2025 Honors Fellowship Attorney - Appeals and Grand Jury Section

Section Description:
The section handles all appellate and post-conviction litigation, in both state and federal courts, arising from cases investigated or prosecuted by the Office of Attorney General.  The section also supervises administration of the three statewide investigating grand juries in operation in the eastern, western, and middle regions of the Commonwealth.

Position Type:
One-year Fellowship, Full-time, Non-civil service, Non-union.  This position is at-will. Future employment is subject to performance, availability of a permanent position, and an additional competitive hiring process.

Basic Function: 
The Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General seeks a recent law school graduate or current judicial law clerk to serve for one year as an Honors Fellow in the Criminal Law Division’s Appeals and Grand Jury Section. This section litigates all appellate and post-conviction matters in cases that have been investigated and prosecuted by the Office of Attorney General, which include public corruption, human trafficking, large-scale drug dealing, and government fraud. In addition, counties refer homicide, sex assault, and other appeals to the section when local prosecutors lack sufficient resources or experience to handle the cases themselves. Litigation includes habeas corpus cases in the federal district courts and the Third Circuit. The section also regularly files amicus curiae briefs in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and recently prepared and filed an amicus brief in a criminal case before the United States Supreme Court on behalf of 30 other states. Aside from these appellate duties, the section also provides legal advice and assistance in pending prosecutions and supervises the operations of specially empaneled statewide investigating grand juries.
 
The Fellow will be a full member of the section and will receive regular assignments in the same manner as other attorneys. They will also work closely with attorneys and professionals from other sections of the Office of Attorney General and from other state agencies. The Fellow must excel in written and oral communication and in legal analysis and must possess the organizational skills to manage multiple cases addressing a broad variety of issues simultaneously.
 
The Fellow’s job responsibilities will include writing appellate briefs, assisting with litigation strategy, conducting legal research, participating in moot courts, and making recommendations for amicus curiae filings. Depending on the speed with which an appeal proceeds, the Fellow may also have the opportunity to argue before the Pennsylvania Superior or Commonwealth Courts.
 

• Drafts and files briefs in Pennsylvania appellate courts and federal habeas courts
• Responds to post-conviction petitions filed in the courts of common pleas and conducts evidentiary hearings as necessary
• Provides legal analysis and research in cases at the investigatory, pretrial, and trial stage
• Assists in the supervision of investigations in the statewide investigating grand jury

Eligibility Requirements:
Law students who are in their final year at an accredited law school and scheduled to graduate in the spring of 2025 are encouraged to apply. Individuals actively participating in clerkships who have not held the title of “Attorney” in any capacity following graduation are also encouraged to apply. This Fellowship begins in September 2025.