DOJ Seal U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


EIGHT POINT PLAN TO ENHANCE DIVERSITY
IN THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

1. Increase Commitment to DOJ Attorney Recruiting and Hiring.

Principle: The Department of Justice (Department) should devote greater resources to attorney, law clerk and summer law intern recruiting. All components1 should work to ensure that individuals from all diverse groups2 in our society can participate to the fullest degree in employment and advancement opportunities in the Department, and to ensure that the Department does not inadvertently, or through lack of effort, discourage such opportunity. Such efforts should include the following recruiting methods:
Action Items:

A) Minority bar and prosecutors' associations, as well as minority law school associations each conduct annual job fairs which provide opportunities for recruiting persons who traditionally have been under-represented in the legal profession. At the urging of the Attorney General, several Department components and United States Attorney's Offices (USAOs) send lawyers to these conferences. Each component should consider sending one or more representatives to appropriate bar association conventions to recruit individuals from diverse groups by participating in job fairs. To notify conventioneers of employment opportunities in the Department, consideration should be given to purchasing advertising space in convention programs of such bar associations. (All Components);

Each summer and winter, the Office of Attorney Personnel Management (OAPM) issues a semi-annual Attorney Personnel Memorandum (APM) describing upcoming recruitment events for the following six months. The APM provides information on events which have an emphasis on diversity. Each component should use this information as a recruiting tool. (All Components);

The Department should consider placing recruiting advertisements in bar journals, legal newspapers, convention programs, and other periodicals of appropriate bar associations. (OAPM and JMD);

All components should engage in active recruiting at American Bar Association-accredited law schools with significant populations of students who traditionally have been underrepresented in the legal profession. Targeted outreach efforts should be undertaken at these schools, including initiating visits to career counseling offices and conducting career opportunity presentations to the student body. (All Components);

OAPM should develop a best practices manual and other instructional material on recruiting attorneys, law clerks and summer law interns. Relevant training should be provided to all attorney supervisors and hiring officials within the Department. (OAPM);

Department components should be strongly encouraged, where practicable, to form recruiting teams to promote employment within the Department and USAOs. These specially trained teams could be comprised of both local Assistant United States Attorneys and out of district Department lawyers who will visit local minority and disability bar associations, law schools, and other entities within the local legal community to encourage local bar members to seek employment in the Department. These recruiting teams should also be dispatched to job fairs conducted during conventions of bar associations. (All Components);

USAOs should consider recruiting recent law graduates for Assistant United States Attorney positions. This can be accomplished by including participating USAOs, collectively, as one of the components which applicants may select when applying to the Attorney General's Honor Law Graduate Program. As is the case with all components participating in the Honor Law Graduate Program, the participating USAOs would retain full control over the screening, interviewing and hiring of the candidates for their offices. A committee should be formed (of representatives from OAPM, EOUSA, the Attorney General's Advisory Committee, and selected USAOs which are likely to participate) to explore this proposal. (EOUSA, OAPM, and JMD/EEO).

2. Create an On-Line System of Attorney Vacancy Notification.

Principle: Given the increased access to the World Wide Web by the vast majority of attorneys and law clerks, the use of the Internet to post attorney and law clerk employment opportunities should result in an increase in the number of attorney and law clerk applications received by all components, and should necessarily result in additional attorney applications.
Action Item: All components should post their attorney, law clerk, and summer law intern vacancies and other employment opportunities on a Web page accessible via link through the Department's Web site. In addition, components with their own Web pages should consider posting their attorney vacancies on those Web pages as well. All electronic employment postings must be accessible to persons with disabilities. (All Components).

 

3. Enhance Leadership Accountability by Requiring Periodic Reporting of Attorney Hiring and Advancement Activity within all Sections, Divisions, and Agencies.

Principle: The importance of a diverse workforce can be consistently reinforced by a system which requires periodic reporting of hiring and advancement activity in all sections, divisions, agencies, and USAOs. Periodic reporting can provide an opportunity to remind all supervisors of the value of diversity in our ranks. Accordingly, the following should be considered:
Action Item: EOUSA and JMD/EEO should develop polices and procedures requiring the periodic reporting of hiring and advancement activity in all USAOs and litigating components. (EOUSA, JMD/EEO, and relevant components).

 

4. Provide Enhanced Diversity Training for All Department Supervisors and Hiring Officials.

Principle: Meaningful diversity in the federal workforce can only be achieved if all hiring officials learn to value diversity and develop a sensitivity to the experiences of people of various cultures. Diversity training for all Department supervisors and hiring officials can go far in creating a positive work environment where the differences among all personnel are recognized, understood and valued.
Such an environment can enable all employees to achieve their full professional potential and maximize their contributions to the Department. It can also provide an opportunity for all employees to learn how to create dialogue and improve communications across diverse lines. Supervisors can learn to build partnerships that lead to healthy dialogue, greater productivity by employees and a more positive work environment.
Action Item: EOUSA's Office of Legal Education, together with JMD/EEO, should develop an ongoing program of training to address diversity in the workplace. The training should be given to all new and current Department supervisors and hiring officials, and integrated into the standard training curricula for such personnel. For USAOs, EOUSA's management team training seminars and annual supervisory training seminars for U. S. Attorneys, First Assistant U. S. Attorneys, and division chiefs should be revised to include such training. Features of the course should include lectures, participatory workshops, and group exercises. (EOUSA and JMD/EEO).

