SOL Job Opportunities
The Office of the Solicitor - Working for America's Workforce
Attorneys, help enforce our nation's labor laws!
The Office of the Solicitor (SOL) regularly seeks dedicated attorneys for our D.C. headquarters and in our regional offices. Put your law degree and legal experience to good use by contributing to a noble mission: to serve and protect American workers, prepare them for new and better jobs, and to ensure the safety and fairness of American workplaces!
- View the Brochure (PDF).
Learn more about individual SOL Divisions and Regional Offices
You can read about the work of each of the National Office divisions of the Office of the Solicitor at SOL National Divisions page, and about SOL's Regional Offices at SOL Regional Offices page. To learn about particular attorney openings in the SOL National Office, please search USAJOBS.
Click on the links below to learn more about the work of each Division.
Division of Black Lung and Longshore Legal Services (BLLLS)
Division of Civil Rights and Labor-Management (CRLM)
Division of Employment and Training Legal Services (ETLS)
Division of Federal Employees' and Energy Workers' Compensation (FEEWC)
Division of Fair Labor Standards (FLS)
Division of Management and Administrative Legal Services (MALS)
Division of Mine Safety and Health (MSH)
Division of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)
Division of Plan Benefits Security (PBS)
You may send your resume to SOLGeneralResume@dol.gov in order to be considered for future general attorney vacancies as they may become available. We will keep attorney resumes on file for 6 months, and make them available to SOL hiring officials.
If you are interested in a position with one of SOL's Regional offices, please contact the particular regional office directly. You can find contact information by clicking here. If you are interested in SOL's Honors Attorney Program, please click here.
Some vacancy announcements are posted on USAJOBS. You can conduct an agency search for Department of Labor – Office of the Solicitor.
How to Apply
Attorney positions with the Office of the Solicitor (SOL) are federal excepted service positions. For any position posted in USAJOBS, you must follow the application procedure specified in the announcement. To express interest in an attorney position with SOL's national office, you may send a cover letter and resume to the email address identified above. Your email and cover letter should clearly identify the position(s) and grade(s) for which you are interested in being considered. In the resume you submit, please identify the beginning and end dates (including month, day and year) for each attorney position or legal experience. If you have veterans' preference eligibility, ICTAP/CTAP eligibility, or any other hiring preference, please note that information in your cover letter or resume. Please do not include your social security number on your submission. The Office of the Solicitor will not pay relocation expenses or moving costs. Your cover letter and resume must be in a file format that can be printed from Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat (WordPerfect and plain text files meet this criterion). Do not send files in compressed format (e.g., files with the ".zip" extension).
What to Expect Next
Procedures for postings on USAJOBS will be described in that posting. General resume submissions to the Office of the Solicitor will be made available to the individual Divisions of SOL. You may be contacted for an interview or to submit further information. We will retain resumes for six months, and review them as positions and needs arise.
Persons selected for further consideration and/or interview may be required to provide a writing sample and will be required to provide the following additional documentation prior to interview. You will be notified if this documentation is requested of you and how to submit it. You will not be required to submit a document if it does not apply to you.
1. Proof of a professional law degree (L.L.B., J.D., LL.M) from an accredited law school is required. Proof of the law degree can be provided in the form of your official or unofficial transcript, a copy of your diploma or a copy of your wallet diploma.
2. Proof of an active bar membership certification from a state, territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is required. Proof of bar membership can be in the form of a copy of state bar certificate, wallet bar card, or on-line screen shot of bar verification.
3. For status candidates (current or former federal employees), a copy of your most recent SF-50, which includes your current grade and position as well as eligibility status. Incomplete SF-50 forms will not be considered.
4. Any applicant wishing to claim ICTAP/CTAP eligibility must submit an official letter conferring such eligibility for it to be considered.
5. If you are claiming veterans' preference, submission of a DD-214 form, DD-215 form or Discharge Orders is required to confirm veterans' preference eligibility.
Veterans' Preference Eligibility and Attorney Hiring
Attorney appointments within the Office of the Solicitor are positions in the excepted service, not the competitive civil service, and there is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to appointments in the excepted service. SOL nonetheless considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. If you have veterans' preference eligibility or ICTAP/CTAP eligibility, please note that information in your cover letter or resume, and include documentation of that eligibility with your submission (e.g., ICTAP/CTAP eligibility letter; DD-214, DD-215 Forms, or discharge orders).
Equal Employment Opportunity
The United States Government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factor.
If you need an accommodation for any part of the submission, application or hiring process, please make this request in your cover letter. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Student Volunteer Program
The Office of the Solicitor (SOL) selects student volunteers each year through the Student Volunteer Service Program. These positions are without compensation but are highly sought after because of the responsibility and experience they offer. A significant number of volunteer opportunities are located in the Washington, D.C. area. These opportunities are available to students in high schools, colleges, and law schools or graduate programs. Many of these positions are legal interns, but all provide work experience related to your academic program. The program allows you to explore career options as well as develop your personal and professional skills. As a student volunteer, you will be exposed to the SOL work environment and will learn about the missions and responsibilities of the agencies and department. If you are interested in being a student volunteer in SOL, please contact the particular SOL office or division in which you are interested. You should be prepared to send a resume and cover letter. Contact information can be found under the "SOL Contacts" page.
SOL Honors Program