Job opening: Paralegal Specialist
Salary: $72 974 - 94 863 per year
Published at: Aug 16 2023
Employment Type: Full-time
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.
Duties
If selected for this position, you will join a well-respected team that is responsible for Appellate work in the U.S. Attorney's Office. This position involves significant and independent legal writing. Typical work assignments will include:
Performs substantive research, evaluation, and analysis of a variety of specialized legal topics and points of law.
Prepares briefs, motions, legal memoranda, and appendices of the court record, and assists with the preparation of oral arguments before the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Independently performs extensive and thorough legal research into legislative history, case precedent, regulations, court rules, and ethics and other opinions that may be applicable to particular legal matters.
Analyzes options, evaluates the relevance of each, and determines which statutes, regulations, cases, rules, procedures and policies need to be researched and assembled.
Prepares indices of legal and administrative material.
Drafts initial legal and administrative briefs, motions, responses and oppositions to defense motions, appendices of court record materials, and correspondence for attorney review.
Drafts legal documents that detail the legislative history, rules and regulations, and legal precedents that may apply to particular legal matters.
Drafts legal documents and correspondence which summarize and explain cases and issues.
Prepares training materials and materials for other presentations.
Reviews, proofreads, and edits lengthy and complex legal documents.
Verifies citations and statutory references against original sources.
Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.
Requirements
- You must be a U.S. Citizen or National
- Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory pre-employment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. Continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation
- You must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable
- If selected, you may be required to complete a one year probationary period.
- You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.
Qualifications
GS-11:To be eligible at the GS-11 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions, as defined below: Specialized Experience, Education, OR a combination of Education and Experience.
Specialized Experience: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 level.
Specialized Experience is defined as experience performing a variety of analytical paralegal or legal work which demonstrates a practical knowledge of law, the litigation and judicial process, and applicable rules, regulations, policies, and procedures. Examples of specialized experiences may include the following: analyzing and evaluating legal decisions and case files to identify relevant issues and potential evidence; conducting legal research concerning precedents and past court decisions; composing legal briefs, summaries of analyses and decisions, and pre-trial documents, and appendices of the court record; and preparing evidence and documents to support recommendations.
Education:One of the following types of education in a related field (e.g., Criminal Justice, Law): a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; OR 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; or LL.M. Education at the graduate level must be in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position.
Combining Education and Experience: Combinations of successfully completed graduate education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. In order to qualify based on a combination, graduate education must be in excess of 2 full years.
Preferred Qualifications
While not required, applicants with a J.D. degree are strongly preferred.
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/.
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.
Contacts
- Address Northern District of Georgia
75 Ted Turner Drive, S.W.
Atlanta, GA 30303
US
- Name: Tanya Smilley
- Phone: (404) 581-6308
- Email: [email protected]
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