Paralegal Specialist

Summary

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia is unique in the size and the scope of its work. It serves as both the local and the federal prosecutor for the nation's capital. On the local side, AUSAs assigned to the Superior Court Division prosecute cases ranging from misdemeanors to homicides. On the federal side, AUSAs assigned to the Criminal Division prosecute federal crimes. The Civil Division further defends the United States in civil suits brought in the District of Columbia.

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Duties

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If selected for this position, you will join a well-respected team in the Federal Major Crimes Section (FMC) of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia that is responsible for training newcomers to the Criminal Division. FMC is charged with handling drug and firearm offenses, robberies, threats, as well as scheduling Grand Juries, submitting Giglio requests to Agency Officials, and managing and coordinating threats portal legal process. The incumbent(s) will provide complex paralegal support to Assistant U.S. Attorneys assigned to the prosecutions and grand jury investigations for aforementioned federal cases.

Typical work assignments will include:

• Performs legal research and legislative histories and provides case precedents in support of the cases assigned to FMC.
• With guidance and under supervision schedules the Division's grand juries by notifying grand jurors of dates/times to report for duty; updates grand jury calendars, coordinates grand jury dates/times for AUSAs and Attorneys from other DOJ components; conducts grand jury orientation, orders transcripts; performs all other duties pertaining to the grand jury to ensure that the tasks are handled timely and efficiently.
• With guidance, and under supervision submits Giglio requests to Agency Officials by serving as the Giglio point of contact, manages Giglio mailboxes, database, list of agencies/oversight agencies; responds to Giglio requests and performs other duties pertaining to ensuring that Giglio requests are handled timely and efficiently.
• With guidance, and under supervision manages and coordinates threats portal legal process.
• Participates in reviewing case files, determines the nature of the crime and the circumstances involved; researches the criminal history of the defendant and preparing letters to be provided to the defendant at arraignment.
• Prepares a variety of substantive legal documents for review and approval by AUSAs.
• Provides litigative case management and organizes cases for court presentation by preparing and organizing exhibits.
• Compiles, organizes and indexes various discovery and evidence exhibits for trial.
• Prepares exhibits for trial involving a wide range of visual materials including charts, diagrams, photographs and models.
• Performs a variety of administrative and clerical duties which involves using one or more types of PC based software, i.e., word processing, courtroom presentations, spreadsheets, database management, automating reports, statistical data, text and graphics.
• Uses network and mainframe databases to perform data searches and data retrieval assignments.

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

For more information on the Department of Justice and the United States Attorneys' Offices, visit

As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement.

This position is also being announced to All U.S. Citizens and Nationals under 26-DC-12980741-DE.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. 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.
• If selected, you may be required to complete a one year probationary period.
• Time-in-Grade: Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements within 30 days after the closing date of this announcement.
• You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements within 30 days after the closing date of this announcement and before placement in the position.

Qualifications

To be qualified for the GS-09 Paralegal Specialist, you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal Service; or a master's or equivalent graduate degree; OR 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; or LL.B. or J.D., if related; or a combination of specialized experience and education.

Specialized Experience: Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to performing a variety of legal work which demonstrates a practical knowledge of law, the litigation and judicial process, and applicable rules, regulations, policies and procedures. Specialized Experience is defined as performing legal and factual research to assist with composing correspondence and legal documents (i.e., pleadings, memoranda of law, trial briefs, subpoenas, complaints, indictments, motion papers, and responses to defense motions); retrieving data from various legal and administrative subject-matter database; drafting and organizing a variety of case documents, exhibits and discovery material in preparation for trial; serves as contact person for assigned cases.

OR

Education: a master's or equivalent graduate degree; OR 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; or LL.B. or J.D, if related (e.g., Criminal Justice, Law). 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

Combining Education and Experience: a combination of specialized experience and education which when combined equal 100% of the requirements. Combinations of successfully completed graduate education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. In order to qualify based on a combination, graduate education must be in excess of 1 full year.

To be qualified for the GS-11 Paralegal Specialist, you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in the Federal Service; or a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related; or a combination of specialized experience and education.

Specialized Experience: Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is independently performing a variety of analytical paralegal or legal work which demonstrates a practical knowledge of law, the litigation and judicial process, and applicable rules, regulations, policies and procedures. Specialized Experience is defined as performing legal and factual research to assist with composing correspondence and legal documents (i.e., pleadings, memoranda of law, trial briefs, subpoenas, complaints, indictments, motion papers, and responses to defense motions); retrieving data from various legal and administrative subject-matter database; preparing and organizing a variety of case documents, exhibits and discovery material in preparation for trial; participating in conducting interviews of agents and potential witnesses; maintaining contact with law enforcement agencies, attorneys and serves as contact person.

OR

Education: a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related. 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

Combining Education and Experience: a combination of specialized experience and education which when combined equal 100% of the requirements. Combinations of successfully completed graduate education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. In order to qualify based on a combination, graduate education must be in excess of 2 full years.

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:

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

Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) -VEOA allows eligible veterans to apply and compete for positions announced under merit promotion procedures when the hiring agency is recruiting from outside its own workforce. To be eligible for a VEOA appointment, a veteran must be honorably separated and either a preference eligible or have substantially completed three (3) or more years of continuous active military service. If you are applying for a Merit Promotion announcement and wish to be considered under VEOA, you must submit a copy of the Member Copy 4 of your DD-214, in addition to any other required documents listed on this announcement.

Special Employment Consideration - Persons with disabilities, veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more, certain other veterans, spouses of certain members of the armed forces, and returning Peace Corps volunteers are examples of individuals who are potentially eligible for non-competitive appointments. For further information, click on the links provided below . You must specify in your online questionnaire under what authority you wish to be considered and submit appropriate documentation to verify your eligibility.

Noncompetitive Appointment Authorities Links:

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

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 All documentation must be in English or include an English translation.

Additional information

Payment of relocation expenses will not be authorized.

The Department of Justice offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, paid vacation; sick leave; holidays; telework; life insurance; health benefits; and participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System.

Selective Service: If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. See

Reasonable Accommodation Statement: Federal Agencies must provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities, where appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the hiring agency directly. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.

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:

Political Appointees (Current or Former ): The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the HR Office. Failure to disclose this information could result in disciplinary action including removal from Federal Service.

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.