Education Requirement. All Attorney and Law Clerk Trainee positions have a minimum requirement of completing a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) or Bachelor of Laws (L.L.B.) from and accredited school.
Bar Membership. All Attorney positions require a current, active bar membership. Admission to the bar of any State, territory, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, District of Columbia, or Federal Court is acceptable. Employees must maintain active bar membership while employed as an Attorney with FERC. Active Bar membership is verified prior to appointment.
Qualifications. Attorney qualification requirements (one year of legal experience may be credited if the applicant possesses any one or a combination of the following special qualifications):
- A second professional law degree (Master of Law/LL.M.);
- Membership on a law school’s journal or law review;
- Membership in the Order of the Coif;
- Graduation in the top 33 percent of law school class;
- Graduation from a “top 20” law school, ranked at the time of graduation as determined by US News and World Report;
- One year of significant non-legal work experience in a field related to the position for which the applicant is being considered (e.g., working with energy regulations or other work experience directly applicable to the work of the position for which the attorney is being hired); or
- A judicial clerkship following law school graduation.
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Qualifications Chart |
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GS Level |
J.D. or L.L.B. |
Bar Membership |
Legal Experience Requirements |
|
GS-9 and GS-11 |
X |
X |
None |
|
GS-11 (Law Clerk trainees) |
X |
|
Law school graduates who have not yet been admitted to the bar and who have not served in a judicial clerkship may be temporarily employed at the GS-11 level, NTE 14 months as law clerk trainees |
|
GS-12 |
X |
X |
1 year of professional legal experience post bar admission equivalent to the GS-11 level |
|
GS-12 (Law Clerk trainees) |
X |
|
Law school graduates who have not yet been admitted to the bar and who have served one year in a judicial clerkship may be temporarily employed at the GS-12 level, NTE 14 months as law clerk trainees |
|
GS-13 |
X |
X |
2 years of professional legal experience post bar admission, with one year of experience equivalent to the GS-12 level |
|
GS-14 |
X |
X |
3 years of professional legal experience post bar admission with one year of experience equivalent to the GS-13 level |
|
GS-15 |
X |
X |
4 years of professional legal experience post bar admission with one year of experience equivalent to the GS-14 level |
* OPM does not issue qualification standards for Attorney (0905) and Law Clerk (0904) positions and delegates responsibility to agencies.
* Interns (0999) may be evaluated against either agency-developed standards or the OPM Schedule D Group Qualification Standards for Intern positions (5 CFR 362.203(c)).