Legal Careers
Law Student Volunteer, Spring 2025, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (“CEOS”)
The Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (“CEOS”) and its forensic High Technology Investigative Unit (“HTIU”) are the nation’s experts in investigating and prosecuting high-technology federal child exploitation cases and crimes. CEOS Trial Attorneys and HTIU Digital Investigative Analysts lead the Department of Justice’s efforts to improve the enforcement of federal child exploitation laws and prevent the exploitation of children. CEOS and HTIU investigate and prosecute all federal child exploitation cases including those involving the production, sale, and trafficking in child sexual abuse material, the sex trafficking of minors, and United States citizens who travel abroad to engage in sex acts with minors. In addition, CEOS and HTIU perform other vital functions within the Criminal Division, including providing advice and training to other federal child exploitation prosecutors, law enforcement personnel, and government officials, and participating in national and international meetings on training and policy development. CEOS also works to develop and refine proposals for prosecution policies, legislation, government practices, and agency regulations.
As the federal agency whose mission is to ensure the fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans, the Department of Justice is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. To build and retain a workforce that reflects the diverse experiences and perspectives of the American people, we welcome applicants from the many communities, identities, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, religions, and cultures of the United States who share our commitment to public service.
Legal interns work directly with the CEOS Trial Attorneys on a variety of assignments, ranging from conducting legal research and writing to assisting in investigations and prosecutions of child exploitation offenses.
Commitment:
Spring and fall applicants must be available to work at least 24 hours per week (across at least 3 days) for a minimum of 10 weeks. This requirement is not negotiable, and availability must be confirmed with the applicant and their educational institution before an interview can be conducted. The summer internship is full-time (at least 32 hours across 5 days per week). The internship can be completed in-person, or a combination of in-person and remote (hybrid), based on student preference.
First-year law students are eligible to apply for the summer internship only. All offers are subject to obtaining a proper security clearance after a review conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. U.S. citizenship is required and applicants must have resided in the U.S. for at least 37 of the last 60 months.
Applicants should submit a cover letter, resume, current law school transcript, and legal writing sample at least five pages in length via email to ceos.interns@usdoj.gov. The cover letter should be addressed to Eduardo Palomo and James E. Burke, Internship Coordinators. All documents should be in PDF format; a single, combined PDF (rather than multiple) is preferred.
We review applications on a rolling basis. Submission deadlines for each semester are as follows:
- Fall internship position: June 15
- Spring internship position: October 1
- Summer internship position: February 1
For more information, visit our website: https://www.justice.gov/criminal-ceos
These positions are volunteer (uncompensated).
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Department Policies
Equal Employment Opportunity: The U.S. Department of Justice is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer. Except where otherwise provided by law, there will be no discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex - including gender identity, sexual orientation, or pregnancy status - or because of age (over 40), physical or mental disability, protected genetic information, parental status, marital status, political affiliation, or any other non-merit based factor. The Department of Justice welcomes and encourages applications from persons with physical and mental disabilities. The Department is firmly committed to satisfying its affirmative obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advanced on the basis of merit within the Department of Justice. For more information, please review our full EEO Statement.
Reasonable Accommodations: This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Outreach and Recruitment for Qualified Applicants with Disabilities: The Department encourages qualified applicants with disabilities, including individuals with targeted/severe disabilities to apply in response to posted vacancy announcements. Qualified applicants with targeted/severe disabilities may be eligible for direct hire, non-competitive appointment under Schedule A (5 C.F.R. § 213.3102(u)) hiring authority. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to contact one of the Department’s Disability Points of Contact (DPOC) to express an interest in being considered for a position. See list of DPOCs.
Suitability and Citizenship: It is the policy of the Department to achieve a drug-free workplace and persons selected for employment will be required to pass a drug test which screens for illegal drug use prior to final appointment. Employment is also contingent upon the completion and satisfactory adjudication of a background investigation. Congress generally prohibits agencies from employing non-citizens within the United States, except for a few narrow exceptions as set forth in the annual Appropriations Act (see, https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/non-citizens/). Pursuant to DOJ component policies, only U.S. citizens are eligible for employment with the Executive Office for Immigration Review, U.S. Trustee’s Offices, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unless otherwise indicated in a particular job advertisement, qualifying non-U.S. citizens meeting immigration and appropriations law criteria may apply for employment with other DOJ organizations. However, please be advised that the appointment of non-U.S. citizens is extremely rare; such appointments would be possible only if necessary to accomplish the Department's mission and would be subject to strict security requirements. Applicants who hold dual citizenship in the U.S. and another country will be considered on a case-by-case basis. All DOJ employees are subject to a residency requirement. Candidates must have lived in the United States for at least three of the past five years. The three-year period is cumulative, not necessarily consecutive. Federal or military employees, or dependents of federal or military employees serving overseas, are excepted from this requirement. This is a Department security requirement which is waived only for extreme circumstances and handled on a case-by-case basis.
Veterans: There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Justice considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans' preference must include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., the DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty and other supporting documentation) to their submissions. Although the "point" system is not used, per se, applicants eligible to claim 10-point preference must submit Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, and submit the supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed (visit the OPM website, www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf for a copy of SF 15, which lists the types of 10-point preferences and the required supporting document(s). Applicants should note that SF 15 requires supporting documentation associated with service- connected disabilities or receipt of nonservice-connected disability pensions to be dated 1991 or later except in the case of service members submitting official statements or retirement orders from a branch of the Armed Forces showing that their retirement was due to a permanent service-connected disability or that they were transferred to the permanent disability retired list (the statement or retirement orders must indicate that the disability is 10% or more).
USAO Residency Requirement: Assistant United States Attorneys must reside in the district to which appointed or within 25 miles thereof. See 28 U.S.C. 545 for district specific information.
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This and other vacancy announcements can be found under Attorney Vacancies and Volunteer Legal Internships. The Department of Justice cannot control further dissemination and/or posting of information contained in this vacancy announcement. Such posting and/or dissemination is not an endorsement by the Department of the organization or group disseminating and/or posting the information.