Legal Administrative 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 Legal Administrative Specialist provides administrative support, litigation research support and case management services to the Chief, Deputy Chief, Operations Manager and staff members of various sections and units throughout the Superior Court Division (SCD).

If selected for this position, you will join a well-respected team that is responsible for providing Legal Administrative Specialist support in the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia, located in Washington, District of Columbia, focusing in the areas of legal support.

Typical work assignments will include:

• Receives information from and serves in a liaison capacity between the Chief/Deputy Chief/ SCD Operations Manager and personnel from other divisions of the Office, judges, members of Superior Court, the U.S. Marshal's Office, Metropolitan Police Department and other law enforcement agency officials and the public.
• Performs case management services, including managing, organizing, and presenting case information pertaining to the SCD's criminal cases and formatting legal documents when deemed necessary.
• Analyzes automated litigation support functions and monitors system use and response time; and utilizes a variety of Litigation Support software applications to locate, organize, analyze, characterize, and present information.
• Reviews incoming material and determines the need for correspondence and legal documents such as motions, orders, pleadings, and subpoenas.

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

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 basic requirement and specialized experience for the respective grade level in which you are applying:

To qualify at the GS-9 level, you must possess:

Specialized Experience: At least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors) performing the duties listed below:

1. Providing routine litigation assistance, such as arranging and managing case files;
2. Providing litigation support to attorneys by preparing exhibits, assembling trial notebooks, compiling witness and exhibit lists, as well as developing computerized trial presentations;
3. Conducting research, analysis, and evaluation of data.

OR

Education: One of the following types of education in a related field (e.g., Criminal Justice, Computer

Science, Law, Information Technology): a master's degree 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. 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%.

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-7 is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-9 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.