Student Intern

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington is accepting applications for a paid student internship offered through the Administrative Office of the United States Courts’ Model Intern Program (MIP). This one-year internship is assigned to the three court units of the Eastern District of Washington: the District Court, the Bankruptcy Court, and the Probation/Pretrial Services Office.

Position: Student Intern 
Salary Range: CL 22 - $32,437 - $40,542 (Spokane Pay Table)
                                             $32,269 - $40,332 (RUS Pay Table)
Duty Station: Spokane, Richland, or Yakima, Washington
Opening Date: March 31, 2025
Closing Date: May 5, 2025
Anticipated Term: June 16 or June 30, 2025 – May 30, 2026

POSITION OVERVIEW: The Model Intern Program (MIP) focuses on providing interns with hands-on exposure to a variety of legal and non-legal career paths within the Federal Judiciary. Through meaningful assignments, rotations, networking, training, and mentorship, the MIP aims to develop the next generation of Judiciary employees, law clerks, and judges. Interns work alongside judges, law clerks, probation officers, and other public service professionals, receive first class mentorships, learn new skills, and perform meaningful work within the federal court system.

This unique, year-long internship is being offered to junior and senior undergraduate students and will be headquartered in Spokane, Richland, or Yakima, depending on the location and preference of the successful applicant. The MIP internship begins on June 16, 2025 (or June 30, 2025) and concludes by May 30, 2026. The intern will work full-time (no more than 40-hours/week) during the summer semester and part-time (no more than 20-hours/week) during the fall and spring semesters. The intern will report directly to the Clerk of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington (Clerk of Court). 

REPRESENTATIVE DUTIES: The Intern will function as a student trainee and their duties will include:
•Observing a wide variety of court proceedings in civil and criminal matters to develop a familiarity with the judicial process;
•Working with judges, U.S. Probation and Pretrial officers, Clerk’s Office personnel, and other court-system professionals to maximize exposure and develop an understanding of the federal judiciary;
•Assisting judicial, legal, professional, and/or administrative staff with:
•Judicial administration and chambers support;
•Jury administration;
•Naturalization, civics education, and community outreach;
•Civil and criminal case flow, processes and procedures; and
•Providing support and guidance to members of the public regarding court processes and procedures and public service;
•Performing basic legal, social science, historical, statistical, and other research to support judicial, legal, professional, and/or administrative staff;
•Collecting, organizing, and summarizing statistical, accounting, or mathematical data on case processing, budgetary, workload, and other court-related issues for judicial, legal, professional, and/or administrative staff;
•Organizing legal pleadings, briefs, motions, and letters for judicial, legal, professional, and/or administrative staff;
•Special projects as determined by the Clerk of Court;
•Sorting, classifying, copying, distributing, and filing court records; and
• Performing other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS/EXPERIENCE:
Candidates must be a junior or senior during the 2025-2026 academic year and currently enrolled full-time and in good standing at an accredited college or university.
Additional Skills:
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Attentiveness to detail.
• Strong work ethic.
• Ability to be patient and adaptable to communication styles and needs of others.
• Professional appearance, demeanor and conduct.
• Strong computer skills.
• Exceptional customer service skills.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:
Employees must be United States citizens or eligible to work in the United States.

Employees of the United States District Court are Excepted Service Appointments, and as such are at-will and can be terminated with or without cause by the Court.

Employees are required to adhere to the Code of Conduct for Judicial Employees, which is available to applicants for review on the U.S. Court’s website: Code of Conduct for Judicial Employees

Employees are hired provisionally pending results of a criminal background check and fingerprinting.

The Federal Financial Management Reform Act requires employees direct deposit their federal wages.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES:
Qualified applicants must submit their application package as one PDF., to include the following:
• a cover letter explaining why you are interested in this internship and what experience you are hoping to gain,
• a resume detailing all relevant experience, education and skills,
• at least one (1) character reference from a college professor or community leader/mentor, and
• a completed Application for Judicial Branch Employment (Form AO 78) available on the court’s website (www.waed.uscourts.gov)

Complete application packages may be submitted electronically to: hr@waed.uscourts.gov. The subject line for your submission should read: 2025 MIP Student Intern.

Applications that do not include all information requested may lose consideration for this position.

Due to the volume of applications received, the Court will only communicate with those applicants who will be interviewed. Applicants selected for interviews must travel at their own expense and relocation expenses will not be reimbursed. Funding for housing will not be provided and will be the responsibility of the intern throughout the internship.

The U.S. District Court reserves the right to modify the conditions of this job announcement, or to withdraw the job announcement without prior notice.

Excellence in Court Administration, and Optimal Service to the Public, Court and Bar.

The Court is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer