Public Works

Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia: September 22, 2010

By Yared Getachew

UPDATE:  many thanks to James Whitehead '04 for his excellent presentation.  I use this opportunity to thank James and his colleagues at the PDS, especially Jennifer Thomas, Director of Legal Recruiting, for the office's annual visits to the Law School and its efforts to recruit our students, year after year, for summer internship, winter pro bono, and entry-level positions.

________

Please join us for a presentation on how to secure internship and permanent positions with public defender offices on Wednesday September 22, 2010 in WB126 at 12:00pm.  Our guest is James Whitehead '04, staff attorney at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS).

Home to some of the grittiest public defenders in the country, the PDS receives hundreds of applications for a handful of available attorney positions each year. To many, PDS has become the national standard-bearer and the benchmark by which other public defender systems measure themselves.

PDS provides one of the most comprehensive criminal defense training programs of its type.  The office has also developed innovative approaches to representation, addressing the problems clients encounter when returning to the community following incarceration. Throughout the years, PDS attorneys have earned the admiration and respect of opponents, colleagues, judges, and clients alike.

James Whitehead is a terrific presenter and I hope students will turn out for his talk.  He just completed a rotation in Appeals and will return to the Trial Division next month where he began his career.

Pizza available for 30 attendees.

Federal Election Commission: Tuesday, September 21, 2010

By Yared Getachew

Please join us for a brown bag presentation on careers in election law and campaign finance on Tuesday, September 21, 2010, at 12:00-1:00pm in WB101.  The speaker is Adav Noti, Esq. of the Federal Election Commission's (FEC) Office of General Counsel.

The FEC is an independent regulatory agency established by Congress in 1975 to: (1) enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act; (2) disclose campaign finance information; and (3) oversee public funding of presidential elections.  The Office of General Counsel consists of five divisions - Policy, Enforcement, Litigation, General Law, and Office of Complaints Examination. The OGC hires law clerks each summer. 

Mr. Noti is an attorney in the Litigation Division.

U.S. EPA Enforcement & Compliance Talk: Monday September 20, 2010

By Yared Getachew

Please join the Mortimer Caplin Public Service Center for a brown bag presentation on careers in environmental law and practice on Monday, September 20, at noon, in SL262.  Our guest is Michael Walker of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

In addition to discussing the work of the EPA and current developments in federal environmental compliance, Mr. Walker's presentation will focus on how students can successfully pursue and land internship and permanent positions in environmental law. 

Mr. Walker serves as Senior Enforcement Counsel for Administrative Litigation in the Office of Enforcement & Compliance.  Mr. Walker is also Director of the agency's National Enforcement Training Institute.

Pizza provided for the first 30 attendees.

How to effectively use the new USAJobs: September 16

By Yared Getachew

In January of this year the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) launched an upgraded version of USAJobs, the federal government's one-stop clearinghouse for civil service jobs and internships with federal agencies. On Thursday, September 16 from 12:00-12:30pm (EST) Partnership for Public Service will offer a 30-minute webinar on how to effectively use website's search features. I strongly recommend this session to all students and graduates seeking opportunities with the federal government.

Register for the event here.

Best places to work in the federal government webinar: Today

By Yared Getachew

Last week, Partnership for Public Service released its 2010 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings (PDF brochure here), a comprehensive rating and analysis of of employee satisfaction and commitment in the federal government.  The rankings - the 5th in the series - surveyed  290 federal organizations (large, small, and subcomponents) are based on responses of more than 236,000 employees.  The highest scoring workplace categories are employee skills/mission match, teamwork, pay, and training and development. 

The webinar - offered primarily for career advisors - will take place at 2:00pm this afternoon and will guide users on how to effectively navigate the Best Places website.  Students interested in participating may register here.

Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship Program: 2011-2012

By Yared Getachew

3Ls: The PSC does not formally counsel students interested in pursuing opportunities in human rights and international law - the Human Rights Program at Virginia is an excellent resource for those who seek internship and permanent opportunities in those fields.  However, every now then, given my personal interest in the area, I will highlight opportunities that could be of interest to our students and graduates.

The fellowship opportunity with the Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship Program was posted on Symplicity yesterday.  The application deadline for the 2011-12 fellowship year is October 15, 2010.

Justice will not accept late submissions

By YARED GETACHEW

2Ls and 3Ls - the deadline to submit your applications for the SLIP and Honors programs is tomorrow,  September 7, 2010.  See here for submission timelines for various U.S. time zones.

Indigent defense in KTM - part 2

By YARED GETACHEW

Following is another dispatch by Brooklyn public defender Adam Heyman '03 from Kathmandu, Nepal.  In April 2010, Adam took a sabbatical from the Brooklyn Legal Aid Society to work in Nepal with the International Legal Foundation (ILF), a New York-based NGO established in 1997 to ensure that reconstruction efforts of post-conflict justice systems includes indigent defense.  In 2009, ILF helped establish a public defender office to provide representation to indigent defendants before all courts in Kathmandu.  Adam summarizes one of his current assignments: the Chitwan Project.  All disclaimers stated in the previous posting apply.

By Adam Heyman

On June 28, 2010, we traveled to Chitwan National Park in central Nepal to assess the status of potential legal violations in poaching cases. Currently, the Warden of Chitwan National Park and the District Forest Officer, the two sole authorities as directed by the Wildlife Act of 1972 to decide poaching cases, are extremely overworked with many other park duties to also administer the adjudication of such cases in an effective and timely fashion. 

Philadelphia District Attorney: September 27, 2010

By YARED GETACHEW

Please join us for a brown bag presentation with the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office on September 27, 2010, at noon, in a room to be soon announced.  Our guest is Kelley B. Hodge, Chief of the DA Office's Municipal Court Division.  Ms. Hodge will discuss her career path and offer advice on what it takes to become a prosecutor in large urban DA offices. Following a Q & A session, I will follow with brief remarks and advice to upper-class students interested in pursuing careers in prosecution and law enforcement.

The Philly DA's Office is one of the largest prosecutor offices in the nation.  Organized into 5 divisions - Trials, Investigations, Juvenile, Law, and Narcotics, the office has a staff of more than 600 who prosecute more than 75,000 cases each year.

This session is open to ALL students.