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This position is located in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Each Honors Attorney is placed in a particular office/division and may have an opportunity to rotate to different offices or other federal agencies to develop additional skills.
The 2025 Honors Attorney class will begin in the fall of 2025 (late August through early October).
This is a time limited appointment not to exceed two years and is typically converted to a permanent appointment based on agency needs.
07/31/2024 to 09/03/2024
$88,336 - $209,636 per year
CN 51 - 53
Many vacancies in the following locations:
No
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
No
Term - 2 years - may be converted to a permanent appointment.
Full-time
Excepted
53
No
No
24-CFPB-193-X
802607200
Applications will be accepted from U.S. citizens or U.S. Nationals. No prior federal experience is required.
The CFPB Honors Attorney Program is a two-year program designed to provide exceptional recent law school graduates with early, substantive opportunities to use and develop their legal skills and make a difference in the lives of American consumers. Diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences are critical in carrying out our mission to serve the American consumers. The Honors Attorney Program provides CFPB with an opportunity to further advance the Bureau's diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.
This position could be located at our Headquarters in Washington, D.C., or in any of the following Regional Offices: Atlanta, GA, Chicago, IL, New York, NY, or San Francisco, CA.
During the program, Honors Attorneys are given increasingly complex assignments designed to build their legal skills and increase their ability to support the Bureau's mission. The Honors Attorney Program also includes mentorship and both formal and informal training to enhance analytical thinking, writing, communication, and other legal skills, as well as an understanding of the Bureau's mission and work. Additionally, Honors Attorneys may be able to rotate into a different Bureau offices or other federal agencies to develop additional skills. Such rotations typically last four to six months.
Honors Attorneys may be placed in one of the following offices/divisions:
Enforcement
Enforcement is responsible for investigating potential violations of the federal consumer financial laws and taking action such as litigating in federal court and the Bureau's administrative forum to address violations when appropriate. Enforcement's work is critical to furthering the Bureau's mission to make consumer financial markets work, protect customers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices, and take action against companies that break the law.
Supervision
The Office of Supervision Policy is responsible for developing supervision strategy and providing legal subject-matter expertise to supervision staff in connection with various consumer financial product and service lines and compliance areas, including fair lending. Their work ensures a consistent supervisory approach with respect to different consumer financial products for both banks and non-banks across the Bureau's four regions.
Office of Regulations
As a part of the Research, Monitoring & Regulations Division, the Office of Regulations is responsible for developing and implementing consumer financial regulations. In addition to highly skilled attorneys preparing and finalizing consumer finance rules, they also conduct 10-year regulatory reviews, regulatory burden reviews, and disclosure waiver requests. Their work also assists in providing guidance to industry on Bureau regulations and conducting compliance tools.
Office of Fair Lending & Equal Opportunity
As a part of the Office of the Director, the Office of Fair Lending & Equal Opportunity is charged with ensuring fair, equitable, and nondiscriminatory access to credit for all consumers and communities. Office of Fair Lending functions include oversight and enforcement of federal fair lending laws, including the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act; coordinating the fair lending efforts of the Bureau with other federal agencies and state regulators; working with private industry, community advocates, and other stakeholders on the promotion of fair lending compliance and education; and reporting to Congress on the efforts of the Bureau to fulfill its fair lending mandate.
Legal Division
The Legal Division, which has four program offices: (1) General Law and Ethics, (2) Law and Policy, (3) Litigation, and (4) Oversight, is responsible for providing advice on all legal matters; reviewing documents for clearance, rulemakings, enforcement, and other policymaking projects; handling defensive, appellate, and amicus litigation; managing and overseeing responses to requests for information from Congress and other oversight bodies; and ensuring compliance with laws, rules and regulations of general applicability to the federal government, including labor, employment, information, privacy, federal ethics, and others.
As an Honors Attorney, you may be:
Key Requirements:
You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
This is a position established to provide developmental experience to recent law school graduates in the Honors Attorney Program. To be eligible, applicants must be either:
(1) current law students who expect to graduate before August 1, 2025, and meet Superior Academic Achievements requirements: Includes at least a 3.5 GPA (on a 4.00 point scale) or equivalent, graduation with honors, graduating in the top 15% or higher in their class or other evidence of Superior Academic Achievement;
OR
(2) attorneys who graduated from law school after August 1, 2021 with superior academic achievements, and who, at the time of appointment, will have spent no more than one year since graduating law school in a position other than a graduate education program, judicial clerkship, public-interest position, or comparable activity
**To be qualifying experience, Law Clerkships must begin after law school.
Qualifications:
Law Degree: Applicants must be a graduate of an accredited law school with an LL.B., J.D. or equivalent. Anticipated degrees must be obtained by August 1, 2025.
Bar Membership: Applicants must be a current member of a bar with a valid license to practice law in a state, territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or join such a bar within 14 months of appointment. **Applicants who are a current member of a bar with a valid license to practice law in a state, territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico will be placed into the CN-51, CN-52 or CN-53 level attorney positions. Applicants who are not yet a member of the bar will be placed into the CN-51 grade level as a Law Clerk on a 14-month appointment until successful completion of the Bar Examination. Those not admitted to the Bar within 14 months will be separated from the CFPB.
