This is an excepted service appointment under the DOJ Pathways Recent Graduates Program. The position is located in the Environmental Defense Section. The Section represents the United States in complex litigation arising under a broad range of environmental statutes and defends the United States against challenges to its cleanup and compliance actions at Superfund sites, federally-owned facilities and private sites. The incumbent will provide paralegal support to the Section's attorneys.

Duties

As the federal agency whose mission is to ensure the fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans, the Department of Justice is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. To build and retain a workforce that reflects the diverse experiences and perspectives of the American people, we welcome applicants from the many communities, identities, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, religions, and cultures of the United States who share our commitment to public service. This is an excepted service appointment under the DOJ Pathways Recent Graduates Program. Position(s) MAY be converted to a term or permanent appointment if the following are met: 1) successful completion of at least 1 year of continuous service, 2) completion of at least 40 hours of formal interactive training, and 3) demonstration of successful job performance. A recent graduate converted to a term appointment may be subsequently converted non-competitively into a permanent competitive service position before the term expires. As a Paralegal Specialist (Recent Graduate) your responsibilities may include: Organizing and writing synopses of factual materials; summarizing depositions; and preparing administrative records and non-legal memoranda. Performing cite checks pursuant to The Bluebook. Compiling legislative histories; researching and verifying credentials of witnesses; proofreading and editing legal briefs and memoranda prior to filing in court; and ensuring conformance of documents to applicable court rules. Conducting research in various legal databases including Westlaw, Pacer, and Lexis. Creating and maintaining litigation databases. Working closely with attorneys on special projects to track litigation in priority areas for the Division. Recent Graduates are on a trial period for the duration of the program. An Individual Development Plan (IDP) must be completed and approved by the supervisor within 45 days of appointment and a mentor must be assigned within 90 days of appointment.

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. citizen or national.
• You must complete a background investigation to include pre-employment drug testing.
• Selective Service Registration is required, as applicable.
• You will be required to serve a one year trial period.
• You must maintain a bank account for direct deposit of salary.
• Date degree conferred must be displayed on school transcripts.
• If you do not submit school transcripts, you will be rated ineligible.
• If this is your first appointment in the Federal service, your salary will be set at Step 1 of the grade.

Qualifications

To be eligible for this Recent Graduate program, one of the following requirements must be met: Recent graduates must have completed, within the previous two years, a qualifying associate, bachelor, master, professional, doctorate, vocational, or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution. If you graduated prior to August 2021, you will not be eligible for this position. NOTE: Students in the final semester before graduation are eligible to apply. Veterans unable to apply within two years of receiving their degree, due to military service obligation, have as much as six years after degree completion to apply. To qualify for this position at GS-7, you must have one of the following: A. At least one year of specialized experience at, or equivalent to, the GS-5 Federal grade level providing litigation support in a legal environment. Examples of specialized experience include, but are not limited to, using litigation software to identify documents potentially relevant to litigation cases or maintaining legal databases used to track the production and receipt of documents; OR B. A bachelor's degree and Superior Academic Achievement within a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled (See below); OR C. One full year of graduate level education that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work; OR D. A combination of education and specialized experience, that together meet 100% of the qualification requirements for this position. For example, 9 months of graduate study is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience. Superior Academic Achievement: This provision applies to persons who have completed all the requirements for a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university as evidenced by one of three methods described below (within a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled): Class standing -- Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses. Grade-point average (G.P.A.) -- Applicants must have a grade-point average of: a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on their official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum. Grade-point averages are to be rounded to one decimal place. For example, 2.95 will round to 3.0 and 2.94 will round to 2.9. Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society -- Applicants can be considered eligible based on membership in one of the national scholastic honor societies. 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; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skill and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Applicants are required to submit a writing sample. Please provide a 1-5 page double spaced sample for which you are the primary author. This can include papers, or portions of papers, submitted for classes or writing assignments done for a previous employer. To preview questions, please click here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12100843. YOUR RESUME MUST support your responses to the online questionnaire and provide specific details as to how your experience meets the specialized experience as described in the vacancy announcement if you are using experience to meet all or part of the qualification requirements. Please ensure that your resume includes the month and year that you began and ended each position held or that position will not be credited toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. Part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience. Failure to provide details will result in an ineligible rating. Your latest resume submitted for this vacancy announcement will be used to determine qualifications and supersedes previous submissions. Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.

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 www.ed.gov

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 https://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. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Contacts

• Address Environmental Defense Section 150 M Street NE Washington, DC 20002 US
• Name: Carmen Browne
• Phone: (202) 616-3127
• Email: [email protected]