The Legal Assistant position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in various offices throughout the Office of General Counsel (OGC). The mission of OGC is to provide legal advice and services to the Secretary of VA (SECVA) and all organizational components of VA. The General Counsel is, by statute, the Department's Chief Legal Officer.

Duties

This is a non-bargaining unit position, but eligible to be represented. This job announcement will remain open for 5 business days. The initial application review cut-off for this job announcement is 50 applications. The first 50 applications received will be considered first. Applications received after the initial cut-off number (50 applications) may not receive consideration unless otherwise requested by management. Major Duties: Provides information and assistance to visitors, claimants, petitioners, and/or their representatives in response to telephone, walk-in, or written inquiries. Responds to administrative inquiries from client facilities and departments. Conducts non-complex legal services by following established instructions, checklists, and/or guidance. Performs a variety of case and program management tasks with minimal oversight and direction. Assists attorneys in preparing responses to inquiries, requests for legal opinions and legal reviews. Drafts and edits non-legal correspondence related to case processing and litigation such as requests for billing information, VA claims information, and transmittal correspondence. Establishes, maintains, consolidates, and retires files in accordance with OGC's policy based on independent determination of use, priority, category and suspense control. Compiles data and information from various sources to facilitate case development. Performs other duties as assigned. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level (GS-7) without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. This position involves a multi-grade career ladder. The major duties listed below represent the full performance level of GS-07. At the GS-06 grade level, you will perform assignments of a more limited scope and with less independence. You will progressively acquire the background necessary to perform at the full performance level of GS-07. Promotion is at the discretion of the supervisor and is contingent upon satisfactory performance, availability of higher-level work, and availability of funds. Promotion is not guaranteed, and no promise of promotion is implied. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM Compressed/Flexible: Available Telework: Available Duty Location Status: Will work from a VA owned or leased space. Position Description/PD#: Legal Assistant/PD19318A and PD19319A Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/22/2023. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5 level. For a GS-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-6 level. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: GS-06 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-05) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as: Experience providing administrative support such as performing intake duties, serving as a first point of contact for internal and external customers, routing and processing information and/or processing and reviewing documents, that may include legal documents or other administrative records/documents. Skill in analytical abilities sufficient in identifying and obtaining necessary case/program information and applying it to relevant facts and established procedures. Experience utilizing electronic systems to gather, review, input, update, access, organize, process, and maintain. Experience preparing and drafting professional communications, such as legal documents and non-routine correspondence. OR GS-07 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-06) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as: Experience preparing and drafting professional communications, such as legal documents and/or non-routine correspondence, with little to no supervision. Experience utilizing electronic systems to gather, review, input, update, access, organize, process, and to maintain information for use in program or legal work and/or to accomplish time or case management functions. Experience in identifying and obtaining necessary information and applying it to relevant facts and established procedures. Ability to use good communication skills, tact, and diplomacy when dealing with different individuals or organizations concerning a variety of situations. Knowledge of administrative concepts, principles and practice to independently and efficiently execute the full range of legal or administrative support duties in the workplace. Experience with non-adversarial problem-solving approaches/skills sufficient to resolve difficult problems that may arise in the workplace. Maintains accurate and transparent case file information. Compiles data and information from various sources to facilitate case development. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service Technical Competence Writing Analytical Thinking 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. Physical Requirements: The work is predominantly sedentary, requiring some walking, standing, bending, lifting and carrying light to moderate weight and size items such as books, files and paper. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at either grade level.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. 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. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

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]