Lead and Lawyer as a Marine Officer
Judge advocates in the U.S. Marine Corps immediately gain experience both in the courtroom and working with clients during their first assignment. Marine judge advocates start out as a Trial Counsel (prosecutor), Defense Counsel, or Legal Assistance attorney, with opportunities to rotate during their first assignment and support exercises/deployments as a Staff Judge Advocate or screen to become a Victims’ Legal Counsel. With the support of supervisors, new attorneys immediately begin practicing law in the fields of criminal litigation, institutional compliance, government ethics, family law, consumer law, operational law, and administrative law. The hands-on experience gained by new Marine judge advocates is unmatched by the private or civilian public sectors, making it a great path to start your legal career.
Opportunities as a Marine Judge Advocate
Trial Counsel: As a Trial Counsel, Defense Counsel, or Victims’ Legal Counsel, you will litigate felony and misdemeanor criminal cases before military judges and juries. Additionally, as a Trial Counsel, you will coordinate with NCIS and other state/federal law enforcement agencies on criminal investigations. In later assignments you may also practice at the appellate level, arguing cases before the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals or the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
Staff Judge Advocate and Legal Assistance: As you gain experience, you may eventually transition to other areas of law, such as administrative law and legal assistance, or act as in-house counsel to Marine Corps headquarters staff. In these positions you will research and write internal memoranda and opinions and advise commanders on all legal issues affecting the command – from fiscal law and government ethics to military justice (criminal law). You will also work closely with Marines and their families on family, consumer, tax, estate, and immigration law issues.
Operational and International Law: Marine judge advocates maintain the same readiness and training standards as every Marine Officer and are deployable worldwide. Marine judge advocates have opportunities to deploy with scalable Marine Air-Ground Task Forces (MAGTF) around the world. Deployed Marine judge advocates support commands and their Marines through a broad spectrum of operational, cyber, and international law.
Have questions? Want to learn more? Just click “Apply” and our team will be in touch.