For more information on the Department of Justice and the United States Attorney's Offices, visit http://www.justice.gov/careers/careers.html. For more information on the Southern District of California, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca. The SAUSA position is an uncompensated position and appointment will not exceed 12 months. As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement.

Duties

The U.S. Attorney's office is seeking one or more qualified candidates to join the office as Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys in our Civil Division. Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys represent the United States, federal agencies, and federal employees in a wide variety of civil cases. Defensive practice areas include personal injury and wrongful death, employment discrimination, constitutional torts, medical malpractice, and immigration. Affirmative practice areas include the investigation and prosecution of civil actions under statutes such as the False Claims Act, Controlled Substances Act, and Americans with Disabilities Act. Our Civil Division represents the United States, its agencies, officers, and employees in civil actions in the Southern District of California and at the Ninth Circuit. Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

Requirements

• You must be a United States 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. See www.sss.gov.
• J.D. degree and active member of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction) required.
• Must reside in the district to which appointed or within 25 miles thereof. See 28 U.S.C. 545 for district specific information.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. degree and must currently be an active member of a state bar in order to be considered. Proof of an active bar membership is required. One (1) full year of qualifying postgraduate legal experience is required. Preferred Qualifications: Candidates must demonstrate superior legal writing and research ability and a demonstrated commitment to professionalism, ethics, and civility. Applicants must display strong interpersonal skills and good judgment, have excellent oral communication skills, and exhibit the ability to work in a supportive and professional manner with other attorneys, staff, and agency and court personnel. Applicants must also demonstrate excellent computer skills including online legal research, electronic court filing, email, and word processing systems. Preferred qualifications include trial and courtroom experience in civil litigation, experience handling depositions and other civil discovery (including discovery of electronically stored information), and experience working with expert witnesses. You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement. Department of Justice Policies Applicants should familiarize themselves and comply with the relevant rules of professional conduct regarding any possible conflicts of interest in connection with their applications. In particular, please notify this Office if you currently represent clients or adjudicate matters in which this Office is involved and/or you have a family member who is representing clients or adjudicating matters in which this Office is involved so that we can evaluate any potential conflict of interest or disqualification issue that may need to be addressed under those circumstances. Equal Employment Opportunity: The U.S. Department of Justice is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer. Except where otherwise provided by law, there will be no discrimination because of color, race, religion, national origin, political affiliation, marital status, disability (physical or mental), age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, status as a parent, membership or non-membership in an employee organization, on the basis of personal favoritism, or any other non-merit factor. The Department of Justice welcomes and encourages applications from persons with physical and mental disabilities. The Department is firmly committed to satisfying its affirmative obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advanced on the basis of merit within the Department of Justice. Reasonable Accommodations: This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. Outreach and Recruitment for Qualified Applicants with Disabilities: The Department encourages qualified applicants with disabilities, including individuals with targeted/severe disabilities to apply in response to posted vacancy announcements. Qualified applicants with targeted/severe disabilities may be eligible for direct hire, non-competitive appointment under Schedule A (5 C.F.R. § 213.3102(u)) hiring authority. Individuals with disabilities may also contact one of the Department's Disability Points of Contact (DPOC). See list of DPOCs. Suitability and Citizenship: It is the policy of the Department to achieve a drug-free workplace and persons selected for employment will be required to pass a drug test which screens for illegal drug use prior to final appointment. Employment is also contingent upon the completion and satisfactory adjudication of a background investigation. Congress generally prohibits agencies from employing non-citizens within the United States, except for a few narrow exceptions as set forth in the annual Appropriations Act (see, https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/non-citizens/). Pursuant to DOJ component policies, only U.S. citizens are eligible for employment with the Executive Office for Immigration Review, U.S. Trustee's Offices, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unless otherwise indicated in a particular job advertisement, qualifying non-U.S. citizens meeting immigration and appropriations law criteria may apply for employment with other DOJ organizations. However, please be advised that the appointment of non-U.S. citizens is extremely rare; such appointments would be possible only if necessary to accomplish the Department's mission and would be subject to strict security requirements. Applicants who hold dual citizenship in the U.S. and another country will be considered on a case-by-case basis. All DOJ employees are subject to a residency requirement. Candidates who have lived outside the United States for two or more of the past five years will likely have difficulty being approved for appointments by the Department Security Staff. The two-year period is cumulative, not necessarily consecutive. Federal or military employees, or dependents of federal or military employees serving overseas, are excepted from this requirement. Veterans: There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Justice considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans' preference must include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., the DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty and other supporting documentation) to their submissions. Although the "point" system is not used, per se, applicants eligible to claim 10-point preference must submit Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, and submit the supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed (visit the OPM website, www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf for a copy of SF 15, which lists the types of 10-point preferences and the required supporting document(s). Applicants should note that SF 15 requires supporting documentation associated with service- connected disabilities or receipt of nonservice-connected disability pensions to be dated 1991 or later except in the case of service members submitting official statements or retirement orders from a branch of the Armed Forces showing that his or her retirement was due to a permanent service-connected disability or that he/she was transferred to the permanent disability retired list (the statement or retirement orders must indicate that the disability is 10% or more).

Education

Applicants must possess a J.D. Degree

Contacts

• Address Southern District of California 880 Front Street San Diego, CA 92101 US
• Name: Sylvia Rojas
• Phone: (619) 546-8973
• Email: [email protected]