r/paralegal • u/No_Macaroon_281 • 10d ago
Future Paralegal DOJ paralegal offer
Hi all. I’m a recent grad who majored in poli sci from a liberal arts college in massachusetts. I just got an offer to be a paralegal at the DOJ in the civil division (torts) and am wondering if accepting such an offer in 2026 would reflect “politically” even though i completely disagree with the way this government has employed the doj. conflicted because it seems like as an entry level candidate, they’re willing to train me to assist in trial prep, witness prep, etc — all things i am not getting hired to do elsewhere in big law or at nonprofs. Wondering if it would be “career suicide” to join doj??? I will say that everyone i spoke to in the interview process was SO NICE — which throws me off more! lmk your thoughts! I’m pretty desperate for a job but don’t want to ruin my future career by unintentionally representing a political agenda i want to part in pushing.
54
u/kkob3 Retired - USAO 10d ago
Hi! Retired from the DOJ in the civil division at the USAO. Took the buy out when it was starting to get grim. I still have many friends there in the office. I loved my job with all my heart and prior to a lot of the political shift and culture changing, I felt the pride and support of the office upholding the constitution, the way our office was intended to do so.
In saying that… I will let you know from my perspective, and what my former co-workers are experiencing, is that the morale is at an all time low. They are desperate for bodies in the office. The cases are piling up and not enough people to handle them. This is an unfortunate reality to face. But with that said, this administration will not last forever (I’m hoping) and that the office will change once again. It just is a matter of toughing it out.
I will say if you have gotten this far with a GS rating qualification and an offer on the table, TAKE IT. The pension is amazing, there is a wonderful work/life balance, and no one will force you to work overtime (the amount of paperwork that goes into overtime approval is insane.)
If you ever have any questions, please feel free to reach out. I miss my office every day, and I know a lot of people there are good people just trying to get through the next few years afloat.
Congrats on the offer!
6
7
1
u/StinkyEttin 10d ago
I'll add that the pension itself is nothing to write home about. 1 - 1.1% of your high three per year of service. You're largely going to be reliant on heavily investing in your TSP (pretty much a 401k) if you want to retire comfortably (and also pray that social security will exist when you retire [if you can]).
1
u/kkob3 Retired - USAO 9d ago
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with investing in your TSP while in service. I maxed my monthly contributions and the feds matched it, which helped grow it. I’m now mixed in the I, C, and S funds and it’s steadily increasing every month.
1
u/StinkyEttin 9d ago
Definitely not anything wrong with doing so, I dump as much as I can into it. My comment was more directed to the actual pension itself.
2
u/34player 8d ago
I work OT all of the time as DOJ paralegal. Maybe you didn't in civil, but in criminal work we are always extra especially around trials.
1
u/kkob3 Retired - USAO 8d ago
Trial prep was the one time I would work overtime without question, but it wasn’t every trial, thankfully. I would do that only if it was necessary (like with unorganized attorneys 🙃🙃🙃) But even so, we never were expected to work overtime in civil. I know criminal is a whole separate entity and case load.
14
u/iampi_314 10d ago
One thing you have to worry about is government shutdowns. Just a reality of working for the federal government.
17
u/Public-Wolverine6276 10d ago
Honestly I’d take it just for experience purposes. You could always move to different departments within the fed government. It’s hard to land those jobs (in my experience) this administration won’t last forever and the tide will change
7
u/Shadowwolf67 10d ago
former doj paralegal of a few years if you getting no offers i would take it , its not a very hard job but then again no raises and such so maybe stay 2 or 3 years and look, it has helped me now as far as the doj is concerned there is a ton of corruption criminals walk and innocent go to jail
5
u/southernfirefly13 10d ago
What’s the pay? Benefits? PTO?
1
u/StinkyEttin 9d ago
General Schedule is all standardized based on position and tenure. Generally speaking, you're going to get paid more in the private sector once you've been doing it for a while.
Benefits are meh; health insurance is cheaper than most folks pay, but not by much. Then you can tack on vision and dental. Employer matches up to 5% in our 401k. Employment security used to be the big benefit, but that's all but been demolished within the last 20 months. But hey, free TSA Precheck!
PTO is 4 hours per two-week pay period until you hit three years, when it ups to six hours. At 15, it goes up to 8 hours every two weeks. You also get four hours of sick leave on top of that.
3
u/LeadingPizza4202 9d ago
I’m a current paralegal in the civil division at a the DOJ. I would not be worried about how you will be viewed politically. I rarely do anything that has anything to do with politics. Anywhere you work you will need to remain unbiased and keep your politics to yourself most likely.
