Attorney-Adviser (General) (Honors Attorney) - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

This position is located in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Each Honors Attorney is placed in a particular office/division and may have an opportunity to rotate to different offices or other federal agencies to develop additional skills.
The 2025 Honors Attorney class will begin in the fall of 2025 (late August through early October).

This is a time limited appointment not to exceed two years and is typically converted to a permanent appointment based on agency needs.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

The CFPB Honors Attorney Program is a two-year program designed to provide exceptional recent law school graduates with early, substantive opportunities to use and develop their legal skills and make a difference in the lives of American consumers. Diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences are critical in carrying out our mission to serve the American consumers. The Honors Attorney Program provides CFPB with an opportunity to further advance the Bureau's diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.

This position could be located at our Headquarters in Washington, D.C., or in any of the following Regional Offices: Atlanta, GA, Chicago, IL, New York, NY, or San Francisco, CA.

During the program, Honors Attorneys are given increasingly complex assignments designed to build their legal skills and increase their ability to support the Bureau's mission. The Honors Attorney Program also includes mentorship and both formal and informal training to enhance analytical thinking, writing, communication, and other legal skills, as well as an understanding of the Bureau's mission and work. Additionally, Honors Attorneys may be able to rotate into a different Bureau offices or other federal agencies to develop additional skills. Such rotations typically last four to six months.

Honors Attorneys may be placed in one of the following offices/divisions:

Enforcement
Enforcement is responsible for investigating potential violations of the federal consumer financial laws and taking action such as litigating in federal court and the Bureau's administrative forum to address violations when appropriate. Enforcement's work is critical to furthering the Bureau's mission to make consumer financial markets work, protect customers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices, and take action against companies that break the law.

Supervision
The Office of Supervision Policy is responsible for developing supervision strategy and providing legal subject-matter expertise to supervision staff in connection with various consumer financial product and service lines and compliance areas, including fair lending. Their work ensures a consistent supervisory approach with respect to different consumer financial products for both banks and non-banks across the Bureau's four regions.

Office of Regulations
As a part of the Research, Monitoring & Regulations Division, the Office of Regulations is responsible for developing and implementing consumer financial regulations. In addition to highly skilled attorneys preparing and finalizing consumer finance rules, they also conduct 10-year regulatory reviews, regulatory burden reviews, and disclosure waiver requests. Their work also assists in providing guidance to industry on Bureau regulations and conducting compliance tools.

Office of Fair Lending & Equal Opportunity
As a part of the Office of the Director, the Office of Fair Lending & Equal Opportunity is charged with ensuring fair, equitable, and nondiscriminatory access to credit for all consumers and communities. Office of Fair Lending functions include oversight and enforcement of federal fair lending laws, including the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act; coordinating the fair lending efforts of the Bureau with other federal agencies and state regulators; working with private industry, community advocates, and other stakeholders on the promotion of fair lending compliance and education; and reporting to Congress on the efforts of the Bureau to fulfill its fair lending mandate.

Legal Division
The Legal Division, which has four program offices: (1) General Law and Ethics, (2) Law and Policy, (3) Litigation, and (4) Oversight, is responsible for providing advice on all legal matters; reviewing documents for clearance, rulemakings, enforcement, and other policymaking projects; handling defensive, appellate, and amicus litigation; managing and overseeing responses to requests for information from Congress and other oversight bodies; and ensuring compliance with laws, rules and regulations of general applicability to the federal government, including labor, employment, information, privacy, federal ethics, and others.

As an Honors Attorney, you may be:

• Investigating and litigating potential unfair, deceptive, abusive, and discriminatory acts or practices or other potential violations of federal consumer financial law;
• Participating in complex rulemakings;
• Defending Bureau rules and regulations in litigation;
• Drafting appellate and amicus briefs regarding consumer financial law and other issues;
• Providing legal analysis and advice for supervisory examinations;
• Developing policy guidance to improve industry compliance; and
• Advising senior Bureau officials on various legal and policy issues, including those with general applicability to the federal government, such as labor, employment, ethics, and intellectual property.

• Travel Required

• Promotion potential

• Supervisory status