The incumbent serves as a General Attorney for the Benefits Law Group (BLG) in the VA Office of General Counsel. BLG provides full legal support to a wide range of VA benefit programs, including assistance with legislation, regulations, congressional hearings, appellate litigation, and written and oral advice to VA officials. BLG also administers VA's programs for accrediting attorneys and claims agents and issuing decisions on the reasonableness of fees charged for representation.

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
• Selectees are subject to a background/suitability investigation.
• Selectees may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• A complete application package, i.e., Resume, Transcripts, etc., as required by job announcement.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Participation in the Seasonal Influenza Prevention Program for VHA Health Care Personnel (HCP) is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs HCP.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Pre-employment physical examination/evaluation may be required.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/14/2023. Bar Membership Requirements: All attorneys in the GS-0905 series must be active members in good standing of the bar of a state or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia and must hold a current, unrestricted license to practice law. Employees must maintain their compliance with this requirement. The duties of the position call for appearance in court. The applicant must be a member in good standing of the bar or be eligible for admission to the bar, of the state or territory of the US or the District of Columbia where he/she will serve. Loss of Good Standing/Bar Membership. Employees must maintain good standing in a bar of a state or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia while employed as an attorney with VA. Failure to maintain good standing in a bar of a state or territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia provides grounds for removal and possible termination from employment with the VA. Applicants may qualify based on education and/or experience as described below. The applicant's experience and training must demonstrate the applicant can successfully perform the position's duties. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Position Classification Standard for General Attorney, GS-0905 (opm.gov) provides examples of duties performed at each grade level. Quality of Experience. For each grade, applicants must have one or a combination of the following types of experience in the amounts indicated in the Grade Determination section below: Practice of law includes private, state, or Federal practice in any field of law. Other legal experience of a responsible nature is experience in any one or a combination of the following performed in a law office, government office, or in the legal department of a business establishment, in the armed forces, or other Federal service: (a) Conducting legal research, analyzing statutes, writing legal opinions; (b) Writing authoritative or advisory legal opinions involving interpretation of state or Federal laws, regulations, and orders, or the drafting of such regulations or orders; or (c) Drafting, analyzing, and other legal activities with respect to bills, regulations, Executive Orders, proclamations, or statutory provisions. Where the volume of legal work in one particular subject-matter field (such as administrative law, legislation, guardianship, loans, torts, or any of the several Veterans' benefits, litigations, etc.) requires the appointee to be specifically qualified in that field, this requirement will be identified as a selective factor through job analysis. Such specific qualifications will be documented in the position description. Exceptions. Superior Law Student Program. GS-11 and GS-12 candidates applying under this option are required to furnish certification from the registrar of ranking and other attainments in law school. Candidates who meet the requirements may be eligible for appointment Above the Minimum Entry Rate of the grade under 5 U.S.C.? 5333 and VA Handbook 5007, Part II, Chapter 3, Paragraph 4. Candidates must graduate in the upper one-third of their law class and Achieve one of the following accomplishments: i. Work or achievement of significance on their school's Official Law Review; ii. Special high-level honors for academic excellence in law school, such as election to the Order of the Coif; iii. Winning a moot court competition or membership on the moot court team which represents the law school in competition with other law schools; iv. Full-time or continuous participation in a legal aid program as opposed to intermittent or casual participation; v. Significant summer law-office clerk experience; or vi. Other equivalent evidence of superior achievement. Grade Determinations. In addition to the basic requirements for employment identified in paragraph 2, the following criteria are the minimum qualifications for non-supervisory positions at each grade level. GS-12. Possession of a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree OR Possession of a Juris Doctor (JD) degree in a field of law directly pertinent to the work of the position to be filled as evidenced by transcripts and identified as a selective factor in the position description or subsequent position descriptions in a position ladder; AND Two years of progressively responsible experience as described in Quality of Experience above; of which a maximum of one year of the required experience may be acquired prior to admission to the bar, and that demonstrates experience performing similar legal work and responsibilities as described in Nature of Cases or Legal Problems, Type I, in the OPM Position Classification Standard for General Attorney Series, GS-0905 OR Meets qualification through the Superior Qualification Program. GS-13. Three years of progressively responsible experience as described in Quality of Experience above; of which a maximum of one year of the required experience may be acquired prior to admission to the bar, and that demonstrates experience performing similar work and responsibilities as described in Nature of Cases or Legal Problems, Type II, in the OPM Position Classification Standard for General Attorney Series, GS-0905. GS-14. Four years of progressively responsible experience as described in Quality of Experience above; of which a maximum of one year of the required experience may be acquired prior to admission to the bar, and that demonstrates experience performing similar work and responsibilities as described in Nature of Cases or Legal Problems, Type III and Level of Responsibility D in the OPM Position Classification Standard for General Attorney Series, GS-0905. Per Office of Personnel Management General Schedule Qualification Policies, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description. Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable when documented by satisfactory evidence (e.g., a memorandum from the manager, human resources director, or official documentation such as SF-52, SF-50 documenting an official detail/assignments, or other comparable documentation). The documentation must indicate whether the employee performed the duties full time or, if part-time, the percentage of times the employee performed the additional duties. To receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your position, you must provide official documentation of such experience as indicated above. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit OPM's web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/standards/indexes/alph-ndx.asp.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

PLEASE NOTE: Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications (particularly positions with a positive education requirement). Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html. All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education.

Contacts

• Address Office of General Counsel 810 Vermont Avenue NW Washington, DC 20420 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]