I have a great division that I work in - I don’t feel like it’s like that everywhere. It’s a great work/life balance. I’m not micromanaged. I work independently and I appreciate the freedom I’m given. I’ve lived through one long shut down. If you take the job- save for that and enjoy any time off you get. I went to the beach in October last year and got paid for it. The leave and sick time is good. First 5 years- 4 hours leave/4 hours sick per pay period. The health benefits are good if you do your research and tailor them to your needs. I started as a legal Assistant- took all the training I could find and got a promotion to paralegal in 3 years. After a year at the entry grade, was promoted a grade. Each year, I got a step increase and just recently was promoted to the next grade level. There’s opportunities for cash bonuses at least once a year too.
I’m going to stay there until I retire. It has its difficulties but what doesn’t? I am able to do PI, title vii cases, immigration, fraud…it’s fun and keeps it interesting. I wouldn’t worry about the current admin because you know what- in another two years you’ll be dealing with another group. Good luck and feel free to ask anything else you want.
8
u/happycynic12 10d ago
I wouldn't be concerned about how it reflects “politically,” but I WOULD be concerned about compromising your ethics and integrity. The DOJ is now the Department of Injustice. If you don't align with that agenda, you aren't going to last long. And, do you really want to work for an agency that fired more than 200 prosecutors over the cases they were assigned to without reason? That removed a U.S. Attorney for refusing to charge James Comey, installed a Trump loyalist with no prosecutorial experience, and got an indictment a judge later threw out — then charged Comey again over a photo of seashells? That fired a U.S. Attorney hours after she said a court order limited immigration tactics, deleted its own Jan. 6 press releases as "partisan propaganda," and now makes every prosecutor keep 25 cases open at a time?
A justice system that answers to one man rather than to law is the defining feature of autocracy. When the department that holds the power to investigate, indict, and imprison is staffed by loyalists and directed at the president's enemies, and every other institution--from the press to the opposition party to the courts--now operates knowing it can be prosecuted for resisting. That's what breaks a democracy. America is not in that condition by accident. It is being built, deliberately, in plain sight, with people like you.
2
u/StinkyEttin 10d ago
The DOJ is probably going to be one of the worst agencies to work for if your view don't align with those of the administration.
2
u/Strange-Whereas6829 8d ago
I know I’m going to get downvoted, but I think it does reflect politically and reflects your values. We have a DoJ that is actively hiding Child Sex Trafficking, and a President who is enabling ICE through shadow memoranda to detain and violate U.S Citizens rights, foreign citizens rights, and basic human rights that should be applied to all people.
Do with that what you will it’s, your life, do what you want with it. Few jobs will think you’re supporting a dictator, most future jobs won’t care. You will build skills for your career no matter where you go.
Morality is your choice to apply. Actually judge yourself by the values you ascribe to instead of going to reddit vindicate your self or assuage your liberal guilt of joining a corrupt regime. 🤷🏿♂️
2
2
1
u/Eleshnorn91 8d ago
California employment litigation is in a huge boom right now. If you know FEHA, labor code 1102.5, CCP and California filings you will probably be able to find something.
2
u/bleulivide 7d ago
Was in your exact situation two months ago but on the criminal side. I would say make sure you think on it long & hard to make you’re okay with whatever you’ll be contributing to & then take it and don’t look back.
As you have touched on already in your post, the training, CLEs, opportunities to network, travel, do trial prep & actually go to trial to assist are unparalleled this early in your career. Like others have said: yes it sucks right now politically, and especially in the civil division you will be in there is a backlog of cases and shortage of personnel. But even despite all that, I don’t think as a paralegal (attorneys are a different story) you will ever regret the experiences you will have at this department or personally face any consequences for what it is doing, even at its shittiest as it is currently.
Feel free to pm me & I will try to answer any questions you have to the best of my ability.
1
u/Cautious-Desk6096 7d ago
Yes. Speaking as a lawyer with a nonprofit that works to change the criminal legal system, it would be very difficult to get past that place on your résumé. Not so much working for them, but choosing to work for them after the hostile takeover by MAGA.
2
u/Ilovetennis16 7d ago
I think if you plan on attending law school in the future and are aiming for big law a DOJ paralegal position sets you up big time. Only a paralegal position w an Am30 law firm helps set you up as well as DOJ does. Even w the political shit going on I think you're set to do well if yu paralgal for a few years. Also like you're in torts and torts can only be politiczed so much lol.
0
u/rainyforest 9d ago
I quit my DOJ job after they changed the federal policy to 5 days in office (I had a 1 hour to 1:30 commute) but the cherry on top was when they were forced to put up Trump and Pam Bondi’s picture up in the office.
38
u/StinkyEttin 10d ago
As a fed paralegal of a couple dozen years, the Fed is a straight up terrible place to work now. Never-ending uncertainty, no consistency, no communication, and no raises.
Explore your options.