Summary
The employee shall serve as a Counsel in OGC as a participant in the agency's Legal Honors program. Under the supervision of senior legal staff, the Honors Counsel will conduct legal research; draft legal opinions, regulations, regulatory guidance, and other documents; interpret federal statutes and regulations; provide legal advice; and represent FHFA related to all aspects of FHFA's operations.
*This posting is intended for candidates that have been admitted to the BAR*
Duties
This program is available to recent law school graduates (calendar year 2023 or 2024) who have been admitted to the bar and are currently employed in a judicial clerkship that will conclude by October 2025.
The Honors Counsel will work on assignments from each of the three branches within OGC:
- Mission Branch supports FHFA's activities as supervisor and regulator of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Banks, and the Office of Finance, including with respect to safety and soundness, charter compliance, executive compensation, and their housing and community investment missions; as conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; and as a member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council. Also supports the agency's legislative activities.
- Administrative Law and ADEO Branch provides overall direction, coordination, leadership, and representation on ethics, procurement and contracts, employment, trademark, mortgage fraud, Freedom of Information Act, Privacy Act, Paperwork Reduction Act, data, research, and statistics and other administrative law matters.
- Enforcement & Compliance Branch supports FHFA's administrative actions to enforce compliance by its regulated entities with applicable laws, regulations, Agency decisions, and safe and sound practices.
- Litigation Branch provides oversight of litigation related to FHFA.
Major Duties and Responsibilities
- Analyzes issues, conducts research, and prepares memoranda for senior attorneys on a wide variety of legal issues.
- Develops, drafts, and/or reviews documents such as legal opinions, regulations, policies, guidance, and related documents, legislation, contracts and other agreements, correspondence, pleadings, legal briefs, and other documents of importance to the agency.
- Reviews and interprets legislation, regulations, guidance, and policies.
- Works as part of a collaborative team with fellow legal staff, support staff, and subject matter experts on issues related to assigned areas of law or policy, including attending meetings with colleagues across FHFA.
- Researches, analyzes, and evaluates legal issues pertaining to FHFA in order to prepare legal documents, reports and memoranda for review, approval, and use by the General Counsel or other senior legal staff.
- Consults various electronic and hardcopy sources, including statutes, regulations, and case law.
- Researches, assembles, and summarizes legislative histories on issues of interest to FHFA staff.
- Performs legal research by utilizing a wide variety of electronic and hardcopy resources including electronic search engines and resources on the Internet. Contacts other regulatory and federal agencies to obtain information relevant to FHFA issues.
- Cite-checks, proofreads, and edits legal opinions and other OGC documents.
- Assists senior attorneys in litigation matters, including conducting research, drafting, and/or reviewing pleadings, and implementing strategies to address emerging challenges.
- Attends meetings with regulated entities and external parties on matters related to assignments, as appropriate.
- Performs other duties as assigned.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- Must be a U.S. Citizen
- Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service
- Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation
- Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.
- Resume and supporting documents (See How To Apply)
- This is not a remote/virtual position, however, pursuant to the Agency's Telework Policy, some telework may be considered and approved.
- FHFA participates in e-Verify. All new hires must complete the I-9 Employment Verification form either on or before their first day of employment. If a discrepancy arises, you must take affirmative steps to resolve the matter.
- If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.
- This position may require the completion of a financial disclosure report.
- This position is eligible for inclusion in the bargaining unit. The union that represents employees in this position is the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) Chapter 343.
- Appointments for Honors Counsel are 14-month temporary positions.
- Active membership of the bar in good standing in any state, territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
- Upon successful completion of the program, the employee may be considered for available vacancies in the Office of General Counsel.
Qualifications
This program is available to recent law school graduates (calendar year 2023 or 2024) who have been admitted to the bar and are currently employed in a judicial clerkship that will conclude by October 2025.Qualifying experience for the EL/GS-11 level includes:
Basic Requirement for Attorney positions:
All applicants must possess:
- J.D. or LL.B. degree --AND-
- Active membership of the bar in good standing in any state, territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
In addition to meeting the basic requirement, applicants must have one-year of specialized experience equivalent to the EL/GS-09 level which is in or directly related to the line of work of the position.
EL/GS-11 level specialized experience include: A federal or state judicial clerkship after law school in which the candidate gained experience researching, analyzing, and drafting legal memoranda and other related documents.
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 volunteer experience.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
This position is in the excepted service. All applicants meeting the basic qualification requirements will be forwarded to the selecting official for consideration. Veteran's preference does not apply to this series.
We recommend that you preview the online questions for this announcement before you start the application process. To preview the assessment questionnaire:
All of the information you provide will be verified by a review of the work experience and/or education as shown on your application forms, by checking references or through other means, such as the interview process. This verification could occur at any stage of the application process. Any exaggeration of your experience, false statements, or attempts to conceal information may be grounds for rating you ineligible.
Required Documents
FHFA's application process has been specifically developed to ensure that we only ask you for the information we absolutely need to evaluate your qualifications and eligibility. All applicants are required to submit the following supportive documents:
1. Your Resume: If you have not written a federal resume before, you may want to watch this video on the , or read through a helpful on the to learn what details you should, and should not, include in your resume. A CV (curriculum vitae) may not contain enough information to meet these resume requirements.
- Your resume should list all work experience (paid and unpaid); you must list the full name of each employer.
- For all types of work experience, you should indicate the start and end date (include month and year); you must also list the average number of hours per week that your worked.
- Your resume should also include any education and training you have completed (list the program title, subject area, number of hours completed, and completion date).
2. Law School Transcripts, Required
3. Proof of Active BAR Membership, Required
4. Other supporting documents:
- Cover Letter, optional
Important Notes:
- Utilize the preview feature of USA Jobs to view your documents and ensure the formatting remains and all documents are legible.
- Additional materials will not be accepted after the announcement closes (e.g. updated grades, updated resume, etc.).
- Your full name must be clearly visible on all documents.
- Do not submit encrypted documents.
- Tips: Encrypted documents do not transmit properly through USA Jobs. We recommend, you save the document as a new PDF, or Print to PDF to ensure the document comes through properly and is displayed properly using the USA Jobs preview feature.
- If the position has an education requirement or you are qualifying on the basis of education, you need to list your education history including the type of degree and your major of study. If the position requires a certain number of credit hours, you are strongly encouraged to list the relevant courses in your resume. Do not include a photograph or video of yourself, or any sensitive information (age, date of birth, marital status, protected health information, religious affiliation, social security number, etc.) on your resume or cover letter. We will not access web pages linked on your resume or cover letter to determine your qualification.
Failure to submit any of the above-mentioned required documents may result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
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 .
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.