Judicial Law Clerk Program
Each fall, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel (ASLBP), the NRC's independent trial-level adjudicatory body, selects a handful of highly-qualified applicants to serve as judicial law clerks beginning in September of the following year. Judicial clerkships typically last two years. Panel law clerks are not assigned permantly to any one judge, but rather they are assigned to cases. This structure allows clerks to work on a variety of projects, issues, and cases and provides clerks with the opportunity to learn a broad range of skills while working closely with a number of legal and technical judges who have varying styles and approaches to ASLBP adjudications. An ASLBP clerkship is particularly well-suited to those who have a strong interest in regulatory, environmental and/or energy law.
On this page:
- About the Program
- Work Assignments
- Training and Development
- Qualifications
- Salary and Benefits
- When to Apply
- How to Apply
About the Program
Clerking for the ASLBP presents an exciting opportunity to work in an increasingly complex and important area of the law, particularly for applicants with an interest in federal regulatory and administrative law or environmental and energy law. The ASLBP adjudicates a wide range of nuclear matters, including reactor and materials licensing which involve both safety/technical matters and environmental issues. The Panel also presides over NRC enforcement cases. For a complete discussion of the work and responsibilities of the ASLBP, be sure to read ASLBP Responsibilities.
Working with their three-judge licensing boards, Law clerks are involved with interpreting complex legal and technical issues involving subjects such as reactor safety, radioactive waste disposal, NEPA compliance and the scope of agency authority and responsibilities. In addition, Panel law clerks aid Licensing Boards in preparing for and conducting oral arguments, pre-hearing conferences and evidentiary hearings. They are routinely involved in assisting with drafting orders and evidentiary rulings, and they managing documentary materials for the adjudicatory record. They often serve as a primary point of contact for parties appearing before a Board.
The ASLBP Judicial Law Clerk Program also uniquely prepares its law clerks for future employment, whether in the public or private sector, as they gain valuable insight into the administrative process as well as the deliberative decision-making processes of individual judges. Over the past several years, the ASLBP's former law clerks have gone on to associate positions with private law firms with energy law practices, with other federal agencies, including the NRC, and with non-profit environmental organizations. In addition, at the conclusion of his or her clerkship an ASLBP law clerk remains eligible for all federal government honor law/attorney employment opportunities, including the Department of Justice Attorney General's Honors Program and the NRC's Honor Law Graduate Program (HLGP). Many of the Panel's past law clerks have emphasized the impact their experience with ASLBP had on their ability to secure competitive and rewarding post-clerkship employment.
Work Assignments
As noted above, ASLBP law clerks have the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects and cases, and to serve with a variety of judges. Individual assignments are made by the Chief Counsel, who acts as a “gatekeeper” to help clerks manage their work load, as law clerks are generally assigned to several cases or matters at any given time. Typical assignments include drafting judicial decisions and orders, conducting legal research, preparing legal memoranda, and providing assistance to Licensing Boards during evidentiary hearings. Clerks are often assigned to work on a particular case for an extended period of time and therefore are involved in the development of a case from its earliest stages, including rulings on standing and contention admissibility, discovery disputes and, ultimately, conducting an evidentiary hearing and drafting merits decisions on those evidentiary presentations.
Because Licensing Boards typically conduct hearings and oral arguments at a location in the vicinity of the nuclear facility that is the focus of a particular case, clerks generally have the opportunity for some travel over the course of their service with the Panel. For additional information, see Location of ASLBP Hearings.
Training and Development
In addition to “on the job” training ASLBP law clerks receive while working with various legal and technical judges, clerks can participate in a variety of formal legal and technical training. Because the NRC is located in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, law clerks have the opportunity to attend any number of programs sponsored by the American Bar Association or other professional associations, such as the ABA's annual Administrative Law Conference, and various state and District of Columbia Bar Association continuing legal education programs. On the technical side, each year the first year clerks are encouraged to attend a week-long training program conducted at the NRC’s Technical Training Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that provides training in various scientific and engineering fields associated with regulating nuclear materials and facilities. This trip usually includes a tour of a nuclear power plant. Finally, the ASLBP periodically holds Panel Meetings that address pertinent technical and legal developments and our clerks participate in those. See also, the Career Training and Development Page.
Qualifications
General Qualifications. To be considered for the Judicial Law Clerk Program, applicants must be third-year law students who will earn their J.D. by June of the academic year of application, graduate law students in their last year of study, or current judicial law clerks whose clerkship ends no later than September of the year following application. Graduate law students and judicial clerks should not have any significant post-J.D. legal employment. Only United States citizens can be admitted to the Judicial Law Clerk Program, and each person selected for the program must undergo a complete security/background investigation and be granted a security clearance.
Academic Qualifications. The ASLBP generally considers only those applicants who are in the top one-third of their law school class. Due to the nature of law clerk duties, the ASLBP places a premium on legal analysis and writing skills. Law Review or comparable journal experience is strongly preferred. Finally, the ASLBP is looking for candidates who have demonstrated strong interest and ability in administrative/regulatory law, environmental law and/or energy law.
Salary and Benefits
Grade and Salary Levels. Using federal grade and salary levels, ASLBP judicial law clerks will typically start at grade GG-11, step 10. Applicants who have previously served as judicial law clerks may enter at a higher grade. After one year of satisfactory job performance, and assuming admission to the Bar of any state or the District of Columbia, an ASLBP law clerk is eligible for a promotion to grade GG-12, step 5.
Benefits. To learn more about health benefits, vacation and sick leave, life insurance, retirement plans, and other NRC benefits, please see the NRC Employee Benefits page. ASLBP law clerks may also be eligible for relocation expense reimbursement on a case-by-case basis.
Work Schedules. Judicial law clerks are eligible for various flexible work schedules, including a “Compressed Work Schedule” that allows employees to work eight 9-hour weekdays and one 8-hour weekday per 2-week pay period, with flexible start and end times, and receive one weekday off per pay period.
Other Benefits. Judicial law clerks can also take advantage of the many other benefits of working at the NRC, including an on-site fitness center, health center, and child development center, and public transportation subsidies. For more information, please see the NRC Quality of Life page.
When to Apply
Applications will be accepted from August 1, 2011, through September 30, 2011.
How to Apply
Applicants should apply for this position directly by sending an e-mailing to Anthony.Eitreim@nrc.gov and attaching Word or PDF files with the following information:
- a cover letter detailing your interest in the Judicial Law Clerk Program;
- your resume;
- an unofficial law school transcript (explaining your school's grading system, if necessary);
- the names and contact information for, at least three professional references; and
- Legal Writing Sample demonstrating analysis of legal issues or statutory and regulatory interpretation to:
Anthony C. Eitreim, ASLBP Chief Counsel
Anthony.Eitreim@nrc.gov
