Join the World's Top Legal Talent Network

The Conference encourages lawyers who may be interested in serving as an attorney advisor to send a brief letter, accompanied by a resume and transcript (official or unofficial), expressing their interest and identifying the approximate date on which they would be available to start. The ideal candidate would have more than one year experience working as an attorney in a setting requiring them to independently manage a portfolio of projects or possess a demonstrated academic background in administrative law and regulatory procedure. Letters should be addressed to Reeve T. Bull, Research Director, and emailed to info@acus.gov.

The Conference welcomes expressions of interest from lawyers who hold fixed-term positions—such as judicial clerkships and academic fellowships—that may not end in the near future.

About the Conference

The Conference is an executive branch agency whose principal mission is to conduct empirical research and recommend improvements to administrative procedure and related matters to the President, federal agencies, Congress, and the federal judiciary. The Conference also assists individual agencies in improving administrative programs, publishes sourcebooks of enormous value both to the government and public, and provides nonpartisan advice to other agencies and Congress. Most of the research for the Conference is conducted by distinguished academics in law and related disciplines.

Job Duties

ACUS attorney advisors conduct legal research and writing, stakeholder outreach, and other activities in furtherance of the Conference’s mission of improving federal agency rulemaking, adjudication, administration and management, judicial review of agency action, and other related matters. The duties associated with the position include identifying appropriate subjects for reports and recommendations through extensive research and analysis; working with outside consultants in preparing reports and recommendations; drafting research reports; planning workshops and other similar events; presenting research findings to the Conference’s members; speaking at meetings of the Conference, professional associations, and law schools about the Conference’s work; and assisting with the implementation of the Conference’s recommendations.

Qualifications

The Conference seeks to hire attorneys with strong legal research and writing skills who have an interest in administrative law. Though the only formal requirement is that the applicant either possess or be in the process of obtaining a law degree, the Conference is especially interested in hiring attorneys who have acquired professional experience in administrative law and regulatory policymaking, including prior work at a law firm, judicial clerkship, corporation, federal agency, university, think tank, or other organization. The Conference is also especially interested in hiring attorneys who have supervisory experience and who have worked in a setting requiring them to act independently in balancing a variety of projects and carrying out their duties with minimal higher-level oversight. Both hiring decisions and the level of compensation will depend on the amount of relevant experience a candidate brings to the position.

Compensation

The attorney advisor will be compensated as a GS-11, GS-12, GS-13, or GS-14, depending on relevant work experience and current pay. Information on compensation under the 2021 General Schedule (GS) can be found at the website of the Office of Personnel Management

. Compensation will also include federal health, retirement, and leave benefits.