DOC - Office of General Counsel

Staff Attorney Recruitment
Recent law school graduates and experienced attorneys may apply for and be appointed to attorney positions in the Office of the General Counsel. Recent graduates are eligible for appointment at the GS-11 level. U.S. citizenship and active bar membership (any jurisdiction) are required. For recent law school graduates, bar membership is not required for initial appointment to a limited-term GS-11 law clerk position, which will be converted to an attorney position only upon obtaining bar membership. For some positions, the official job offer is contingent upon the applicant’s obtaining a security clearance; dual citizens must be prepared to relinquish foreign citizenship in order to receive a clearance. All appointments are made without regard to race, sex, age, national origin, color, disability or sexual orientation.

Positions are advertised and filled as they become vacant. At any one time, there may be one or more vacancies. Each vacancy announcement will have specific instructions about the application materials required for a position. Each of the 14 legal offices within the Office of the General Counsel has its own hiring process subject to approval by the General Counsel. If you apply for a position within OGC, please reference the vacancy announcement number in your application package so it can be forwarded to the correct office. Upon receipt, each application is sent directly to individual legal office. Therefore, if there are several vacancies for which you wish to apply, you must send separate and complete application packages for each announcement.

If you are interested in applying for a position with one of our legal offices, our attorney announcements are posted on the vacancy announcements page.

OGC Support Positions
The Office of the General Counsel has many non-attorney positions that support the legal activities of the office. Paralegal specialists, secretaries, ethics program specialists/assistants, international program specialists/assistants and administrative personnel are encouraged to apply for OGC positions through the Department of Commerce's automated system Commerce Opportunities On-Line (COOL). COOL is a vacancy announcement and application system that provides a convenient way to search and apply for selected Department of Commerce jobs. OGC vacancies are also advertised on the Office of Personnel Management USA JOBS web site. OGC positions are listed under the Office of the Secretary in the COOL System. Please check COOL on www.jobs.doc.gov or the OPM web site www.opm.usajobs.gov periodically for available positions.

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