What we do:   

The Legal Function of the New York Fed hires first-year law students each summer for a 10-week paid clerkship program. Law clerks receive challenging, diverse assignments from the two divisions of the Legal Function, described in the “Overview of the New York Fed’s Legal Function” section below. The assignments frequently involve legal research and writing and are typical of the assignments given to junior attorneys in the Legal Function. Law clerks are paired with mentors for the summer to provide guidance on a personal and professional basis.

OVERVIEW OF THE NEW YORK FED’S LEGAL FUNCTION

The Legal Function’s mission is to provide high-quality legal services to the New York Fed. The function is headed by the Bank’s general counsel and comprises two divisions, each headed by a deputy general counsel.

• The Supervision, Markets & Financial Services (SMFS) division provides legal advice in connection with: (i) financial institution supervisory and regulatory matters, including legal support for supervision and regulatory reporting and legal analysis of regulatory applications; (ii) the Bank’s open market, U.S. Treasury auction, foreign exchange, reference rate and discount window operations; (iii) the Bank’s external and sponsored committees and (iv) financial and account services of the Bank for the U.S. Treasury, foreign central banks and international organizations, depository institutions, and other customers, and analyzes pending legislation.

• The Enterprise Legal Services (ELS) division provides a range of expertise in support of the Bank’s mission and operations. The Enforcement and Litigation team represents the Bank in litigation and other disputes, advises on litigation risk and oversight matters and, together with the Board of Governors, pursues regulatory enforcement investigations and actions against supervised financial institutions in the Second Federal Reserve District. The Financial Intelligence and Investigations Unit conducts investigations, responds to law enforcement requests, and provides expertise on matters including financial fraud, accounting, and BSA/AML and OFAC-related matters. The Employment & Corporate Matters team advises on employment and labor law matters that impact the Bank’s people, including those related to diversity, ethics, immigration, organizational change, and personnel policies, and advises and provides legal support to the Bank’s Freedom of Information Office.

• The Technology and Contracts team drafts, negotiates and advises on documents relating to the Bank’s procurement of goods and services, software and data licensing, cloud computing, and other technologies as well as matters relating to intellectual property, data privacy and security.

Your role as a Law Clerk

• Law clerks receive challenging, diverse assignments from the two divisions of the Legal Function, described in the “Overview of the New York Fed’s Legal Function” section above.

•  The assignments frequently involve legal research and writing and are typical of the assignments given to junior attorneys in the Legal Function.

• Law clerks are paired with mentors for the summer to provide guidance on a personal and professional basis.

What we are looking for:  

We seek applicants with outstanding academic records, evidence of strong research and writing skills, an interest in and commitment to public sector employment, maturity, and personal achievement. Please Note: The program is highly competitive, and the class size is limited.

To Apply: Only first-year law students will be considered. The program requires that applicants complete their first year of law by the beginning of the clerkship, which is ordinarily in late May. Candidates must supply a cover letter and resume with their on-line application. An applicant’s cover letter should be uploaded in the same section of the application site that asks for a resume to be uploaded.

The cover letter should address the following questions:

1.) Why do you want to work at the New York Fed?

2.) How have your personal, professional, and academic experiences contributed to your interest in public service?

3.) What’s one aspect of the New York Fed’s work that you’d like to learn more about?

We accept applications through the New York Fed’s public website from January 3rd, 2025, to February 28th, 2025, at 11:59pm EST. Positions are filled on a rolling basis. Once all positions are filled, the application portal may be closed prior to February 28th, 2025.

In addition, all applicants must submit law school transcripts as soon as they are available. If a law school GPA is not yet available when applying, please enter “0.0” as a GPA. Since the process is rolling, applicants should apply with a resume and cover letter; the law school transcript may be submitted or emailed separately after the application has started.

A writing sample is required from candidates invited to interview.

Applicants must generally be available for web-based videoconference interviews during January and February of 2025.

Summer law clerks must remain in the United States for certain aspects of the pre-employment & background check process, which will start approximately 6 weeks prior to the first day of the internship. In addition, all candidates must comply with information handling rules.

For any questions regarding the Summer Law Clerk Program, please write to Cristina Fajardo at [email protected] or [email protected].

Salary Range: $94,900

Your regular wages for the Law Clerk program will be paid on a semi-monthly basis and will be calculated based on an annual salary of $94,900, less applicable taxes. We believe in transparency at the NY Fed. This salary range reflects a variety of skills and experiences candidates may bring to the job. We pay individuals along this range based on their unique backgrounds. Whether you’re stretching into the job or are a more seasoned candidate, we aim to pay competitively for your contributions.  

Our Touchstone Behaviors—Communicate Authentically, Collaborate Inclusively, Drive Progress, Develop Others, and Take Ownership—help shape the culture of the Bank. They also provide a shared language for how we work together and achieve success, and they set clear expectations for leading with impact at every stage of your career with us. Learn more.  

The New York Fed expects its employees to perform their duties with honesty, integrity, and impartiality, and without improper preferential treatment of any person. Learn more about our code of conduct and conflicts of interest rules.  

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is committed to a diverse workforce and to providing equal employment opportunity to all persons without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, genetic information, disability, pregnancy, or military service.  

We value accessibility for all candidates and are happy to provide an accommodation or assistance. Please email us at [email protected] and we’ll be glad to help. Please note, this is a dedicated e-mail box designed exclusively to assist applications with accommodation requests in relation to our recruiting process. All other inquires including the status of applications will not receive a response from this e-mail box.   

This is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, performance standards or requirements, efforts, skills or working conditions associated with the job. While this is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current job, management reserves the right to revise the job or to require that other or different tasks be performed when circumstances change.  

This position requires access to certain sensitive information and is therefore limited to (1) U.S. citizens or (2) applicants who have either already applied for U.S. citizenship or are eligible to apply, and will apply, for U.S. citizenship before the first day of the internship.  Individuals who are not already a U.S. citizen or who have not already applied for U.S. citizenship must sign a declaration of intent upon receiving the offer letter confirming that they are eligible to apply, and will apply, for U.S. citizenship prior to the first day of the internship. In addition, all candidates must undergo an enhanced background check and comply with all applicable information handling rules.