Nick Hittler (’16) Selected as DOJ Honors Program Attorney

Nick Hittler, who is on track to graduate from the Law School in May, has been selected through the U.S. Attorney General’s Honors Program to work as a judicial law clerk at the Department of Justice’s Immigration Court in Bloomington, Minn. Hittler will clerk for the Immigration Court judges during his two-year term.

Hittler, a Robina Public Interest Scholar, came to the Law School after working as an immigration specialist and representative with Catholic Charities in Chicago. There, he provided representative services with an emphasis on family reunification. Hittler spent his 1L summer working for the Bloomington Immigration Court as a judicial extern, and his 2L academic year and summer with the Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic at the Law School’s Center for New Americans (CNA). Following a term abroad in Spain, he will return to the CNA as a student director for his final semester of law school.

“Nick certainly deserves this,” said CNA director Ben Casper. “He is an exemplary student attorney. Among other accomplishments, Nick helped lead important impact litigation that stopped the deportation and unlawful detention of a former child soldier, Nelson Kargbo.” A recent New Yorker profile of Kargbo was based in large part on court records Hittler helped prepare as a clinic student. Additionally, Hittler was a staff member of Minnesota Law Review and a founder of the student organization VISA (Voices for Immigration Student Association).

The Department of Justice Honors Program is the largest and most prestigious federal entry-level attorney hiring program of its kind. It offers recent law graduates a pathway into the DOJ and federal government work. Honors Program attorneys are selected based on a number of factors, including a demonstrated commitment to government service, academic achievement, leadership, law review or moot court experience, legal aid and clinical experience, past employment, and extracurricular activities.

Hittler said the opportunity would advance his long-term career goals. “I am excited for this opportunity to serve as a part of the local Immigration Court. I entered law school with the goal of practicing immigration law, and my experiences with the Center for New Americans have helped me achieve it,” he said.