The Honors Program in the Office of the Solicitor (SOL) provides challenging professional opportunities for outstanding law school graduates. Regional Honors Attorneys engage in all aspects of trial litigation under the many employment laws DOL enforces. After completing the two-year program, Honors Attorneys continue their careers as permanent employees of SOL. Most Regional Honors Attorneys elect to remain in the office where they began the program.

Duties

WHO WE ARE The Office of the Solicitor serves as the legal counsel for the U.S. Department of Labor. The approximately 500 attorneys in SOL enforce and interpret occupational and mine safety and health laws, civil rights laws, pension and health benefit laws, minimum wage and overtime requirements, whistleblower protections, and international labor standards. SOL also provides legal services to programs that pay Federal benefits to the victims of certain occupational diseases and accidents, provide grants in support of employment and training programs, and administer unemployment benefits. In all, SOL attorneys work with more than 180 labor and employment laws. SOL has more independent litigating authority than virtually any other cabinet department outside the Justice Department. SOL attorneys represent the Secretary of Labor in proceedings before federal district courts, federal courts of appeals, and administrative law judges. SOL attorneys also play a leading role in important and high-profile federal rulemakings and policy decisions. About half of SOL's attorneys serve in the National Office in Washington, D.C., and the remainder work in one of the 14 regional and branch offices across the country. Those offices are located in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Cleveland, Denver, Nashville, Los Angeles, and Arlington, Virginia. The Department of Labor's mission is to promote the welfare of wage earners, job seekers, and retirees, to improve working conditions, to advance opportunities for profitable employment, and to ensure work-related benefits and rights. Honors Attorneys play a crucial role in enabling the Department to carry out its mission. Like the Department, the Honors Program fosters a diverse and inclusive work environment that promotes collaboration, flexibility and fairness so that all individuals are able to participate and contribute to their full potential. THE WORK OF A REGIONAL HONORS PROGRAM ATTORNEY Applicants for this position should specifically be interested in trial litigation. Honors Attorneys in SOL's Regional Offices engage in all aspects of trial litigation under the various statutes enforced by the Department of Labor, including analyzing an investigative file, filing a complaint, engaging in negotiations and discovery, preparing briefs, and arguing motions, and serving as lead counsel in cases that go to trial. Regional Honors Attorneys have: Provided pre-litigation advice to client agencies in significant cases Filed complaints in federal district court to recover employees' benefits and wages under pension and wage and hour laws Appeared before administrative law judges in cases involving Occupational Safety and Health and Mine Safety and Health laws. Honors Attorneys in Regional Offices also may receive select assignments from the National Office divisions to complement their trial work or to expose them to practice areas usually handled by the National Office. Funding permitting, these attorneys will travel to the National Office in Washington, D.C. to participate with their National Office colleagues in training and networking opportunities. Regional Office Honors Attorneys may also volunteer to rotate to the National Office for a temporary assignment, usually lasting about three months. After two years, Honors Attorneys will be permanently placed in a specific office in SOL. Most Regional Honors Attorneys elect to remain in the office and region where they began the program. All efforts will be made to accommodate attorneys' preferences. The Honors Program gives attorneys a unique opportunity to help interpret and enforce a broad range of labor and employment laws while working in one of the largest legal offices in the Federal government. Honors Attorneys will gain experience that would be difficult to obtain in years of private practice and will share the honor and privilege of furthering the Department of Labor's mission and engaging in public service.

Requirements

• Must be at least 16 years old.
• Must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Requires a probationary period if the requirement has not been met.
• Appointment to this position may require a background investigation.
• Relocation expenses will not be paid.
• This position is outside the bargaining unit.
• Reference the "Required Documents" section for additional requirements.

Qualifications

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Applicants must meet all legal and regulatory requirements. Eligibility is limited to graduating law students who will graduate from law school between October 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024, and recent law school graduates who began participating in and continue to be employed in eligibility preserving employment within 9 months of law school graduation. Eligibility preserving employment includes full-time activities starting after law school graduation that can preserve a law school graduate's eligibility for the Honors Program such as judicial clerkships or time-limited court staff attorney positions; federal agency or state government Honors Attorney programs; or legal fellowships. Qualifications: All applicants must be ranked or have graduated in the top half of their class or have a minimum GPA of 3.0 at the time of application (if currently enrolled in law school) or upon graduation from law school. FOR LAW CLERK POSITIONS: Applicants who have not been admitted to a state bar may be selected for a Law Clerk, GS-0904-11 position. Appointments as a Law Clerk are limited to 14 months during which time the 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, after which the Law Clerk will be appointed to a permanent appointment as an Attorney. FOR ATTORNEY POSITIONS: Applicants applying for the General Attorney, GS-0905 positions, must possess a professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.); be a member in good standing of the bar of a court of general jurisdiction of a state, territory or possession of the U.S.; and have acquired the amount of experience indicated below for each grade level. GS-11, applicants must possess progressively responsible legal experience of a professional nature which demonstrates the ability to perform the work at this level. GS-12, applicants must possess (1) year of progressively responsible legal experience of a professional nature which demonstrates the ability to perform the work at this level. GS-13, applicants must possess (2) years of progressively responsible legal experience of a professional nature which demonstrates the ability to perform the work at this level. GS-14, applicants must possess (3) years of progressively responsible legal experience of a professional nature which demonstrates the ability to perform the work at this level. NOTE: A LL.M. may be substituted for a maximum of one year of experience. Applicants must have or plan to have a California bar license if they are selected for San Francisco.

Education

A LL.B or J.D. is a requirement for this position. If you do not submit sufficient academic documentation necessary to demonstrate that you meet the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements described in this announcement, your application will be deemed incomplete and you will be ineligible for further consideration for this vacancy.

Any applicant falsely claiming an academic degree from an accredited school will be subject to actions ranging from disqualification from federal employment to removal from federal service.

If your education was completed at a foreign college or university, you must show comparability to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States and comparability to applicable minimum course work requirements for this position. Click Evaluation of Foreign Education for more information.

Contacts

• Address Office of the Solicitor 200 Constitution Avenue NW Washington, DC 20210 US
• Name: Rosa Sierra
• Phone: 202-693-5009
• Email: [email protected]