Have you ever financed a car or shopped online? Have you exercised your right to receive a free credit report, or used the National Do Not Call Registry to block unwanted telemarketing calls? Do you ever refer to product warranties, clothing care labels, or stickers showing the energy costs of home appliances? If so, you have been taking advantage of laws enforced by the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection!
The Bureau of Consumer Protection’s mandate is to protect consumers against unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent practices. The Bureau enforces a variety of consumer protection laws enacted by Congress, as well as trade regulation rules issued by the Commission. Its actions include individual company and industry-wide investigations, administrative and federal court litigation, rulemaking proceedings, and consumer and business education. In addition, the Bureau contributes to the Commission’s ongoing efforts to inform Congress and other government entities of the impact that proposed actions could have on consumers.
Each year, the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection hosts a summer law clerk program. We look for highly motivated second-year law students with an interest in working on consumer protection issues. Each law clerk will work with each of BCP’s divisions throughout the summer: Advertising Practices, Â鶹´«Ã½, Financial Practices, Marketing Practices, and Privacy and Identity Protection. We offer substantive legal work that gives law clerks the opportunity to demonstrate their writing, analytical, and advocacy skills. Our program is small (typically eight clerks), to enable summer law clerks to be fully integrated with investigative teams and take on meaningful assignments with significant responsibility. Assignments may include: drafting pleadings, discovery requests and responses; appearing at hearings and depositions with Bureau attorneys; attending meetings with parties and their outside counsel; leading interview calls and summarizing findings through written reports; reviewing documents; and researching a wide range of legal issues. Each summer law clerk will be paired with an attorney mentor.
Eligibility
The BCP summer law clerk program is an unpaid position. Law clerks typically work at least eight weeks and usually up to twelve weeks. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and have completed two years of law school by the start of the summer in which they clerk with BCP. Further, applicants must be continuing in legal studies in the fall semester following their BCP clerkship to be eligible.
Applications
If you would like to inquire about applying, or have any other questions, please email bcplawclerk@ftc.gov.
For information about possible summer employment opportunities with the FTC outside of Washington, DC, see our Regional Offices page, and contact those offices directly.