Attorney

Full Job Description

The Civil Rights Division seeks civil and criminal attorneys to work on a variety of significant issues related to the enforcement of federal statutes and executive orders that prohibit unlawful discrimination, including discrimination in voting, education, employment, housing, police services, public accommodations and facilities, and federally funded and conducted programs, and protect against hate crimes and other criminal civil rights statutes.

Required Qualifications: Applicants must have strong, demonstrated qualifications in the following areas: academic achievement; substantive knowledge and expertise in the laws, rules, and regulations applicable to the work of the section or substantially similar laws, rules, and regulations; written and oral communication skills; the ability to analyze complex issues; skill and experience working collaboratively and productively with others; organizational skills; professional judgment; initiative; and the ability to excel in a fast-paced, demanding environment.

In addition, applicants must have outstanding professional references. Possessing the minimum post law degree legal experience does not guarantee the applicant will be selected at that grade level.

Applicants must possess a J.D. degree (or equivalent) and be an active member of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction) by their entry on duty date.

Law school graduates and current law students taking a July 2026 bar examination may be considered, provided they meet these requirements prior to entry on duty.

Preferred Qualifications: The following demonstrated qualifications are preferred but not required: Judicial clerkships (especially in federal court), law review, moot court, clinical experience, and skill and experience working cooperatively and productively with a range of people, such as charging parties, witnesses, respondents, disadvantaged or disenfranchised groups, opposing counsel, judicial or administrative officials, advocacy groups, law enforcement personnel, and the staff of other federal or state governmental agencies, are also preferred.

Major Duties:

As a Trial Attorney, your duties may include: investigating allegations of civil rights discrimination or potential violations of the law; conducting extensive document review to gather, analyze, and evaluate data and evidence; interviewing witnesses; drafting legal and factual memoranda; presenting evidence to federal grand juries (if appropriate); developing cases for possible litigation; working with expert witnesses and federal partners; presenting the government's case in federal district court; conducting negotiations and mediations on a range of issues; and enforcing settlement agreements and remedial orders.

Second Amendment Section: The Second Amendment Section is charged with enforcing the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding American citizens.

The Second Amendment Section investigates alleged patterns or practices of Second Amendment infringement by law enforcement.

The section also files statements of interest when cases in litigation affect the interests of the United States.

Finally, the Section utilizes affirmative litigation and coordinates amicus filings to achieve tangible results for law-abiding American citizens.

Appellate Section: The Appellate Section was created in 1974 as a component of the Civil Rights Division.

The Section works cooperatively with the trial sections in each of the Division's substantive enforcement areas in representing the United States in civil rights cases in the federal courts of appeals.

Many of the Section's cases are appeals from district court judgments in cases originally handled by the Division's trial sections Criminal Section: One of the oldest of the Civil Rights Division's sections, the Criminal Section enforces laws that date to the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era.

Originally a part of the Criminal Division, the Criminal Section and its enforcement authority was moved to the Civil Rights Division when the Division was created in 1957.

Disability Rights: Works to achieve equal opportunity for people with disabilities by implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

DRS has a central role in enforcement, regulation, and technical assistance under the ADA, as well as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Educational Opportunities: Enforces Titles IV and VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

The Section also enforces the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974, which requires states and school districts to provide English Learner students with appropriate services to overcome language barriers.

Employment Litigation: Enforces against state and local government employers the provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and other federal laws prohibiting employment practices that discriminate on the grounds of race, sex (including pregnancy), religion, and national origin.

The Section also enforces against non-federal employers the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994.

Housing and Civil Enforcement: Works to protect some of the most fundamental rights of individuals, including the right to access housing free from discrimination, the right to access credit on an equal basis, the right to patronize places of business that provide public accommodations and the right to practice one's faith free from discrimination.

Immigrant and Employee Rights: Enforces the anti-discrimination provision (§ 274B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1324b.

This federal law prohibits: 1) citizenship status discrimination in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee, 2) national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee, 3) unfair documentary practices during the employment eligibility verification process, and 4) retaliation or intimidation.

Special Litigation: Works to protect: 1) the rights of people in state or local institutions, including: jails, prisons, juvenile detention facilities, and health care facilities for persons with disabilities; 2) the rights of individuals with disabilities to receive services in their communities, rather than in institutions; 3) the rights of people who interact with state or local police or sheriffs' departments; 4) the rights of youth involved in the juvenile justice system; 5) the rights of people to have safe access to places of religious worship and reproductive health clinics; and 6) the rights of people to practice their religion while confined to state and local institutions.

Voting: Enforces the civil provisions of federal statutes designed to safeguard the right to vote of all American citizens, including the Voting Rights Act, Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, National Voter Registration Act, Help America Vote Act, and Civil Rights Acts.