Law Clerk, CG-0904-11/12 (Honors Attorney Program)

The Honors Attorney Program position is located in the Legal Division of the FDIC. The Program allows students in their final year of law school, new law school graduates in a post graduate program, and recently graduated judicial clerks to learn and work in support of the FDIC's mission. Additional selections may be made from this vacancy announcement to fill similar vacancies that occur subsequent to this announcement.

Duties

At the full performance level, major duties include:

Providing legal research and analysis.

Demonstrating knowledge of corporate, commercial, constitutional, and administrative law, as well as knowledge of statutory construction.

Preparing legal documents such as complaints, motions, briefs, and regulations, and legal memoranda/forms.

Completing assigned tasks and projects of limited scope and complexity designed to develop skills and proficiency.

Preparing legal opinions on a wide variety of subjects.

Salary

• $123,793 - $143,722/year

Conditions of Employment

Registration with the Selective Service.

U.S. Citizenship is required.  

Employment Conditions.

Completion of Financial Disclosure may be required.

Qualifications

Qualifying experience may be obtained in the private or public sector. 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.  Additional qualifications information can be found here.

For qualification determinations, your resume must contain the following for each work experience listed:

• Organization/Agency's Name
• Title
• Salary (series and grade, if applicable)
• Start and end dates (including the month and year)
• Number of hours you worked per week
• Relevant experience that supports your response to the specialized experience that is stated in the job announcement

If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete, and you may not receive consideration for this position.

NOTE: Please indicate how you meet the specialized experience under each applicable position. Do not copy and paste the duties or specialized experience from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications.

To qualify for the Honors Attorney Program, you must meet the following qualification criteria.

Please read below to determine the grade at which you would qualify based on your education and experience:

CG-11:

1.) A current law school student in the final year of law school graduating from an American Bar Association (ABA) accredited law school between December 2025 and June 2026, or a full-time graduate student in the final year of study which began immediately following law school; and 2.) Be in at least the upper thirty-three percent (33%) of your law school class and/or have an overall grade point average (GPA) of at least a 3.00 unrounded based on a scale of 4.00. NOTE: If your law school does not calculate class rank, and also does not provide traditional grades or a GPA, you should include a link to the school’s grading policy and should provide a narrative explanation of how your law school performance correlates with our requirements.

CG-12:

1.) A J.D. degree from an ABA-accredited law school; and 2.) A current judicial law clerk, who's judicial clerk experience began no longer than nine months after law school graduation and has been no longer than three years in length; and 3.) Be in at least the upper thirty-three percent (33%) of your law school class and/or have an overall grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.00 unrounded based on a scale of 4.00. Note: If your law school does not calculate class rank, and also does not provide traditional grades or a GPA, you should include a link to the school's grading policy and should provide a narrative explanation of how your law school performance correlates with our requirements. 

Admission to the bar is not a prerequisite to applying and being considered for the Honors Attorney Program, but is expected during the first 14 months of FDIC employment. Recent law school graduates who join the FDIC before bar examination results are available must provide evidence of bar admission as soon as possible after admission. Those not admitted to the bar within 14 months will be separated from the FDIC.

Education See requirements stated under QUALIFICATIONS. Other Information To read about your rights and responsibilities as an applicant for Federal employment, click here. Selected candidates will be assigned to our headquarters offices in Washington, D.C. and Arlington, VA. The Honors Attorney Program appointment is for a period not to exceed 24 months. While a permanent appointment beyond the temporary 24-month appointment cannot be guaranteed, successful completion of the Honors Attorney Program may lead to a permanent appointment in the FDIC's Legal Division. If at the time of successful completion of the Honors Attorney Program and permanent appointment in the FDIC's Legal Division, an Honors Attorney is permanently assigned to a regional office duty station, relocation benefits may be available. If selected, you may be required to serve a trial period. During the trial period, you will be evaluated for fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: • your performance and conduct; • the needs and interests of the agency; • whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and • whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Required Documents

Failure to provide all of the required documentation as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible determination or may affect your consideration status. Please review the following to determine your eligibility and which document(s) is required to complete your application:

VETERANS’ PREFERENCE: If you are claiming veterans’ preference, click here.  (Note: Veterans must submit the Member 4 copy of the DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty – or other copy showing the type of discharge/character of service [e.g., Honorable, Under Honorable Conditions, etc.] along with any other required documents (e.g., DD-214, VA Letter, SF-15, etc.) to demonstrate veterans’ preference eligibility.)

EDUCATION DOCUMENTS:  This position has a positive education requirement. Education must be from accredited institutions.  For a listing of accredited educational institutions, click here.  An official transcript will be required if you are selected.  If you attended more than one university and need to send multiple transcripts, please upload/fax all transcripts as one document.

Foreign Education: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that 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. For more information, click here.

How to Apply

To begin, click the “Apply” button and follow the prompts. If you haven’t already, register and establish a USAJOBS account. After you register online, click the “Apply” button to complete the online assessment questionnaire, and submit all required documents. Please be sure to click “Submit Application” to complete the application process. You must apply online.

To apply for this position, you MUST provide a complete application package which includes:

Your two (2) page resume showing all relevant work experience (paid and unpaid) including: duties performed; full name and address of the each employer; start and end dates (month/year); work schedule (part-time, full-time, number of hours if intermittent); salary; and any completed education and training (program title, subject area, number of hours completed, and completion date).

Applicants requesting an exception from the online process must contact the Human Resources Specialist or point of contact listed in this announcement prior to 12:00 noon local time on the closing date.

To return to your saved application, log in to your USAJOBS account and click on “Applications” tab. Click on the “Position Title,” and then select “Update Application” or “Additional Application Information” to continue.

You have until 11:59 p.m. ET (Eastern Time) on the closing date of this announcement to complete the application process.

Please ensure you have completed the application process by verifying the status of your application on-line to reflect: “Received”. Failure to complete the application process will result in an incomplete application and you will not be considered for the position.

Benefits In addition to the regular benefits offered by Federal agencies, the FDIC offers additional benefits to its employees. These benefits, some at minimal cost, are some of the best and most competitive in both the private and public sectors. To find out more, click here.