The Department of Law fellowship program provides exceptionally talented new attorneys an opportunity to join a strong team of appellate and trial practitioners and gain broad experience and insight into the diverse public sector work of the Attorney General’s and District Attorney’s offices.
Andrew J. Kleinfeld Fellowship
The Kleinfeld Fellowship honors Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld, who served as a magistrate, District Court, and Ninth Circuit Judge from Fairbanks, Alaska. Judge Kleinfeld left a distinct imprint on the law and on those who clerked for him.
Kleinfeld Fellows will work directly under the State Solicitor General, assisting in appellate advocacy before appellate courts inside Alaska and outside the State. They will handle cases touching on statutory and constitutional interpretation, federalism, separation of powers, criminal law, and the State’s sovereign interests. The office will make all efforts to provide opportunities for oral argument, depending on case volume and availability.
The fellowship will be hands-on from day one. Fellows will brief real cases, contribute to oral argument preparation (with a chance to argue in appropriate cases), and receive close mentorship from the Solicitor General, the civil and criminal Deputy Solicitors, and other senior appellate attorneys. Like Judge Kleinfeld, they’ll learn to write cleanly, think precisely, and argue only what the text can bear.
Eligibility
Applicants should be finishing or recently completing an appellate clerkship—ideally from the Alaska Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit, or another federal appellate court—and should bring a genuine interest in practicing in Alaska and a strong commitment to public service. In the spirit of Judge Kleinfeld’s own approach to hiring clerks, the Department seeks lawyers of high intelligence and broad education—well-rounded in history, economics, political science, literature, and the sciences. The fellowship is open to graduates of every law school; strong ability, not pedigree, matters most. Fellows should write and speak clearly about complex issues, approach the law with intellectual honesty, and bring the kind of good nature that makes teamwork enjoyable. Fellows must be licensed or willing to become licensed in Alaska.
Term and Structure
The fellowship will last 24 months, with a mix of criminal and civil appellate practice. Fellows will work under the supervision of the Solicitor General.
Application Process
Applicants should include:
- a resume;
- law school transcript;
- two letters of recommendation—preferably including one from a judge—or two letters of recommendation and an additional reference from a judge;
- one unedited writing sample; and
- a short letter describing their interest in Alaska and to the principles embodied by Judge Kleinfeld—clean and articulate advocacy and arguments grounded in statutes and the Constitution.
Please email application materials in PDF format to Kleinfeld.Fellowship@alaska.gov.
Civil Division
The Civil Division of the Department of the Law provides counsel to the executive branch of state government in all civil actions, handles legal matters for and provides advice to the Office of the Governor and executive branch agencies, and prosecutes and defends civil litigation on behalf of the state.
Each year, the Civil Division selects exceptionally qualified recent graduates to serve for a two-year Fellowship. Fellows are assigned to the Civil Division’s Professional Development and Public Service section, where they gain practical, hands-on legal experience while enjoying the personal satisfaction of serving the residents of Alaska. In addition to the section supervisor’s mentorship, the Division assigns senior attorneys to serve as mentors for each fellow. Pairings are based on the substantive interests of the fellow and whether they are interested in agency advice, trial court litigation, or appellate practice.
The program allows top-level recent graduates and attorneys coming out of clerkships to experience a wider range of legal work than would ordinarily be available when assigned to a specific section in the Department. Each fellow manages their own caseloads and participates in the full range of work handled by the Civil Division. This includes partnering with attorneys in other sections to work on a wide variety of civil matters including child protection, natural resources, employment, workers’ compensation, torts, governmental management, environment, oil and gas, health and social services, and legislation and regulations. It also includes advising a wide variety of state clients, including state agencies, governmental officials, public corporations, and boards and commissions. The fellows assist with legal advice projects, as well as, appeals, and litigation. Their work includes propounding and reviewing written discovery, taking and defending depositions, drafting legal pleadings and briefs, representing state clients in state or federal courts, representing state agencies in administrative proceedings, working on appeals to Alaska’s superior and supreme courts, assessing cases, and sitting on moot courts for other attorneys.
Through the fellowship, less experienced attorneys gain specialized knowledge, essential skills, and practical, hands-on experience on critical matters of public interest. Near or at the close of the fellowship period, successful fellows are eligible to apply for any open attorney position within the Department, including those only open to current Department employees.
Applicants for the Civil Division fellowship program must be law graduates with strong qualifications who are currently serving or who have very recently served as full-time judicial clerks; law graduates participating in government, academic, or public-interest fellowships that will be completed prior to the start date of the Department of Law’s fellowship; and exceptionally qualified law students in their final year at an accredited law school (including LL.Ms).
No Civil Fellow positions currently available.