Job opening: Legal Assistant (Office Automation)
Salary: $41 996 - 67 628 per year
Published at: Oct 10 2023
Employment Type: Full-time
If you are looking for an exciting and challenging career, this is the position for you! With a diverse and talented workforce of over 100,000 men and women, Justice leads the Nation in ensuring the protection of all Americans while preserving their constitutional freedoms. You can be part of a dedicated team helping to enforce Federal criminal and civil laws that protect life, liberty, and the property of citizens.
Duties
This position is located in Hammond, Indiana.
Hammond, Indiana is centrally located in the Northwest Indiana region. With a thriving population and minutes away from Chicago, Northwest Indiana offers low-cost, high-quality living while offering highly competitive salaries at the Chicago locality rate. The proximity of Chicago also offers its art and cultural institutions, world-class entertainment, and dining. The area boasts a variety of living options - from urban living and suburbs to small towns and rural communities. Northwest Indiana is also home to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Park and the Indiana Dunes State Park - both offering trails, camping and beaches along Lake Michigan.
For more information about the area, visit www.nwiforum.org
For more information about the state of Indiana, visit www.visitindiana.com.
The office is soliciting applications for a Legal Assistant position within the Civil Legal Support Section of the Northern District of Indiana. If selected for this position, you will join a well-respected team that is responsible for providing a variety of legal and administrative support functions to Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) in the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Indiana. Typical work assignments will include:
Examining, preparing, and processing a variety of technical legal documents, e.g., complaints, motions, orders, answers, pleadings, subpoenas, and libels.
Providing assistance to attorneys in trial preparation.
Assembling exhibits, affidavits, and other legal documents.
Assembling and organizing files and records material for disposition or transfer to records depository.
Maintaining calendar of assigned active cases.
Tracking filing, hearing, and trials dates, and scheduling conference and interviews.
Arranging travel by preparing itinerary and securing transportation and hotel reservations.
Producing a variety of written documents and materials using a wide range of office software applications.
Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.
This position is at the full promotion level
Incentive Pay: May be considered for superiorly qualified applicants and in accordance with 5 CFR Part 575.
Relocation Expenses: Permanent Change in Station (PCS) Relocation expenses will not be authorized.
Benefits: The Department of Justice offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part:
Paid vacation
Sick Leave
11 paid holidays
12-weeks of Paid Parental Leave
Reasonable Accommodations
Health Insurance Benefits
Dental and Vision benefits
Flexible Spending Accounts for Healthcare and Dependent Care
Federal Retirement Pension (Federal Employees Retirement System)
Thrift Savings Plan (401k) with up to 5% employer matching
Life Insurance
Long-term care Insurance
Other Benefits:In addition to the above benefits, we also offer:
Telework
Flexible Work Schedules
Compressed Work Schedules
Student Loan Forgiveness
Performance Awards & Bonuses
Employee Assistance Programs
The Benefits link provides an overview of the benefits currently offered to Federal Employees. For more information visit OPM's site for Federal Employee Compensation Package.
Qualifications
To qualify for this position, you must meet the experience requirements for the grade levels as described below:
GS-5 Grade Level Qualification Requirements
To be eligible at the GS-5 level you must meet at least one of the following conditions below:
Specialized Experience: At least one (1) year of specialized 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. This experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-4 level in the Federal service and could have been gained in the federal, public, or private sector.
-OR-
Education: Completion of at least four (4) years of education above the high school level. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. One year of full-time academic study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university, or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business, secretarial, or technical school.
-OR-
Combination of Experience and Education: Combinations of successfully completed post high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. In order to qualify based on a combination, college education must be in excess of 60 semester hours or beyond the second year.
GS-06 Grade Level Qualification Requirements
To be eligible at the GS-6 level, you must meet the following conditions as defined below:
Specialized Experience: At least one (1) year of experience reviewing legal documents such as complaints, motions, orders, answers, pleadings, subpoenas, and libels for completeness of 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. This experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-5 level in the Federal service and could have been gained in the federal, public, or private sector.
GS-07 Grade Level Qualification Requirements
To be eligible at the GS-7 level, you must meet the following conditions as defined below:
Specialized Experience: At least one (1) year of specialized experience providing assistance 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 automated software to produce legal related reports and documents, including developing tables of contents and indices to briefs. This experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-6 level in the Federal service and could have been gained in the federal, public, or private sector.
Typing Proficiency Requirement
In addition to the qualification requirements for each grade level identified above, you must be able to 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.)
The complete Qualification Standards used for this position may be found at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=Group-Standards
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 Indiana
5400 Federal Plaza
Hammond, IN 46320
US
- Name: USAINN HR
- Phone: 219-937-5500
- Email: [email protected]
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