The Civil Division's Office of Consumer Litigation is responsible for criminal and civil litigation and related matters arising under a variety of federal statutes administered by client agencies that protect public health and safety. The Office enforces statutes that regulate unfair and deceptive trade practices; and, also defends government programs and policies in consumer-related areas. Because of its small size (currently 30 attorneys), the Office's enforcement efforts focus on cases in which consumers are unable to protect themselves. In addition, the Office defends the government in suits challenging policies of consumer protection agencies. The Office is located in the National Place Building at Metro Center, Washington, DC.

Student assistants in the Office of Consumer Litigation work directly under the supervision of our paralegal team, which assists the attorneys in their enforcement efforts. Duties assigned to students include general clerical work as would be expected in support of a busy litigation office. In addition, students may sometimes be called upon to research websites to locate targets or witnesses in our investigations, help prepare trial exhibits, examine documents received from targets in order to determine fradulent activity, summarize trial depositions, or file documents in courts in the District of Columbia or in Alexandria, Virginia. When necessary, students may be sent off-site to gather and examine documents at the various government agencies that we represent, such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission offices in Bethesda, Maryland, or the Food & Drug Administration offices in Rockville, Maryland.

The Office of Consumer Litigation is especially interested in qualified freshman and sophomore candidates who would like to find a permanent and stable position during their time in college. Applications are accepted throughout the year, and we interview periodically as we anticipate some of our students will graduate and move on. The students who accept positions are hired through the Department of Justice Stay-in-School program and are paid according to the number of credits they have accumulated. Starting minimum under GS 2001 rates is $8.48 per hour, GS Level 2. Students may advance to GS Level 5 ($11.63 per hour) under this program. In addition, students are reimbursed for Metro costs up to $65 a month.

For more information, please see the Student Employment Information link that accompanies this article on the Agency Information Gateway of Studentjobs.gov.

Current as of 10/10/01

AS OF: 10-25-01

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