Fed atty, doc review on the side?

[Anonymous]

DOJ attorneys are generally prohibited from practicing law outside of our jobs.
Is document review (contract ) the practice of law as understood by that prohibition?
I assumed doc review was identification of documents for actual attorneys to review.
Naturally, this assumes basic conflicts aren’t applicable.

Anybody successfully obtain the waiver?
TIA

[Anonymous]

Op here I just googled the 2015 comment anything more recent?

[Anonymous]

Contact your designated agency ethics official.

Those doc review jobs required a JD/bar affiliation and often get tagged using your legal discretion (privilege, etc.). So it could be the "practice of law." You may be able to get a waiver depending on the type of case.

You also, I don't believe, couldn't work on federal cases.

[Anonymous]

Its likely it would be case by case. When I did doc review for a few months I had to do a conflicts form for each case - so conflicts do apply.

[Anonymous]

Hell no. Doc review means determining whether documents are (a) responsive to discovery requests, and (b) privileged. That absolutely is the practice of law, otherwise companies would outsource it to India (and probably get better results, IMO).

[Anonymous]

They do it outsource it to India. But I don’t see how you would manage conflicts while being a fed attorney.

[Anonymous]

If they are requiring a license, then it's probably practice of law

[Anonymous]

DOJ allows pro bono work. I know a few colleagues working with the homeless clinic in DC. I’m sure that involves doc review.

Idk about jobs that involve getting paid though.