Summary
For more information on the Department of Justice and the United States Attorneys' Offices, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/. As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement. This position is also being announced to All U.S. Citizens and Nationals under 27-WAW-13089523-DE.
Responsibilities
If selected, you will serve as a Legal Assistant (Office Automation) in the Civil Division of the United States Attorney's Office (USAO) for the Western District of Washington. You will be responsible for directly and independently supporting Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) by providing a wide variety of legal assistance and office support services. Duties will include: Reviewing incoming material and independently determining the need for assembly and preparation of a variety of legal documents, e.g. complaints, motions, orders, answers, pleadings, exhibits, affidavits, and subpoenas; Proofreading and cite checking legal briefs, memoranda, and other legal documents; Managing paper and electronic documents and evidence such as PDF files, image files, audio files, video files, bank records, forensic reports, and other file types; Tracking filing, hearing, and trials dates, and scheduling conferences and interviews; Maintaining attorney calendars, scheduling appointments, and providing reminders and commitments of court appearances; and Arranging travel by preparing itinerary and securing transportation and hotel reservations. Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.
Qualifications
GS-5: To be eligible at the GS-5 level, you must have: at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-4 level; OR four years of education above the high school level; OR a combination of both specialized experience and education as explained below. Specialized experience is defined as experience reviewing documents with legal implications for accuracy and completeness (e.g., court documents, real estate documents, contracts, insurance or benefits claims, mortgage or loan applications, tax forms, or other types of legal documents); typing and formatting correspondence and forms; maintaining file systems; and obtaining needed information from files or general reference sources. Combining Education and Experience: Successfully completed post-high school education may be used to meet the total one year of specialized experience requirement equivalent to the GS-4 grade level. Only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours (i.e., beyond the second year) is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. One full academic year of study (30 semester hours) beyond the second year is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience. GS-6: To be eligible at the GS-6 level, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level in Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as experience reviewing legal documents such as complaints, motions, orders, answers, pleadings, subpoenas, and libels for completeness of factual information; retrieving and assembling information for hearing and/or trial use; researching a variety of legal sources to obtain and/or verify information; and using automated software to produce legal related reports, documents, correspondence and related materials. GS-7: To be eligible at the GS-7 level, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-6 level in Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as experience providing trial support to attorneys by preparing complaints, motions, subpoenas, orders, or other hearing and/or trial documents accurately and in proper format; verifying citations and statutory references contained in legal documents; assisting with discovery, hearing or trial preparation by performing duties such as compiling trial notebooks, assembling jury instructions, and compiling witness and exhibit lists; and using software applications and legal and non-legal databases to produce legal related reports and documents, conduct factual research, develop tables of contents and indices to briefs, and prepare courtroom presentations. To be qualified, you must type at least 40-words per minute based on a 5-minute sample with three or fewer errors (a typing test may later be required). This position is considered a career ladder opportunity, with a full performance level of GS-7. If selected at a lower grade level, you may be non-competitively promoted to the next grade level at the discretion of your supervisor and is contingent upon meeting regulatory and legal requirements for promotion, satisfactory performance, availability of higher-level work, and funding availability. Promotion is not guaranteed, and no promise of promotion is implied. Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP)- The ICTAP provides eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your ICTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in the announcement; and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and receive a score of 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide proof of eligibility to receive selection priority. Such proof may include a copy of your written notification of ICTAP eligibility or a copy of your separation personnel action form. Additional information about ICTAP eligibility is at: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)-The CTAP provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility, 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement, and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and receive a score of 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) -VEOA allows eligible veterans to apply and compete for positions announced under merit promotion procedures when the hiring agency is recruiting from outside its own workforce. To be eligible for a VEOA appointment, a veteran must be honorably separated and either a preference eligible or have substantially completed three (3) or more years of continuous active military service. If you are applying for a Merit Promotion announcement and wish to be considered under VEOA, you must submit a copy of the Member Copy 4 of your DD-214, in addition to any other required documents listed on this announcement. Special Employment Consideration - Persons with disabilities, veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more, certain other veterans, spouses of certain members of the armed forces, and returning Peace Corps volunteers are examples of individuals who are potentially eligible for non-competitive appointments. For further information, click on the links provided below . You must specify in your online questionnaire under what authority you wish to be considered and submit appropriate documentation to verify your eligibility. Noncompetitive Appointment Authorities Links: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/competitive-hiring/#url=Types-of-Appointments
Education
All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, see http://www.ed.gov OR Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the above education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to timely provide such evidence by submitting proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency with your application materials. More information may be found at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html. All documentation must be in English or include an English translation.