Legal Assistant

Summary

Corrections professionals who foster a humane and secure environment and ensure public safety by preparing individuals for successful reentry into our communities.

Duties

Serves as a Legal Assistant with primary responsibility to include analysis of response to and monitoring of requests submitted under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts Administrative Remedy Appeals and claims submitted under the Federal Tort Claims Act Civilian Employee Compensation and Bureau of Prisons Claims Acts (FTCA/CECA/BOPCA) and inmate property claims.

Receives service of legal documents reviews for correct form and timeliness; annotates case files and suspense files to reflect due dates and notifies appropriate legal staff to ensure timely responses are made.

Performs a variety of administrative support duties such as assembling information for various reports briefings conferences designing and organizing filing systems planning and arranging the maintenance and preparation of information needed for inter- or intra-office reports making travel arrangements for legal staff and completing Time and Attendance reports.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship is Required.
• See Special Conditions of Employment Section.

Career Transition Programs ( CTAP): These programs apply to Federal and/or DOJ employees who meet the definition of surplus or displaced from a position in the competitive service. To receive selection priority for this position you must:

• 1. Meet CTAP eligibility criteria;
• 2. Be rated well-qualified for the position scoring at least half of the total possible points for the vacancy KSAs or competencies; and
• 3. Submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP eligibility:
• A copy of the agency notice (i.e. separation notice or agency RIF letter)
• Most recent performance appraisal and
• Most recent SF-50 showing current/former position grade promotion potential and duty location.
• See USAJOBS Career Transition Programsfor more information.

NOTE: Applicants claiming CTAP eligibility must complete all assessment questions to be rated under the established ranking criteria.

EEO Statement/Policy: The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race color religion sex pregnancy national origin political affiliation sexual orientation marital status disability genetic information age membership in an employee organization retaliation parental status military service or other non-merit factor. More information can be found here: be considered for the position you must meet the following qualification requirements:

Education:

GL-07 and GL-08: As a general rule education is not creditable above GL-05 for most positions covered by this standard; however graduate education may be credited in those few instances where the graduate education is directly related to the work of the position.

OR

Experience:

GL-07 and GL-08 : You must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade level. To be creditable this experience must have equipped the applicant with the particular qualifications to perform successfully the duties of the position and must typically be in or related to the position to be filled.

Some examples of this qualifying experience are:

GL-07:

• Experience in receiving and processing legal instruments to include checking for correct form timeliness policy compliance establishing and tracking suspense dates and determining what actions are necessary.
• Experience in researching and gathering legal information and documentation from files and records policies regulations and statutes witness interviews databases and/or other sources.
• Experience in recognizing issues that must be dealt with timely promptly discreetly sensitively and confidentially.

GL-08:

• Experience with specialized legal terminology on citations related to the policies and statutes regarding administrative remedies tort claims and release for information requests including understanding and recognition of their significance.
• Experience distinguishing between a variety of legal instruments including petitions and complaints Habeas Bivens Tort Mandamus and various injunctive relief requests requests for production interrogatories and requests for admissions.
• Experience reviewing and/or drafting responses to Freedom of Information and Privacy Act requests Administrative Remedies and Tort Claims proofreading for content accuracy policy compliance typographical and grammatical errors etc.

If applicable credit will be given for paid and unpaid experience. To receive proper credit you must show the actual time (such as the number of hours worked per week) spent in activities.

**Your eligibility for consideration will be based on your responses to the questions in the application.**

Education

See Qualifications Section for education requirements if applicable .

ONLY if education is a requirement/substitution for specialized experience applicant MUST upload legible transcripts as verification of educational requirement. Transcripts MUST be uploaded and electronically linked from USAJOBS at the time you apply and MUST include identifying information to include School Name Student Name Degree and Date Awarded (if applicable). 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 Click Here.

Foreign Education: For information regarding foreign education requirements please see Foreign Diploma and Credit Recognition at the U.S. Department of Education website: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications.

If you are selected for this position and qualified based on education (i.e. basic education requirement and/or substitution of education) you will be required to provide an OFFICIAL transcript prior to your first day on duty.

Additional information

The representative rate for this position is $76845 per annum ($36.82 per hour).

Special Conditions of Employment Section:

Appointment is subject to satisfactory completion of a urinalysis physical and background investigation. All applicants are subject to National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and credit checks.

The addresses listed on the USAJOBS account/resume must be the primary residence at the time of application. You may be required to provide proof of residence.

Additional selections may be made if vacancies occur within the life of the certificate.

Although competitive and non-competitive applications are being accepted the selecting official may elect to have only one group reviewed.

Current Federal Law Enforcement Employees:

This is a non-law enforcement clerical or administrative support position (one-grade interval). Individuals selected for these positions will lose law enforcement coverage and will need to return to a position with primary law enforcement coverage to regain coverage.

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.

Required Experience:

Junior IC