Duties
This vacancy is for a Spring and/or Summer 2025 internship.
Duties
While the duties of the Student Trainee (Legal) may vary depending on office placement, some of your typical work assignments may include:
- In the Office of Administrative Litigation (OAL): An internship at OAL offers front-line exposure to administrative litigation involving cutting-edge issues in energy law applied to specific cases concerning infrastructure and rates in the electric, natural gas, and oil sectors. Working directly with multidisciplinary case teams, a summer intern will see first-hand how the administrative process resolves disputes through litigation or settlement, including negotiations, trial preparation and practice, motions practice, preparation of expert witness testimony, and legal research on energy law and policy.
- In the Office of Administrative Law Judges (OALJ): Projects providing assistance to multiple judge teams, which often include research, drafting, and litigation support for orders, decisions, and hearing and settlement proceedings. Interns also receive educational training and have the opportunity to present on energy law topics.
- In the Office of Enforcement: Assisting enforcement staff as they conduct investigations and engaging in litigation or administrative hearings. Tasks would include evidence collection, legal research, drafting legal memos, and helping attorneys prepare for, and then attending depositions or interviews. Interns are also responsible for a semester long research project of their choice.
- In the Office of the General Counsel: Performing legal research, drafting legal memoranda, and assisting with drafting orders related to the Commission's regulatory responsibilities under the Natural Gas Act, Federal Power Act, Interstate Commerce Act, and Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, the National Environmental Policy Act and other environmental statutes, as well as administrative law; working with non-legal technical staff to review, analyze, and resolve energy issues presented to the Commission; reviewing applications, analyzing legal memoranda and orders relating to proposed hydropower and natural gas facilities; performing legal research, drafting memoranda, and assisting with legal advice and recommendations in the areas of ethics, appropriations, contracts, separation of functions, ex parte, Freedom of Information Act and Critical Energy/Electric Infrastructure Information, personnel disputes, and other matters.
- In the Office of Commissioner Rosner: Reviewing and analyzing Commission orders; preparing memos summarizing legal issues arising under the Federal Power Act, Natural Gas Act and Energy Policy Act of 2005; working on the Commissioner's speeches and separate statements; and assisting with other projects as assigned.
The intern program at FERC is unique in that we post one intern vacancy for multiple offices to make selections.
This means you may be contacted by several different hiring managers for different vacancies. See Next Steps section for additional information.
Our Internship Program offers students the opportunity to attend networking events, visit regulated hydropower dams, and participate in seminars with career advice and tips from FERC's top management officials. For more information, visit: https://www.ferc.gov/about/careers/student-relations .
This appointment is not to exceed (NTE) 09/30/2024. May be extended if the student continues to meet program requirements. This internship position
may confer non-competitive conversion eligibility, if student meets all Pathways Program requirements for conversion, however, conversion is not required or guaranteed.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
- A background investigation is required.
- Relocation expenses will not be paid.
- You must meet the eligibility and qualification requirements.
- You must submit proof of enrollment in a degree-seeking program.
- You must submit transcripts at the time of application.
- You may be required to divest certain energy-related securities.
- This is not a bargaining unit position.
- You must sign Pathways Program Agreement.
You must meet all eligibility and qualification (experience and/or education) requirements by the end of the fall 2024 semester for spring internships and by the end of the spring 2025 semester for summer internships.
Qualifications
Eligibility : In order to be eligible for our Pathways Internship Program, you must:
- Be accepted for enrollment or enrolled and seeking a degree or certificate in a qualifying educational institution on a half- to full-time basis (as determined by the educational institution); AND
- Meet the definition of a student throughout the duration of your appointment; AND
- Meet the qualification standards (e.g., series and grade).
Qualifications
To qualify as a GS-9 Student Trainee (Legal), you must complete your second year of law school by the end of the fall 2024 semester for spring internships and by the spring 2025 semester for summer internships.
To view the qualification requirements of
Student Trainee (Legal) please visit: Internship Qualifications
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills, and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including any volunteer experience.
Please do not cut and paste the position description, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume, as this will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.
Education
This position has an education requirement (as referenced in the "Qualifications" section) and therefore, transcripts and/or proof of enrollment are required.
Failure to submit this documentation at the time of application will result in your application being marked incomplete and you will not receive further consideration.
Additional Information
This internship position
may confer non-competitive conversion eligibility, however, conversion is not guaranteed.
To be eligible for conversion to the competitive service, you must complete 640 hours of work experience (up to 320 hours may be waived based on successful performance in the position and a 3.0 overall GPA); meet the OPM qualification standards for the target position; and meet the requirements of the FERC Pathways Internship Agreement.
Service in the Pathways Internship Program confers no right to further employment.
Our employees ranked FERC as a top 5 mid-size agency in both Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) and Effective Leadership according to the Partnership for Public Service's Best Places to Work in the Federal Government ! In addition, FERC was also ranked #1 in Work-Life Balance and we are proud to offer telework and workplace flexibilities in accordance with agency policy.
The duty location of this position is Washington, DC. Agency employees are eligible for telework and other workplace flexibilities. Telework days and waiting periods for eligibility are determined when an employee enters on duty.
If selected for this position, you will be required to:
- Complete a Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) to determine your suitability for Federal employment.
- Have your Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of your choice.
- Go through a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the Form I-9. Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S. FERC also participates in the USCIS Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification Program (E-Verify). For more information about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit: http://www.uscis.gov/e-verify .
- Attend a mandatory ethics training. We are governed by the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Standards of Conduct, the criminal conflict of interest statutes, and FERC's supplemental ethics regulation, which specifically prohibits FERC employees from holding certain energy-related securities. To comply with these regulations and statutes, divestiture of these securities may be required after you begin employment. See 5 C.F.R. 2634-41; 18 U.S.C. 201-208; 5 C.F.R. 3401. If selected, you may also be required to file a financial disclosure statement within 30 days of appointment.
- Receive authorization from OPM on any job offer you receive, if you are or were (within the last 5 years) a political Schedule A, Schedule C, or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch