Bristow Fellowship: How to Get a DOJ Solicitor General Fellowship
Short answer: The Office of the Solicitor General usually picks four Bristow Fellows a year for one-year terms, paid at GS-12. Fellows help draft Supreme Court filings for the United States. Applications are accepted July 15 to Sept. 1 of the year before, and selections are announced by December (DOJ OSG). Most fellows have finished a clerkship, usually on a federal court of appeals (DOJ OSG).
Fast facts
- Class size: usually four a year (DOJ OSG).
- Pay: GS-12 (DOJ OSG). See the clerk salary guide for GS context.
- Term: one year, typically starting in July; it cannot lead directly to a job in OSG (DOJ OSG).
- Window: July 15 to Sept. 1; materials postmarked or emailed by Sept. 1 (DOJ OSG).
- Selection: announced no later than December of the application year (DOJ OSG).
- The office: the Solicitor General, four Deputies, 16 Assistants, four Bristow Fellows and up to two Phillips Fellows (DOJ OSG).
- Draft briefs opposing certiorari petitions filed against the government (DOJ OSG).
- Work on cert petitions and merits briefs in Supreme Court cases (DOJ OSG).
- Write recommendations to the Solicitor General on whether the government should appeal in the lower courts (DOJ OSG).
- Help prepare oral arguments (DOJ OSG).
- Cover letter stating your interest and naming your recommenders (DOJ OSG).
- Resume showing your bar membership status, plus an official law school transcript (DOJ OSG).
- Up to three recommendation letters and a writing sample (DOJ OSG).
- Mail everything in one package to DOJ OSG, 950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Room 5142, Washington, DC 20530, Attn: Bristow Hiring Panel. Or email PDFs to [email protected] with the subject line "Bristow Applicant." Letters may be emailed directly but not from personal accounts (DOJ OSG).
OSG asks for excellent academic records and says fellows typically clerk for a year first, most often for a federal appellate judge (DOJ OSG). A dated secondary profile of the October Term 2026 class calls Bristow a credential that often leads to Supreme Court clerkships (David Lat, Original Jurisdiction, Nov. 2025). On whether politics matters, see Bristow Question - Does Ideology Matter; on eligibility, see Bristow Fellowship Eligibility.
Phillips Fellowship (summer)
OSG hires up to two Phillips Fellows a year, paid at GS-11. They are 3Ls with federal clerkships lined up, usually appellate, who work two to three months between graduation and the clerkship. Apply through DOJ's Summer Law Intern Program (late July to early September of 3L) and list OSG as an employment preference (DOJ OSG). See DOJ Phillips Fellowship?.
Planning the sequence
- Target an appellate clerkship; see how to get a federal clerkship and Supreme Court clerkships.
- Apply to Bristow in the July to September window during or just before the clerkship year.
- Ask firms how they treat Bristow time for bonuses; see the clerkship bonus guide. For firm moves afterward, talk to BCG Attorney Search.
- How does one get a Bristow?
- Bristow Fellowship
- Bristow Fellowship Eligibility
- Bristow Fellowship
- Bristow Question - Does Ideology Matter
- Any Current or Former Bristow Fellows Out There?
- DOJ Phillips Fellowship?
Q: When is the Bristow Fellowship deadline?
Sept. 1, for applications opened July 15 of the year before the fellowship (DOJ OSG).
Q: How many Bristow Fellows are there?
OSG usually selects four a year (DOJ OSG).
Q: What does a Bristow Fellow earn?
GS-12 (DOJ OSG). The dollar amount depends on the D.C. locality table (n.a. on the OSG page).
Q: Do I need a clerkship?
It is not a stated requirement, but OSG says fellows typically complete one, usually federal appellate (DOJ OSG).
Related guides
- Supreme Court Fellows
- Supreme Court clerkships
- Clerkship bonuses
- Legal fellowships directory
- Clerkship Directory home
