DOJ Offers Lawyers $25,000 Signing Bonuses as Hiring Lags (2)

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DOJ Offers Lawyers $25,000 Signing Bonuses as Hiring Lags (2)

May 5, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT; Updated: May 5, 2026, 6:32 PM EDT

The Justice Department is taking a new tack to overcome hurdles in attracting qualified legal talent and to prevent current lawyers from leaving: offering signing and retention bonuses throughout the Civil Division. ... New vacancy postings show signing bonuses of $25,000 are newly available to staff offices investigating youth transgender treatments and litigating the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.

Further, the head of the Civil Division—which plays a crucial role advancing and protecting the president’s policies in court—informed all his attorneys Monday that they’ll begin receiving a “retention incentive allowance” ranging from around $60 to $220 every pay period through Thanksgiving, according to an internal email reviewed by Bloomberg Law.

The financial enticements are an apparent first for a department that in previous years would be inundated with resumes from lawyers willing to take significant salary reductions compared to private sector legal practice. Padding lawyers’ biweekly paychecks signals a division growing more desperate to stave off further departures of valuable legal minds, including those who’ve expressed discomfort with defending the president’s policies from a slew of lawsuits.

Trial attorney vacancies posted on DOJ’s website Tuesday for the Civil Division’s recently created enforcement and affirmative litigation branch describe in bold print “a signing bonus of up to $25,000" that may be awarded to “well-qualified candidates.” The job advertisements, which would support a DOJ team that’s been repeatedly losing in court over efforts to subpoena pediatric hospitals for sensitive data on minors prescribed drugs for gender dysphoria, instruct applicants that time is of the essence.

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Reposted by Kevin M. Kruse
https://bsky.app/profile/kevinmkruse.bsky.social

Bradley P. Moss
‪@bradmossesq.bsky.social‬

When I came out of law school in 2006, DOJ's prestige was such that liberal and conservative graduates alike would have gladly stepped over their friends' dead bodies to get a position there.

Trump has ruined it now to the point they're having to bribe new graduates to apply.

‪Ben Penn‬
‪@benjaminpenn.bsky.social‬
· 18h

JUST IN: The Justice Department is taking an apparently new tack to overcome woes in attracting qualified lawyers: Offering $25,000 signing bonuses. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/doj-offers-lawyers-25-000-signing-bonuses-as-recruitment-lags

DOJ Offers Lawyers $25,000 Signing Bonuses as Recruitment Lags
The Justice Department is taking a new tack to overcome hurdles in attracting qualified legal talent: offering $25,000 signing bonuses to staff an office investigating youth transgender treatments and...
news.bloomberglaw.com
12:10 PM · May 5, 2026

When I came out of law school in 2006, DOJ's prestige was such that liberal and conservative graduates alike would have gladly stepped over their friends' dead bodies to get a position there.

Trump has ruined it now to the point they're having to bribe new graduates to apply.

— Bradley P. Moss (@bradmossesq.bsky.social) 2026-05-05T16:10:13.469Z

Ben Penn
‪@benjaminpenn.bsky.social‬

JUST IN: The Justice Department is taking an apparently new tack to overcome woes in attracting qualified lawyers: Offering $25,000 signing bonuses. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/doj-offers-lawyers-25-000-signing-bonuses-as-recruitment-lags

DOJ Offers Lawyers $25,000 Signing Bonuses as Recruitment Lags
The Justice Department is taking a new tack to overcome hurdles in attracting qualified legal talent: offering $25,000 signing bonuses to staff an office investigating youth transgender treatments and...
news.bloomberglaw.com
12:04 PM · May 5, 2026

JUST IN: The Justice Department is taking an apparently new tack to overcome woes in attracting qualified lawyers: Offering ,000 signing bonuses. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

— Ben Penn (@benjaminpenn.bsky.social) 2026-05-05T16:04:23.489Z

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Hope as lawyers, they pick up these Weasel Words:

may be awarded.

That means there's discretion NOT to pay a $25,000 bonus.

Kids, don't even bother going to court.

Sure, you can make an argument for ENTICEMENT TO CONTRACT, but the Ad did say "may".

[enough]

2. Cheaper than an ICE agent.

[underpants]

3. "Who the hell would want to work at the DOJ?"

Recently said by a former DOJ employee I know