Bloomberg: Trump federal hiring freeze scuttles job offers for law students

President Donald Trump’s hiring freeze is preventing students specializing in public service law from getting federal jobs.

The IRS has canceled job offers for at least four students at Georgia State University’s law school because of the freeze, the associate dean, Ted Afield, said in an interview. At least six job offers were rescinded from law students at William & Mary Law School for the Justice Department and IRS, school dean Benjamin Spencer said.

Emails that students shared with Bloomberg Law showed the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission telling them they can no longer be hired. “Pursuant to the hiring freeze announced January 20, 2025, your job offer has been revoked,” the Justice email said.

“Declining to hire the best and the brightest is going to be a real drain on government capacity over time, and I fear that’s what’s happening,” said Nicholas Bagley, a professor at the University of Michigan’s law school.

The federal notices are particularly distressing for students because they have limited other opportunities, Afield said. “A lot of the jobs they would have been competitive for several months ago now very well may have been filled by other people,” he said.


KPMG Arizona Law Firm Finding on Hold as Court Wants Answers

The Arizona Supreme Court requested more information on KPMG’s application to practice law in the state, declining for now to approve the company’s request.

The court met to consider the application after an Arizona committee earlier this month recommended KPMG’s approval, which would make it the first Big Four accounting firm to practice law in the US.

“The KPMG application remains under review,” court communications director Alberto Rodriguez said in an email. The court has requested “additional information or clarification on aspects of the application.” There are “no specifics or timeframe” as to when the court will make a final decision, Rodriguez said.

KPMG’s application to practice law in Arizona marks the first attempt by a Big Four accounting firm to launch a US legal venture via the state’s alternative business structure program, launched in 2021. The program seeks to expand access to legal services by letting lawyers share ownership of firms with non-lawyer business partners.

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/trump-federal-hiring-freeze-scuttles-job-offers-law-students-tgcfe/