Experience requirements for the CN-51: Superior Academic Achievement as described in the eligibility section.
Experience requirements for the CN-52: Superior Academic Achievement as described above and one year of clerkship, fellowship, or comparable experience.
Experience requirements for the CN-53: Superior Academic Achievement as described above and three years of clerkship, fellowship, or comparable experience.
The experience may have been gained in either the public, private sector or volunteer service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week on your résumé.
Law Degree: Applicants must be a graduate of an accredited law school with an LL.B., J.D. or equivalent. Anticipated degrees must be obtained by August 1, 2025.
OTHER INFORMATION:
Bureau employees are subject to government-wide ethical standards of conduct, financial disclosure requirements, and post-employment prohibitions, which applicants may review at www.oge.gov. In addition, employees must comply with the Supplemental Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (5 CFR 9401), which, among other things, prohibit an employee or the employee's spouse or minor child from owning or controlling a debt or equity interest in an entity supervised by the Bureau. Regulations also impose restrictions on the outside activities of certain Bureau employees, including examiners and attorneys. Applicants may review the Bureau ethics regulations and a summary of the regulations at www.consumerfinance.gov. Questions regarding these requirements and prohibitions should be directed to the Bureau Ethics Office at EthicsHelp@cfpb.gov.
The locality pay you receive will be determined by your duty location: Washington D.C., or Regional Office.
CFPB uses an experience-based process to set pay for employees. Experience is evaluated and credited using the employee's résumé. To ensure that all of your prior work experience (e.g., internships, volunteer work, details, part-time, self-employment, secondary jobs, etc.) is considered and accounted for, please ensure that your résumé covers the following:
Part-time experience will be credited pro-rata based on a 40-hour work week, while work of 32 hours or more will be rounded up to full-time experience. If you have multiple positions that have overlapping start and/or end dates, only 40 hours of experience will be credited for a given work week. Refer to Resume Tips for more information on how to submit a comprehensive résumé. See information on our base pay ranges and salary structure.
Our comprehensive benefits are among the most generous in the federal government. They include:- Challenging and rewarding work benefiting American consumers - Opportunities for development and advancement- Comprehensive Federal health, vision, dental, life, and long-term care insurance programs.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
We will evaluate your application by comparing your description of your work experience, level of responsibility, and accomplishments, with the requirements of the position to determine whether you meet all the qualification requirements. The assessment questions are for information gathering purposes only.
Veterans preference is not applied but considered a positive factor.
A complete application includes 1. A résumé, 2. Vacancy question responses, 3. Transcripts, and 4. Submission of any required documents.
Please note that if you do not provide all required information, as specified in this announcement, you may not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible). Please ensure all required documents, including any required work samples, narratives, or other materials as stated in this announcement, are attached to your application package
All applicants are required to submit a résumé either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their own choosing. (Cover letters are optional.) To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/date/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your résumé. We suggest that you preview the online questions, as you may need to customize your résumé to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions. Please view résumé tips.
VETERANS' PREFERENCE DOCUMENTATION: If you are claiming veterans preference as a positive factor, please see applicant guide for required documentation. In order to be considered for veterans preference, you must submit all required documentation as outlined in the applicant guide.
EDUCATION DOCUMENTATION: For positions with an education requirement, or if you are qualifying for this position by substituting education or training for experience, you MUST submit a copy of your transcripts or equivalent if selected. An official transcript will be required if you are selected. A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page. If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Refer to the OPM instructions.
See our tips on the application process and printable checklist to ensure each step of the application is completed.
RECOMMENDED DOCUMENTS:In addition to the required documents: Candidates are strongly recommended to submit a cover letter, describing why you want to work at the CFPB, the type of work you would like to do, how your experiences will contribute to your success at the CFPB, and, if you have a preference, which office(s) you would prefer to work in (although your application will be reviewed by each participating office). Candidates are also recommended to submit a recent legal writing sample; and candidates who are members of an active bar may include proof of their active bar membership.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has partnered with the Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service to provide certain personnel services to its organization. Fiscal Service's responsibilities include advertising vacancies, accepting and handling applications, and extending job offers.
Please review the entire announcement before applying.
The following instructions outline our application process. You must complete this application process and submit any required documents by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET, Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, please contact us by noon ET on the announcement's closing date.
You may be entitled to a reasonable accommodation as part of the job application process if you need one due to a disability, pregnancy; childbirth; or related medical conditions, or religion. Learn more about reasonable accommodations.
If you applied for a job at CFPB and think you may have been subjected to unlawful discrimination related to your application, you have rights. Learn more about raising an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) issue.
Once the online application is submitted, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. We will review your résumé and transcript(s) (if appropriate) to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. We will evaluate each applicant who meets the basic qualifications on the information provided and may interview the best-qualified applicants. After making a tentative job offer, we will conduct any required suitability and/or security background investigation.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/802607200. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
Learn more about
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was established by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. Our mission is to make markets for consumer financial products and services work for all consumers. Join us! We offer exciting, innovative, challenging, and rewarding opportunities.
The Bureau fosters a diverse and inclusive work environment that promotes collaboration and fairness to ensure that all individuals are able to participate and contribute to their full potential.
