What's DOJ/OJP like?

[Anonymous]

What's the work culture/life like? TIA!

[Anonymous]

It varies by office

[Anonymous]

I've found Civil lit to be great.

[Anonymous]

I work at OJP (Office of Justice Programs). Morale right now is in the toilet with a terrible relationship between management and the union.

We’re back in the office 4 days a pay period; some offices are dictating core days while others are not. We’re about to move to a building on North Capitol, about a 10-12 min walk from Union Station.

Pre-pandemic, we teleworked 80% and I would say while the agency had its cons, the work-life balance was really great.

[Anonymous]

So lots of telework - must have gotten an exception from the general DOJ edict of 6 days in office per pay period

Any collaboration - team-oriented outlook? Or everyone wants to be home and working individuallly?

The new location sounds very unappealing, but I’m not familiar with the area

[Anonymous]

Yes, OJP asked for an exception to the 6 days in-office due to space constraints both in the current location (GalleryPlace/Chinatown) and at 999 North Capitol.

Each office has its own culture. Some offices are much larger than others, and as a result, carry large grant loads (some people can have close to 200 grants to manage). My personal work is less collaborative as I’m the only person who works on a particular issue so there really is no one to collaborate with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, OJP asked for an exception to the 6 days in-office due to space constraints both in the current location (GalleryPlace/Chinatown) and at 999 North Capitol.

Each office has its own culture. Some offices are much larger than others, and as a result, carry large grant loads (some people can have close to 200 grants to manage). My personal work is less collaborative as I’m the only person who works on a particular issue so there really is no one to collaborate with.

Thank you - this is very helpful.

Looking for a more collaborative role and more in-person interaction. Sounds like I need to keep looking. Did any DOJ component NOT get an exception? I get people wanting to telework and I want them to have that flexibility, but I sure wish I could find the offices where people aren’t teleworking so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, OJP asked for an exception to the 6 days in-office due to space constraints both in the current location (GalleryPlace/Chinatown) and at 999 North Capitol.

Each office has its own culture. Some offices are much larger than others, and as a result, carry large grant loads (some people can have close to 200 grants to manage). My personal work is less collaborative as I’m the only person who works on a particular issue so there really is no one to collaborate with.

Thank you - this is very helpful.

Looking for a more collaborative role and more in-person interaction. Sounds like I need to keep looking. Did any DOJ component NOT get an exception? I get people wanting to telework and I want them to have that flexibility, but I sure wish I could find the offices where people aren’t teleworking so much.

NSD

[Anonymous]

A lot of DOJ is toxic micromanagement. It starts at the top and works its way down. An attorney climbing his way to the top and taking down anyone in his way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of DOJ is toxic micromanagement. It starts at the top and works its way down. An attorney climbing his way to the top and taking down anyone in his way.

Yikes...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of DOJ is toxic micromanagement. It starts at the top and works its way down. An attorney climbing his way to the top and taking down anyone in his way.

This all the ways

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of DOJ is toxic micromanagement. It starts at the top and works its way down. An attorney climbing his way to the top and taking down anyone in his way.

This has not been my experience. Only the most politically sensitive cases get micromanaged from the top down. Lots of stuff I handle with a fairly scary degree of autonomy, with management only reviewing major substantive filings a day or two before the deadline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of DOJ is toxic micromanagement. It starts at the top and works its way down. An attorney climbing his way to the top and taking down anyone in his way.

This has not been my experience. Only the most politically sensitive cases get micromanaged from the top down. Lots of stuff I handle with a fairly scary degree of autonomy, with management only reviewing major substantive filings a day or two before the deadline.

I assume that is not OJP, they don’t litigate, do they?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of DOJ is toxic micromanagement. It starts at the top and works its way down. An attorney climbing his way to the top and taking down anyone in his way.

This all the ways

See State of Georgia v. Jeffrey Clark.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of DOJ is toxic micromanagement. It starts at the top and works its way down. An attorney climbing his way to the top and taking down anyone in his way.

This has not been my experience. Only the most politically sensitive cases get micromanaged from the top down. Lots of stuff I handle with a fairly scary degree of autonomy, with management only reviewing major substantive filings a day or two before the deadline.

I assume that is not OJP, they don’t litigate, do they?

Yeah my experience is not with OJP. I assumed OP was asking about doj more broadly (and that people replying were describing experience with DOJ more broadly) but perhaps I was mistaken.