DCSIMG

Government Practice

Attorneys seeking a career in public service will find a multitude of opportunities in government practice. Many of our public officials at the federal, state, and local level, including presidents and members of Congress and, of course, judges, are lawyers. The proliferation of media coverage of criminal and civil trials and government investigations on Court TV, on CNBC, and on programs such as 20/20 has drawn much attention to government attorneys, especially prosecutors and judges. Yet there are countless lawyers in all branches of government who work to enforce and administer our systems of law and justice.

In addition to federal and state judges and prosecutors, government attorneys include U.S. Attorneys (who, as part of the Department of Justice, handle both criminal and civil cases), public defenders, and judicial law clerks. The Department of Justice, which is supervised by the U.S. Attorney General, employs attorneys working on issues as diverse as federal drug trafficking law, computer crime, and tort law. Attorneys also work for federal agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service, the Food and Drug Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. These agencies employ hundreds of attorneys to assist with investigations, enforcement, interpretation of regulations, and litigation, as well as to provide assistance to judicial officers within these organizations. Each branch of the U.S. military has attorneys who work as judge advocates, providing advice to military officers around the world.

Attorneys also work for regulatory and enforcement agencies at both the federal and state level, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state pollution control boards. State governments hire attorneys to work for state departments of mental health, human rights, public aid, public health, and insurance; public transportation entities; boards of education and elections; and myriad other boards and commissions. Local governments, including cities, villages, townships, park districts, and water reclamation districts, also employ attorneys.

Reproduced from The Official Guide to Legal Specialties with permission. (c) 2000 Thomson Reuters/West. For additional information on this publication please visit http://west.thomson.com/products/law-students. Copyright granted via e-mail by Donna Gies, September 16, 2008.