Attorney Advisor

Summary

This position is located in the Department of Program Services, Court Services Office, Court Programs Division, National Programs Branch, Electronic Public Access (EPA) Section. The federal judiciary's EPA program facilitates and improves electronic public access to court information in accordance with legislation, judiciary policies, security requirements and user demands. The Attorney Advisor executes various assignments in support of the EPA program and the program's senior leadership team.

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Duties

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The Attorney Advisor provides high-level legal and program analysis regarding the EPA program to various stakeholders within the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO), and expert legal and operational advice regarding the program to federal judges, court executives, court staff, and AO management. The work involves the production of a wide array of professionally written products and briefing materials. The incumbent also coordinates and collaborates with other AO and court staff on a wide range of issues that implicate the EPA program, building cross-functional teams and managing solutions.

The duties of this position include, but are not limited to:

1. Providing policy guidance on how statutes and Judicial Conference of the United States (JCUS) policies relating to privacy and public access impact the appropriate availability and accessibility of dockets and documents on the judiciary's Case Management/Electronic Case Files system and its Public Access to Court Electronic Records service.
2. Serving as staff to the AO's EPA Working Group, including researching, writing, and editing meeting materials, presenting issues to the Working Group, preparing meeting minutes, and taking the lead on executing group recommendations where appropriate.
3. Serving as staff to the AO's EPA Public User Group, developing materials for the group's consideration, and helping EPA program staff ensure that group recommendations are vetted through appropriate judiciary decision-making channels and adopted recommendations are implemented
4. Helping to build and maintaining an intra-agency team of subject-matter experts that can advise the program on proposed initiatives related to electronic public access for consideration by the JCUS and judiciary leaders and develop creative solutions for enhancing public access to electronic court records.
5. Assisting in analyzing and communicating about the impact of proposed legislation on judiciary public access policies and EPA services.
6. Working with AO staff, including the AO's Office of Public Affairs, to produce EPA program communication materials such as reports for the judiciary and Congress, responses to congressional and media inquiries, and articles for judiciary publications.
7. Collaborating with the AO's JCUS Committee staff to develop and present in writing EPA policy and pilot recommendations to Committee members.
8. Implementing and maintaining the operations of various public access programs approved by the JCUS, including the program to provide all designated judicial opinions to the Government Publishing Office for posting online and the judiciary's centralized service for academic researchers to request fee-exempt access to dockets and documents from multiple courts.
9. Producing recurring and ad hoc analyses and reports on various issues for both internal and external customers, including preparing materials for periodic financial reviews and annual reports to Congress.
10. Coordinating logistical activities for EPA advisory group meetings, including agenda development, the timeline for materials development, and members' travel Providing legal advice in coordination with the AO's Office of General Counsel to other Programs Division areas, i.e., records management and library services.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

1. All information is subject to verification. Applicants are advised that false answers or omissions of information on application materials or inability to meet the following conditions may be grounds for non-selection, withdrawal of an offer of employment, or dismissal after being employed.
2. Selection for this position is contingent upon completion of OF-306, Declaration of Federal Employment during the pre-employment process and proof of U.S. citizenship for competitive status positions or conversion to a competitive status position with the AO. If non-citizens are considered for hire into a temporary or any other position with non-competitive status or when it is confirmed by the AO Human Resources Office there are no qualified U.S. citizens for a competitive status position (unless prohibited by a law or statue), non-citizens must provide proof of authorization to work in the U.S. and proof of entitlement to receive compensation. Additional information on the employment of non-citizens can be found at USAJOBS Help Center | Employment of non-citizens/. For a list of documents that may be used to provide proof of citizenship or authorization to work in the United States, please refer to Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.
3. All new AO employees will be required to complete an FBI fingerprint-based national criminal database and records check and pass a public trust suitability check.
4. New employees to the AO will be required to successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights/responsibilities, visit
5. All new AO employees are required to identify a financial institution for direct deposit of pay before appointment.
6. You will be required to serve a trial period if selected for a first-time appointment to the Federal government, transferring from another Federal agency, or serving as a first-time supervisor. Failure to successfully complete the trial period may result in termination of employment.
7. If appointed to a temporary position, management may have the discretion of converting the position to permanent depending upon funding and staffing allocation.

Qualifications

Applicants must have demonstrated experience as listed below. This requirement is according to the AO Classification, Compensation, and Recruitment Systems which include interpretive guidance and reference to the OPM Operating Manual for Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions.

Bar Membership : Applicants must currently be an active member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or a federal court of general jurisdiction (attach a copy of license) . Applicants are responsible for citing minimum qualifications such as J.D. and bar membership information (institution name, state(s) for bar, and dates) on their respective resumes. Failure to supply details will constitute an incomplete application. All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Post J.D. Experience : Applicants must also possess at least 4 years of post J.D. experience.

Specialized Experience: Subsequent to graduation from law school, applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience which is in or directly related to the line of work of this position. Specialized experience for this position is demonstrate experience in ALL areas defined below:

• Provide legal and policy guidance on privacy, public access, and electronic court records.
• Support working groups and advisory committees through research, analysis, briefings, and recommendations.
• Manage public access programs, reports, stakeholder communications, and legislative analysis.

Education

Applicants must possess a law degree (J.D.) from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA). Qualifying education must have been obtained from an accredited college or university recognized by the Department of Education. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on OPM's website at

Additional information

The AO is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.