The Week That Will Be

Event Announcements (More details on the Events Calendar)

Monday, February 8th at 10 am: The Brookings Institution will host an event on the Syrian Refugee Crisis and the United States. Brookings Senior Fellow Daniel Byman will moderate a panel with Elizabeth Ferris, William Galston, and Robert McKenzie. RSVP.

Tuesday, February 9th at 12:15 pm: At the New America Foundation, Peter Bergen will preview his new book United States of Jihad: Investigating America's Homegrown Terrorists. Bruce Hoffman will interview Bergen during the event. Register here.

Tuesday, February 9th at 3:30 pm: C.J. Chivers of the New York Times will present at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on ISIS's Hunt for WMDs: Navigating the Nuclear Underworld. The discussion will be moderated by Rebecca Hersman of CSIS. RSVP.

Thursday, February 11th at 10 am: Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies will hold a 2016 Preview of the Debate on Transatlantic Data Privacy and National Security. Dan Hamilton will moderate a conversation with Ted Dean, Julie Brill, Bart Forsyth, Robert Litt, Marietje Schaake, Andreas Schwab, and Michal Boni. For more information, see the event announcement.

Thursday, February 11th at 10 am: Join the Wilson Center as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh C. Johnson delivers his final State of Homeland Security address, entitled DHS: Progress in 2015, Goals for 2016. Jane Harman, President of the Wilson Center, will introduce Secretary Johnson. RSVP.

Employment Announcements (More details on the Job Board)

Attorney-Advisor, Department of Commerce

Organization: Department of Commerce

Office: Office of the General Counsel, Office of Chief Counsel for Industry and Security

Position: Attorney-Advisor

Salary Range: $64,650 to $100,736

JOB DESCRIPTION

The Office of the General Counsel is seeking one or more junior attorneys at the GS-11 and 12 levels and/or recent law school graduates at the GS-11 grade level to join the Office of Chief Counsel for Industry and Security (OCC/IS). OCC/IS provides legal advice and support to the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) on a wide range of issues critical to advancing U.S. national security, foreign policy and economic objectives.

Regulatory responsibilities will potentially include: providing counseling on export control licensing and compliance; reviewing and interpreting statutes, regulations and Executive Orders; drafting and reviewing proposed regulations, legislation, position papers, and testimony; participating in international technical assistance programs with foreign government officials; providing legal support to BIS’s defense industrial base and treaty compliance programs; and supporting BIS participation in Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) activities.

Enforcement and litigation responsibilities will include: representing BIS in complex administrative enforcement cases (including drafting charging documents and related materials, motions practice, discovery, and pre-trial and evidentiary hearings before administrative law judges), assisting federal prosecutors in criminal export control enforcement matters and assisting in defending civil challenges to and appeals of agency action, counseling BIS special agents regarding their investigations, and providing legal support for agency enforcement initiatives. In addition, attorneys assist the Chief Counsel for Industry and Security on various projects as needed, including with respect to certain Freedom of Information Act legal issues.

The attorney’s responsibilities will include counseling BIS on export control regulatory issues and representing BIS in administrative export control enforcement proceedings regarding dual-use items and those munitions items controlled by the Export Administration Regulations.

Attorneys must be able to handle a wide variety of assignments with short, time-critical deadlines, and have excellent interpersonal skills, suitable for successfully working with policy makers and senior-level officials as well as licensing officers and enforcement personnel at headquarters and in the field.

Salary Range: GS-11-12 is $64,650 to $100,736 (promotion potential to a GS-15 although neither guaranteed nor implied).

Qualifications:

Recent Law School Graduate: Bar membership is not required

For recent law school graduates, bar membership is not required for initial appointment to a 14 month limited-term law clerk position. This law clerk position will be converted to an attorney-advisor position after passing the bar exam and becoming an active member in good standing of the bar of a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

GS-11 Law Clerk: An outstanding record of academic achievement and work experience pertinent to the work of OCC/IS is also desirable. Must also possess exceptional analytical, writing, organizational, and interpersonal communications skills and demonstrate a serious interest in working on both regulatory and administrative enforcement matters.

For a GS-11 Attorney-Advisor:

1. J.D. degree; active bar membership in good standing of the bar of a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
2. An outstanding record of academic and professional achievement. Must also possess exceptional analytical, writing, organizational, and interpersonal communications skills and demonstrate a serious interest in working on both regulatory and administrative enforcement matters. Academic training or work experience pertinent to the work of OCC/IS is also desirable.

For GS-12 Attorney-Advisor:

1. J.D. degree; active bar membership in good standing of the bar of a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and one year of professional work experience.
2. An outstanding record of academic and professional achievement. Must also possess exceptional analytical, writing, organizational, and interpersonal communications skills and demonstrate a serious interest in working on both regulatory and administrative enforcement matters. Academic training or work experience pertinent to the work of OCC/IS is also desirable.

Position Requirements:

Citizenship: Must be a U.S. citizen.

Education: Must have graduated from an ABA-accredited law school with a J.D. degree.

Successful candidates must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret level security clearance. Dual citizens must be prepared to relinquish foreign citizenship in order to receive a clearance.

Please send your resume, cover letter, law school transcript (unofficial is sufficient for application purposes), and a legal writing sample (preferably on a regulatory, export control, economic sanctions, international trade, national security or litigation topic) to OCCIS@doc.gov by March 4, 2016.

Applicants who are not selected for interviews will not be notified that they have not been selected.

Legal Intern

ORGANIZATION: International Committee on the Red Cross (ICRC)

Intern – International Humanitarian Law

OBJECTIVE: The Intern in the IHL Department at the Washington Regional Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) provides research and writing on topics of IHL, other branches of international law, and U.S. law as needed, thus contributing to the thematic and operational priorities of the legal team.

Minimum required knowledge & experience:

• Basic knowledge of IHL and a related legal field (e.g. National Security or Human Rights Law).
• Excellent oral and written English skills, good understanding of French an asset
• Currently pursuing a U.S. J.D. or LLM degree (or JD graduate pursuing another graduate degree)
• Applicants must be U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents (student work permits are excluded)

JOB DESCRIPTION

Main Responsibilities

Work with the IHL team to provide legal advice to the delegation in Washington, and to the ICRC as a whole on matters of IHL, human rights law, national security law, or other U.S. legal issues.

1. Research and Writing. Research such topics as scope of application of IHL, detention, conduct of hostilities, cyber/new technology and weapons, and other related topics. Possibility of authoring articles or other short pieces for the ICRC’s U.S. blog (intercrossblog.icrc.org).
2. Monitor Legal Developments Regular monitoring of legal blogs and news coverage to identify significant legal developments of interest to the delegation. In addition to research, the intern will attend conferences and meetings in order to monitor developments on specific legal issues on behalf of the legal team.
3. Reporting. Regular and timely reporting and analysis on meetings and events attended, as well as a weekly report on any relevant legal developments reported in external sources such as legal blogs. Reports are written for the purpose of ensuring the institution is informed of developments in U.S. policy, as well as to advance its thinking on key issues.

Management and Reporting Line. The IHL Intern reports directly to the IHL Legal Advisor. He/she is expected to collaborate with colleagues throughout the delegation in order to carry out these and other reasonably related duties.

The intern will be expected to work 20 hours a week for 12 weeks between June and August. Starting and ending date are negotiable. This is a paid internship. For information about the position, please contact Andrea Harrison at anharrison@icrc.org. To apply, please send CV and optional cover letter to Carly Steffes at csteffes@icrc.org. Applications are due April 1st, 2016.