of a State or Territory of the United States or the District of Columbia.

Additional information

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if similar vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.

This is an Excepted Service appointment. You will be on a trial period throughout your entire two-year program. If selected, you will be required to complete a Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) to determine your suitability for Federal employments and to authorize a background investigation.

Upon successful completion of the program, depending on the agency's needs, you may be converted without a break in service to a permanent appointment in the excepted service. The position may have a career ladder target up to the GS-15 grade level depending on the office the candidate is selected to work in. There is no guarantee of a permanent position following this program.

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.