Paralegal Specialist

Summary

The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia's mission is to enforce the criminal laws of the United States and the District of Columbia, represent the interests of the United States in civil litigation, and respond to the public safety needs of the community by leading an effective, well-coordinated law enforcement effort that contributes to the overall goal of improving the quality of life in the District of Columbia.

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Duties

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This position is located within the Fraud, Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section (FPCCR), Criminal Division (CD) of the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia (USAO-DC). The purpose of this position is to provide legal support as part of a paralegal team assigned to the FPCCR section.

Typical work assignments will include:

• Organizing, tracking, and maintaining evidence and exhibits for grand jury proceedings, hearings, and trials.
• Assisting Assistant United States Attorneys with preparing and managing legal documents, including discovery letters, exhibit lists, jury instructions, and subpoenas.
• Reviewing and organizing electronically stored information and recommending appropriate formats for receiving and producing electronic discovery.
• Preparing substantive legal documents, including motions, search warrants, arrest warrants, and other materials used to obtain evidence or testimony.
• Assisting with witness and agent interviews, trial preparation, discovery production, and the electronic closing and maintenance of case files.

Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

This position is also being announced to applicants under Delegated Examining procedures under 26-DC-13027671-DE.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a United States Citizen or National to apply for this position.
• Selective Service: Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see
• All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
• 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.
• A probationary period may be required.
• If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application.
• Must provide resume and supporting documents (See required documents).
• Time-in-Grade: Current or former Federal employees applying under merit promotion considerations must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements for consideration within 30 days after the closing date of this announcement.
• You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days after the closing date of this announcement and before placement in the position.
• As needed, additional selections may be made using this announcement.

Qualifications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience and/or education for the respective grade level in which you are applying:

To qualify at the GS-09 level, you must possess:

Specialized Experience: At least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors) performing (3) of the (5) duties listed below:

• Supporting attorneys with criminal investigations, grand jury proceedings, case preparation, and trial activities.
• Researching legal and factual issues and preparing warrants, subpoenas, motions, complaints, and other legal documents for attorney review.
• Reviewing, organizing, redacting, and maintaining discovery materials and evidence in accordance with court rules and procedures.
• Using automated litigation systems to manage electronic case information, prepare exhibits, track deadlines, and maintain case files.
• Assisting, under general supervision, with witness interviews, trial preparation, courtroom presentation materials, exhibit management, case tracking, and the closure and archiving of litigation case files for routine or moderately complex cases using established procedures.

OR

Education : Two (2) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree; OR LL. B or J.D., in a related field of study to the position (e.g., Paralegal Studies, Political Science, Law, Criminal Justice, Forensic Studies). Education at the graduate level must be in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position

OR

Combination of Experience and Education: Graduate level education can be used if, when combined, are equivalent to 100% of the qualification requirement. Only graduate level education in excess of the first full year can be used in this calculation. To calculate your percentage of graduate education, first determine the total number of graduate level hours that exceed 18 semester hours (or your school's definition of one year of graduate study), then divide the total number of your excess graduate semester hours by 18 (or your school's definition of one year of graduate study). To calculate your percentage of specialized experience, divide the total number of months of qualifying experience by 12. Now, add the two percentages together. The sum of the percentages must equal at least 100%.

To qualify at the GS-11 level, you must possess:

Specialized Experience: At least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors) performing (4) of the (5) duties listed below:

• Providing legal and technical support to attorneys handling complex criminal investigations, grand jury matters, or prosecutions.
• Conducting legal and factual research and preparing substantive legal documents, such as motions, subpoenas, complaints, indictments, search warrants, arrest warrants, or other court filings.
• Preparing, reviewing, organizing, redacting, and maintaining discovery materials in accordance with federal laws, court rules, protective orders, and established procedures.
• Using automated litigation support systems to search, analyze, organize, retrieve, and present large volumes of electronic evidence and case information.
• Independently coordinating and providing advanced litigation support for complex or sensitive cases involving witness interviews, trial preparation, courtroom presentation materials and technology, exhibit management, case tracking, and the closure and archiving of litigation case files, including resolving unusual procedural or case-management issues.

OR

Education: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; OR 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree; OR an LL.M., in a related field of study to the position (e.g., Paralegal Studies, Political Science, Law, Criminal Justice, Forensic Studies). Education at the graduate level must be in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position.

OR

Combination of Experience and Education: Graduate level education can be used if, when combined, are equivalent to 100% of the qualification requirement. Only graduate level education in excess of the first two years can be used in this calculation. To calculate your percentage of graduate education, first determine the total number of graduate level hours that exceed 36 semester hours (or your school's definition of two years of graduate study), then divide the total number of your excess graduate semester hours by 18 (or your school's definition of one year of graduate study). To calculate your percentage of specialized experience, divide the total number of months of qualifying experience by 12. Now, add the two percentages together. The sum of the percentages must equal at least 100%.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

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 skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). For more information on the qualifications for this position, click here.

TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENTS: Merit promotion applicants must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible.

One year at the GS-07 is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-09 level.

One year at the GS-09 is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-11 level.

• You must submit your SF-50 that shows Time-in-Grade eligibility and reflects your title, series, and grade. No award SF-50 will be accepted; recommended SF-50s include promotions and step increases (within grade increases).

Education

If you are claiming education as any part of your qualifications for this position, you must submit an official transcript, unofficial transcript, or a list including courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned.

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

Special Instructions for Foreign Education : If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. Failure to provide such documentation with your application will result in lost consideration. For further information, visit: addition, when reviewing applicant's transcripts, assumptions will not be made. Applicants MUST state which coursework is relevant.

Additional information

Payment of relocation expenses will not be authorized.

Background Investigation: To ensure the accomplishment of its mission, the Department of Justice requires each and every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo and successfully complete a background investigation for a clearance as a condition of placement in this Noncritical Sensitive/Moderate Risk position. This review includes financial issues such as delinquency in the payment of debts, child support and/or tax obligations, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan ( 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 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 rate equivalent to the Highly Qualified or better category using established category rating criteria. Additional information about ICTAP eligibility, click here.

The Career Transition Assistance Plan ( CTAP ) provides eligible surplus and displaced 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 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 rate equivalent to the Highly Qualified or better category using established category rating criteria. Additional information about CTAP eligibility, click here.

Special Hiring Authorities for Military Spouse and Family Members: FedsHireVets - OPM.gov

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests : If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments: Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

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.