Job Details for Staff Law Clerk
| Court Name/Organization: | District of New Jersey |
| Overview of the Position: | The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey is seeking a Staff Law Clerk to join its Prisoner Litigation Office (PLO) for a period to end on Sept. 30, 2025. The Chief Judge is the appointing authority for all Staff Law Clerk positions with the Senior Staff Law Clerk designated to lead and assign cases. If hired, the position may be extended beyond Sept. 30, 2025, depending upon the needs of the office and funding. The Staff Law Clerk provides assistance to the Court regarding substantive legal and procedural review of prisoner civil litigation instituted with or without an attorney, including State and Federal prisoner habeas corpus petitions and civil rights complaints. |
| Location: | Trenton, NJ |
| Opening and Closing Dates: | 07/10/2024 - Open Until Filled |
| Appointment Type: | Temporary |
| Classification Level/Grade: | JS 12 - JS 13 |
| Salary: | $102,163 - $157,934 |
| Link to Court Careers Information: | http://ajis.njd.uscourts.gov/application/(S(cimgkvzyjkoi4m3ri1r5qtk1))/default |
| Announcement Number: | 24-08 (Repost) |
| Link to Job Announcement | |
Position Description
Representative Duties
Responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to:
- Substantively screen petitions and complaints
- Draft appropriate opinions and orders for review by District Judges, including motions to dismiss and for summary judgment and final habeas opinions
- Monitor dockets to assure the proper progress of cases
- Provide information, guidance, and advice to judges and chambers law clerks on legal issues relating to prisoner and pro se cases
- Compile statistics and prepare periodic reports to reflect the status of cases
- Perform other duties as assigned, including attending some Court hearings
Some travel within the district may be required.
Qualification
Ideal candidates are law school graduates who have:
- At least one year of legal work experience after receipt of J.D.
- A strong academic background, and demonstrated research and writing ability
- Strong verbal and written communication skills, and the ability to work effectively with a variety of people in person, on the phone, and via email
- Excellent organizational skills and experience handling multiple tasks and projects
- Ability to work with strict deadlines and in a fast-paced environment
- Maturity, good judgment, and high ethical standards
- Ability to work independently or as a team player, with a positive work attitude
Note: The outside practice of law is prohibited except as provided by the Code of Conduct for Judicial Employees.
Preferred Qualifications
Working knowledge of prisoner and constitutional law; federal clerkship experience; two years of legal work experience in a high volume, production-oriented environment.
Prior experience handling prisoner litigation is helpful.
Benefits
To learn more about the Judiciary’s benefits: https://www.uscourts.gov/careers/benefits
Miscellaneous
Conditions Of Employment
Applicants must be a U.S. citizen or eligible to work in the U.S. This is a high-sensitive position, thus selected candidate must undergo a higher-level background investigation conducted by the Office of Personnel Management. A background check is also required which includes a fingerprint and a criminal record check. Any applicant selected for a position will be hired provisionally pending favorable suitability determination of the background investigation.
Information for Applicants
Where appropriate, the Court provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you need reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process, please notify Human Resources at the Clerk’s Office 609-989-2084. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
The Court reserves the right to modify the conditions of this job announcement or to withdraw the job announcement, or to fill the position sooner than the closing date, if a closing date is shown, any of which action may occur without any prior written notice. The Court will only communicate with those qualified applicants who are selected for an interview. If a subsequent vacancy of the same position becomes available within a reasonable time of the original announcement, the Court may elect to select a candidate from the original qualified applicant pool.
Judiciary employees serve under excepted appointments and are considered “at will” and can be terminated with or without cause by the Court. All information provided by applicants is subject to verification and false statement or omissions of information on any application materials may be grounds for non-selection, withdrawal of an offer of employment or dismissal after being employed. This position is subject to mandatory electronic fund transfer (direct deposit) for salary payment.
Staff Law Clerks with Excepted Temporary Appointments are not covered under the Leave Act.
How To Apply
Qualified applicants must submit electronically (1) a cover letter and (2) an updated resume and (3) salary history (external applicants only) to the attention of Robin A. Newman, Esq., Human Resources Manager via the following recruitment link: http://ajis.njd.uscourts.gov/application/default.
The federal Judiciary is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.