Applicants must select which of the eight subject areas they wish to be considered for: civil rights; consumer financial protection; conviction review & innocence claims; data privacy & cybersecurity; environment; gun safety & gun violence; public integrity & corruption; and worker rights & labor enforcement. Applicants also have the option of applying for the Solicitor Fellow, which was launched for the 2021 Honors Program. Applicants may select as many or as few issue areas as they like; if they select more than one, they should rank their preferences in the online application. Applicants interested in the Solicitor Fellow may add that to their ranked choices or may choose to apply only for that position.

If admitted to the Honors Program, the participants decide whether they wish to specialize in a particular issue area or “rotate” through one or more other topics. In addition, Honors Program participants will have the opportunity to do a “rotation” working directly for the Attorney General’s Executive Leadership Team on priority projects and policy development.

The office location of the Honors Program participant will depend on their selected issue area. Civil rights, consumer financial protection, data privacy & cybersecurity, and worker’s right & labor enforcement will be based in Newark. Environment and gun safety & gun violence will be based in Trenton. Conviction review and public integrity & corruption will be located in either Trenton or a location in northern New Jersey. The Solicitor Fellow will be based in either Newark or Trenton. (If a participant decides to “rotate” through more than one issue area, he or she may need to work in more than one location during the two-year program.)

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, participants may be required to telework rather than report to work in an office environment.

• Civil rights. (Newark) Honors Program participants will develop legal, regulatory, and policy strategies to protect the civil rights of New Jersey’s residents. They will enforce the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, one of the strongest civil rights laws in the country, and will also work on immigration, workers’ rights, and reproductive rights matters, some involving the federal government. 

• Consumer financial protection. (Newark) Program participants will help develop and implement innovative enforcement and regulatory strategies to protect consumers and investors, particularly in light of rollbacks in protections previously provided by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other federal agencies. Attorneys will enforce and work on options to better utilize New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act, one of the strongest consumer protection statutes in the country.

• Conviction review & innocence claims. (Trenton or northern New Jersey). Program participants will assist with the development and management of a newly created statewide “Conviction Review Unit.” Participants will review claims of actual innocence, investigate those deemed meritorious, and draft findings for review and decision by the Attorney General.

• Data privacy & cybersecurity. (Newark) Program participants will oversee investigations and enforcement actions involving data breaches and the unauthorized collection, use, and dissemination of participants’ personal information.

• Environment. (Trenton) Program participants will enforce a wide range of federal and state environmental laws, including against major environmental polluters across the state. Participants can also expect to work on multistate legal challenges to efforts to rescind existing federal environmental protections.

• Gun safety & gun violence. (Newark and Trenton) Program participants will have the choice of pursuing one of two options to advance gun safety and combat gun violence: criminally prosecuting members of violent criminal organizations, or investigating and filing civil enforcement actions against those who contribute to gun violence in New Jersey, including firearms manufacturers and distributers.

• Public integrity & corruption. (Trenton or northern New Jersey) Program participants will investigate and prosecute criminal abuses of the public trust, including political corruption matters, allegations of civil rights violations involving law enforcement officers, and internal affairs investigations.

• Workers’ rights & labor enforcement. (Newark) Program participants will oversee investigations and enforcement actions involving New Jersey’s laws protecting workers, including laws regarding wage theft, misclassification, prevailing wage, and other issues that affect worker mobility and economic opportunity.

• Solicitor Fellow. (Newark or Trenton) The Solicitor Fellow will work with the State Solicitor in developing strategy for high-priority cases, drafting briefs in appeals and dispositive motions, and participating in argument preparation and moot courts. The Solicitor Fellow will have the opportunity to deliver oral argument. The Solicitor Fellow will be involved with multiple appeals in a dynamic and fast-paced environment. The Solicitor Fellow will be exposed to all subject areas within the Honors Program, among others, across their appellate portfolio.