Meet Matt Gurr: Navy Veteran Channels DOE Scholars Experience into Meaningful Legal Career

Navy veteran Matt Gurr's work for the Department of Commerce as a FEMP DOE Scholar gave him the inspiration to focus his legal career on government contracts. Photo from Matt Gurr

After high school, Matt Gurr was "working odd jobs around town and enjoying small-town life in Dublin, Georgia" before he enlisted in the U.S. Navy at 22. While in the Navy, Gurr served as an aviation machinist mate and repaired engines on F-18F aircraft. During his service, he deployed on the USS Harry S. Truman in 2013 as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. 

After his time in the Navy, Gurr pursued a degree in history and political science at the University of Tennessee. As a student, he became interested in U.S. constitutional history and using his degree to impact others. That led him to law school at the University of South Carolina, where he applied to be a summer law clerk at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Savannah River Site. Though he didn't get the position, he got a valuable suggestion instead. "They said that since I was interested in working in energy, I should consider applying to their Scholars program," said Gurr.

Gurr was soon accepted into the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Scholars Program, which introduces students or recent college graduates to entry- and mid-level research for DOE and other Federal agencies. Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) caught up with Gurr to hear what's happened in the years following his Scholars experience.

How did you get interested in the nexus of energy and law?

When I started law school, I was a bit unsure of what I wanted to do. I think I read an article or listened to a podcast on energy policy, and I thought it was really interesting and cutting-edge. I wanted to work in a field of law that could have a positive impact, and it seemed like a fun area of law to get involved in.

Based on your interest in the legal side of energy, can you share more about the nature of your work in the program?

I was assigned to the U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Programs. They were in the middle of a lot of energy-efficient retrofits and renovations throughout their Federal facilities. They had me put together a background document on the applicable Federal regulations, the process for selecting energy-efficient equipment that would be installed into the facilities, and how the projects would be financed and managed by the agency. A lot of the summer was spent writing this background document that they could reference for energy savings, performance contracts, and financing options.

It sounds like a very detail-oriented and timely project! How did you feel when the internship was over?

I remember feeling like I was doing something that was really meaningful to me. It seemed so impactful and important, like the work really, truly mattered. I remember one of my fellow Scholars working on a policy document to help his agency procure a fleet of several hundred trucks for use by the agency. And I just thought, this is such an incredible experience; we're doing things that are going to have a tangible impact.

What kinds of skills or benefits did you walk away with?

It improved my writing skills, which as a law student and an attorney is incredibly important. It gave me a tangible work product that I could show to employers. It also gave me some subject matter expertise in the Federal Acquisition Regulation and the Code of Federal Regulations.

Did your Scholars experience influence any of your decisions moving forward?

It directed probably every choice that I made after the internship ended. I actually wrote my graduate research paper on the use of energy savings performance contracts as a means to finance energy- efficient projects for affordable housing and municipal buildings in the United States. The Scholars Program also gave me a direction for my career, because I absolutely fell in love with Washington, D.C. So, I spent the next two years after my internship trying to get back to the D.C. area. It helped me narrow my focus on where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do, which ultimately led me to a career in federal procurement and government contracts.

So what did that path forward look like?

The year after my Scholars internship, in 2019, I got an opportunity to work as a summer law clerk with the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA), which is a board that consists of 14 administrative law judges. The CBCA handles disputes between federal contractors and executive agencies. I was able to rely heavily on my very basic understanding of the Federal Acquisition Regulation for my interview, which sort of gave me a leg up on other people applying for the position. After that summer clerkship, I completed law school in May 2020, and the CBCA offered me a full-time, yearlong clerkship from August 2020 through September 2021. Following the end of my clerkship, I transitioned into the private sector specializing in government contracts and construction litigation. I love what I do. I can say with certainty that I would not have ended up in my current career field without the Scholars Program.

What would you say to someone who is thinking of applying to DOE Scholars?

Do it if you want to do meaningful and impactful work and build connections and relationships along the way. I still keep in contact with a lot of the people that were a part of my Scholars cohort. When I  moved to Seattle, one of the Scholars from my group was the first person to visit me.

Several folks from my Scholars cohort work in the public sector in both state and Federal government, and some are currently in the private sector. So, regardless of the type of work you would like to pursue, I think it's an excellent opportunity to develop skills that are going to be useful in the future.

My advice to anyone who maybe is on the fence about doing it is: Give it a shot, because it truly changed my life. It set me on the path that's led me to where I am today and provided me with a lot of opportunities that I would not have otherwise had. Regardless of what you want to do for work, this experience gave me a skill set that I was able to rely on and has proven useful even outside of the energy space. I would recommend it to anyone.

The application period is now open for the next DOE Scholars cohort—learn how to apply.