<p>Just wondering here, what are the really good public interest or government jobs that law school graduates can get right out of law school?</p>
<p>first, a disclaimer. really good is not the same as elite. a good job is one that pays well and you find interesting and that won’t fire you.</p>
<p>elite government jobs include Supreme Court and Circuit court clerks, Bristow fellowship (with the US solicitor general), and to a lesser extent the federal agency honors programs, JAG corps, PMF, and similar programs run by states or cities. maybe things with the UN and ICJ though I don’t know much about international law.</p>
<p>elite public interest jobs are probably skadden and EJW fellowships, though there are lots of other fellowships and I think getting a permanent position is even better.</p>
<p>Federal clerkships are what most graduates looking for a promising government career aspire to.</p>
<p>There are no elite public interest job for law students. When you have 200k+ in debt you dont want a job that pays 60k a year. Reduce your debt, do as best as you can and take a job that you can pay back your loans and be happy at. Otherwise do not worry about it right now.</p>
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<p>One option no one has mentioned is an 1811/Criminal Investigator/Special Agent career path.</p>
<p>[Annual</a> Rates by Grade and Step Locality Pay Area of WASHINGTON-BALTIMORE-NORTHERN VIRGINIA, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA](<a href=“http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2013/law-enforcement-officer/annual-rates-by-grade-and-step-locality-pay-area-of-washington-baltimore-northern-virginia-dc-md-va-wv-pa/]Annual”>Annual Rates by Grade and Step Locality Pay Area of WASHINGTON-BALTIMORE-NORTHERN VIRGINIA, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA)</p>
<p>Based on OPM (and note that this does not include the 25% availability pay), you would make around $74,000/year in the Baltimore area as a entry level GS-10 Step 1 with the FBI. Of course, federal employment tends to be more reserve friendly so it’s very common to see many federal employees serving as commissioned officers in the National Guard/Army Reserve. I averaged about an extra $15,000 this year from “one weekend a month” and “two weeks (well, three this year) a year”. </p>
<p>Of course the caveat to this is that you have to be able to hold a TS clearance and 200+k of educational debt hurts your chances of holding such clearances.</p>
<p>I will point out that the public interest loan repayment makes government jobs affordable for law graduates with a lot of debt. The downside to that is that they are now insanely competitive: every law grad with $200k in debt would LOVE to work normal hours, have a very realistic loan repayment schedule (something like 10% or 15% of income above $20k per year), and full debt forgiveness after ten years. Many of my friends refuse to budge from their government jobs because they see the light at the end of the tunnel.</p>
<p>I’m also going to ask why it matters how “elite” a job is. Personally, I would rather enjoy my work than have random people be impressed by it, but your mileage may vary.</p>
<p>Perhaps you should be more concerned about marketable government jobs. As a legal recruiter, I can tell you that I call into the following agencies on a fairly regular basis - </p>
<p>SEC, DOJ, FDA, FDIC, OCC, CFPB, FTC, Federal Reserve </p>
<p>For litigators, a federal clerkship is a must for some top firms. US Attorney experience is also sought after.</p>
<p>Ariesathena: Just a note that Obama’s debt repayment plan based on income makes loan repayment a lot easier for new grads working in other entry level jobs as well. My kid’s unpaid debt is also being repaid based on income, with forgiveness in the future. A small warning flag about the program: right now debt forgiveness is taxable in the year that it is forgiven, unless the tax law changes in the future. That obviously means students will look at a big tax bill that year, although it’s is obviously a drop in the bucket compared to repaying the full loan plus interest.</p>
<p>Neonzeus: I am well aware of that. What I am unaware of is how it changes the reality that government jobs are more sought-after than they used to be. Ten years versus twenty or twenty-five years, and full forgiveness versus taxable income at the end. </p>
<p>As I said, young people are clinging to their government jobs; to butcher a metaphor, the tunnel is much shorter, so the light is that much nearer. If a prosecutor would have normally left after three or four years, she will hang on - because, hey, in six years, she’s home free. If she went into the private sector, it would be sixteen years (i.e. almost three times as long).</p>