A. Bolton Caldwell Fellowship – Solicitor General Division: The West Virginia Attorney General’s Office welcomes applications from recent and soon-to-be law school graduates (graduation years 2022-2025) for a fellowship in the Solicitor General’s group.

About the Solicitor General Group

West Virginia’s Solicitor General group focuses heavily on national matters involving constitutional law, statutory interpretation, administrative overreach, and other significant issues for the State. In recent years, for example, the group has won a 6-3 victory checking a federal agency’s overreach in a landmark case before the Supreme Court (West Virginia v. EPA), obtained a key injunction spanning more than two-dozen States against an oppressive federal regulatory regime (West Virginia v. EPA II), and successfully (and simultaneously) defended the State’s expansive school-choice program (State v. Beaver) and the State’s charter-schools program (Brunett v. Blair).

As the Solicitor General oversees all appeals involving the State of West Virginia and state officers, the group also works closely with lawyers across the entire Office. Its docket spans a variety of subject areas, both civil and criminal. The group practices at all levels in state and federal courts, including before the U.S. Supreme Court. Attorneys take significant responsibility for their matters and contribute at highly substantive levels.

The Caldwell Fellowship Program

The fellowship program is designed for lawyers interested in gaining substantive appellate litigation experience in a practice group focused on federalism and the role of state litigants in state and federal courts. Fellows can thus expect substantial appellate, administrative, and general litigation opportunities as they work with the Attorney General, Solicitor General, and others in the group. Fellows will draft appellate briefs, dispositive motions, and administrative comments; draft Attorney General Opinions; and provide strategic advice on high-profile matters to the Attorney General and other state officers. The fellowship may also involve oral argument opportunities in the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, as well as formal and informal training opportunities.

Fellows will serve one-year or two-year full-time terms based on interest and the Office’s needs. Anticipated start dates are winter 2025 and summer 2025. Salary is competitive with similar programs.

Fellowship positions are based out of scenic Charleston. Charleston is rich in historic architecture, an eclectic music scene, bountiful shopping, unique dining, and four seasons of changing mountain landscape. The capital city serves as the gateway to all that is wild and wonderful in the Mountain State, including snow skiing, world-class zip-line canopy tours, whitewater rafting, ATV trails, golfing, hiking, fishing, rock climbing, mountain biking, canoeing, and kayaking.

Qualifications

Applicants must possess a J.D. degree by the time they start their fellowship. Excellent research and writing skills are required. Although we encourage all interested candidates to apply, we are especially excited to see applicants with:

• Federal or state clerkship experience;
• Substantive experience in appellate or administrative law, whether in public or private practice;
• Excellent law school grades;
• Membership on a law review or journal; or
• Participation in moot court, mock trial, or similar law school advocacy programs.

Application Process

Applicants should submit their resume, a writing sample, and a cover letter to jobs@wvago.gov no later than January 15, 2025 for winter start dates and February 28, 2025 for summer start dates. The subject should indicate “Caldwell Fellowship.”

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A. Bolton Caldwell was a true Mountaineer and champion of the rule of law. He served as West Virginia’s first and fifth Attorney General. A graduate of Harvard Law School and former U.S. Attorney, state prosecutor, and West Virginia circuit court judge, Caldwell shepherded the Office of the Attorney General through its earliest years following West Virginia’s creation as a State. Caldwell and his brother are also credited with ensuring that Ohio County remained in the union at the outbreak of the Civil War—making the city of Wheeling a part of West Virginia today.