The Legal Fellowship Program is a two-year program designed to give two recent law school graduates (including those in clerkships and legal fellowships) the opportunity to work at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.   

The Legal Fellows will rotate through the two divisions of the Legal Function within the Legal and Compliance Group.  Through these rotations, the Legal Fellows will have the opportunity to take on a wide variety of legal work, which may include the following types of matters, among others:  financial institution supervision and regulation, market and discount window operations, regulatory enforcement investigations, account and financial services, payments law and regulation, employment, transparency, contracts, and litigation.  The Legal Fellows also will have exposure to compliance work, including in the areas of financial crimes (anti-money laundering, countering terrorism financing, and economic sanctions programs), fraud, sensitive data, Markets Desk trading, ethics and conduct, third-party compliance, controls testing, and risk assessment. 

The Legal Function's mission is to provide high-quality legal services to the Bank. The function is headed by the Bank's general counsel and is divided into two divisions, each headed by a deputy general counsel: 

• The Supervision, Markets, and Financial Services (SMFS) division provides legal advice in connection with (i) financial institution supervisory and regulatory matters, including legal support for supervision and regulatory reporting and legal analysis of regulatory applications; (ii) the Bank's open market, U.S. Treasury auction, foreign exchange, reference rate and discount window operations; (iii) the Bank's external and sponsored committees; and (iv) the Federal Reserve's provision of accounts and financial services to depository institutions, the U.S. Treasury and other government agencies, government-sponsored enterprises, foreign central banks and international organizations, and other entities. SMFS also analyzes legislative affairs for the Bank, and the head of the division oversees the Bank Applications Department. 

• The Enterprise Legal Services (ELS) division provides a range of expertise in support of the Bank's mission and operations. The Enforcement and Litigation team represents the Bank in litigation and other disputes, advises on litigation risk and oversight matters and, together with the Board of Governors, pursues regulatory enforcement investigations and actions against supervised financial institutions in the Second Federal Reserve District. The Financial Intelligence and Investigations Unit conducts investigations, responds to law enforcement requests, and provides expertise on matters including financial fraud, accounting, and BSA/AML and OFAC-related matters. The Employment and Corporate Matters team advises on employment and labor law matters that impact the Bank's people, including those related to diversity, ethics, immigration, organizational change, and personnel policies, and advises and provides legal support to the Bank's Freedom of Information Office. The Technology and Contracts team drafts, negotiates and advises on documents relating to the Bank's procurement of goods and services, software and data licensing, cloud computing, and other technologies as well as matters relating to intellectual property, data privacy and security. 

Your role as a Legal Fellow: 

• As a Legal Fellow, you will have the responsibilities of a new attorney in the Legal Function.  You will be expected to:

  • Take ownership of and work on a variety of assigned legal matters, including:

    • Conducting research and analysis of legal, factual, operational, or policy issues;

    • Drafting contracts, legal memoranda, briefs, client emails, and other documentation; and

    • Creating and implementing processes to help ensure compliance with law and mitigate legal risk.

  • Prepare and deliver presentations on timely legal issues.

  • Advise and build relationships with internal stakeholders.

  • Develop and maintain relevant technical and practical skills and share that knowledge within the Legal Function.

  • Contribute to all aspects of the work of the Legal and Compliance Group as requested.

• In this role you also will have the opportunity to work on compliance matters, such as performing due diligence work, assisting on policy updates, and ethics and conduct reviews.

What we are looking for: 

• Juris doctor, with admission to the New York State bar completed or pending prior to beginning the fellowship. 

• Must be able to begin work in the same calendar year as graduation from law school or completion of a clerkship or legal fellowship that began immediately following graduation from law school. 

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, and an ability to work both independently and collaboratively on teams comprised of attorneys and non-attorneys. 

• Strong organizational skills and ability to work on multiple matters under time constraints. 

• Strong drafting skills, particularly with respect to drafting legal research memoranda. 

• Demonstrated attention to detail and critical thinking. 

• A commitment to public sector employment. 

To apply: 

Applicants must provide a cover letter, resume, and their most recent law school transcript with their application.  An applicant's cover letter and transcript should be uploaded in the same section of the application site that asks for a resume to be uploaded.  Finalists will be asked to complete a brief writing assignment.