 

5. Develop New Attorney Mentor Programs in All Components.

Principle:

The importance of mentor programs to the development of essential lawyering skills for new attorneys is widely recognized throughout the legal profession. An increasing number of litigating sections, divisions, and USAOs now feature such programs as a part of the orientation and training of new attorneys. In addition to enabling new attorneys to acquire the basic skills necessary to succeed in the Department, such programs can often enable less experienced attorneys to learn key skills from more experienced attorneys in a component and can assist them in acquiring skills necessary to advance in their careers.

Mentor programs can aid diversity in the workplace by ensuring that all attorneys receive appropriate attention and guidance from experienced attorneys. Accordingly, such mentor programs should feature the following:
Action Items:

A) Each Department component should develop a mentor program that is tailored to the size, needs and responsibilities of the component and that takes into careful consideration the varied experience and skills of attorneys who join the Department. (All Components);

Informal mentoring programs, such as "brown bag luncheons" on topics of interest to new attorneys should be encouraged by component leadership.

6. Encourage All Attorney Supervisors to Closely Monitor Caseloads, Other Assignments and Training to Ensure Appropriate Advancement Opportunities for All Section Attorneys.

Principle:

The manner in which cases and other assignments are allocated among the attorney staff affects the development of critical professional skills needed for career advancement, including supervisory positions. Ideally, all attorneys should be given a fair opportunity to handle assignments of moderate to high complexity, depending on each lawyer's experience, skill level and current caseload. As funding allows, all attorneys should also be provided with appropriate opportunities to participate in training relevant to the successful performance of their duties.

Accordingly, all components should implement the following:
Action Items:

A) Supervisors should strive for equity in the distribution of assignments and should make assignments in a manner which will ensure that each attorney has a fair opportunity to handle matters of moderate to high complexity, as appropriate to the attorney's experience and skill level. (All Components);

Supervisors should make training opportunities available to all attorneys in a fair and equitable manner. (All Components).

7. Involve the Department's Attorney Organizations in Recruiting and Professional Skills Development Programs.

Principle:

Several organizations founded by Department attorneys have been sanctioned by the Department. These organizations serve an important role in assisting the Department in fulfilling several goals and facilitating ongoing communications between Department managers and employees. These organizations also serve to promote productive and amicable working relations by providing insight into social, cultural and other differences that may affect manager/employee relationships.

All such organizations should be requested to undertake the following:
Action Items:

A) Assist the Department in its efforts to identify, recruit, and hire a diverse workforce by identifying participants to attend minority job fairs or appear at appropriate events on behalf of the Department. (All Attorney Associations);

Promote a better understanding of various cultures, heritages, persons with disabilities, and other diverse groups within the Department by co-sponsoring, and encouraging its members to participate in annual events which celebrate cultural heritage and diversity of various groups. The organizations should identify a member to serve as a point of contact with Department components for this purpose. (All Attorney Associations);

Encourage members to participate in mentoring programs for new attorneys within the Department. (All Attorney Associations);

Support, encourage and participate in any diversity training within the Department. (All Attorney Associations);

Notify appropriate leadership officials of patterns or practices occurring within the Department that may have a discriminatory impact. (All Attorney Associations);

Notify its membership of managerial/executive training and career developmental opportunities. The organizations should ensure that the organizations' members at the GS-13 through GS-15 level are aware of and have an equal opportunity to attend training programs such as those offered at OPM's Federal Executive Institute and Management Development Centers. (JMD and All Attorney Associations).

8) Intensify Efforts to Increase Representation of Individuals from Diverse Groups in the Senior Executive Service (SES).

Principle: Most of the Department's management and litigation policies are created or implemented by SES members. Efforts should be made to ensure that opportunities to apply for SES positions are made available to all eligible individuals, both within the Department and throughout the federal sector.
Action Items:

A) Ensure that all SES positions are widely advertised through appropriate recruiting sources (e.g., DOJ and OPM web sites). Require such vacancies to be advertised for a minimum of three weeks. (All Components);

B) Encourage diverse selection panels for SES and senior level positions. (All Components).

1The word "component" is used to mean Department of Justice agencies, divisions, boards, executive offices, and the U.S. Attorneys' Offices.

2As used throughout this document, the terms "diverse groups," "diversity," and "diverse workforce" include, but are not limited to, persons of different races, colors, ethnic backgrounds, national origins, religions, genders, sexual orientations, and persons with disabilities.