Legal Assistant (OA) - Environmental Defense Section

Summary

This position is located in the Environmental Defense Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division. The Section represents the United States in complex litigation arising under a broad range of environmental statutes and defends the United States against challenges to its cleanup and compliance actions at Superfund sites, federally owned facilities and private sites. The incumbent will perform legal support tasks associated with Section litigation.

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Duties

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This vacancy is also being announced concurrently with Ann# ENRD-26-035-DE for applicants who DO NOT have Federal status. Please review that announcement to determine if you are eligible to apply. Note: Applicants must apply separately for each announcement.

As a Legal Assistant, you will join a well-respected team of Legal Assistants who are responsible for performing a wide range of administrative and legal support tasks to support the Section's federal district court litigation practice:

• Reviewing and analyzing case materials to become familiar with the case or matter.
• Creating and maintaining litigation case files of pleadings, discovery documents, and correspondence.
• Organizing and maintaining legal and other reference materials.
• Utilizing word processing software including Microsoft Word, Excel, and Adobe Acrobat to draft, edit, and prepare a variety of routine documents and correspondence.
• Utilizing automated legal databases, including Relativity, Westlaw, Lexis, or other similar database to conduct searches for or retrieve legal documents, court cases, and statutory references.
• Retrieving, organizing, and assembling trial exhibits, affidavits, legal documents, briefing books, and other case materials to prepare for trials or other litigation projects.
• Arranging travel reservations; preparing and completing necessary travel authorizations and vouchers; and coordinating with appropriate offices to ensure prompt payment.
• Directing inquiries from visitors and callers to the appropriate individuals for action.
• Preparing correspondence and administrative forms using proper format, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
• Conveying information to customers and staff in a clear and convincing manner.
• Composing routine legal documents e.g., motions or requests for extension of time or proposed orders, requiring knowledge of legal procedures.
• Facilitating the exchange of information between litigation support staff, paralegals, and attorneys.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen or national.
• You must complete a background investigation to include drug testing.
• Selective Service Registration is required, as applicable.
• You must complete or have completed a one-year probationary period.
• You must maintain a bank account for direct deposit of salary.

Qualifications

To qualify for GS-5, you must have one year of specialized experience at, or equivalent to, the GS-4 Federal grade level or above applying standardized rules, processes, and procedures concerning commonly utilized general reference sources and legal research tools to perform a variety of legal support work. This experience must include preparing correspondence and administrative forms using proper format, grammar, punctuation, and spelling; OR

Successful completion of 4 years of education above the high school level in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite is creditable and fully meets the qualification requirements at GS-5. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial, or technical school, junior college, or university: OR

A combination of post-high school education in excess of the first 60 semester hours and specialized experience may also be used to meet the qualification requirements at GS-5. Note: One full academic year of study (30 semester hours) beyond the second year is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience.

To qualify for GS-6, you must have one year of specialized experience at, or equivalent to, the GS-5 Federal grade level or above composing standardized legal forms needed for specific actions; preparing trial exhibits, affidavits, and legal documents in preparation for trials; and maintaining litigation case files. There is no substitution of education for experience to qualify at the GS-6 level.

To qualify for GS-7, you must have one year of specialized experience at, or equivalent to, the GS-6 Federal grade level or above conducting searches of legal documents and court cases; verifying statutory references and legal citations; and developing tables of authorities, tables of contents, and indices to briefs; OR

One full year of graduate level education directly related to the work of the position (e.g., law or paralegal studies) may be substituted for the specialized experience; OR

A combination of specialized experience and directly related graduate education may also be used to meet 100% of the qualification requirements at GS-7. Note: Nine (9) semester hours of graduate education directly related to the work of the position is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience.

To qualify for GS-8, you must have one year of specialized experience at, or equivalent to, the GS-7 Federal grade level or above applying legal regulations and procedures to coordinate all aspects of court/trial proceedings including court filings; establishing and maintaining litigation case files which include pleadings and discovery documents; and performing legal research including verifying case citations.There is no substitution of education for experience to qualify at the GS-8 level.

Typing Requirement : This position requires a qualified typist with a minimum typing speed of 40 words per minute. If you do not self-certify on the occupational/assessment questionnaire that you have the required typing proficiency, you will be rated ineligible for this position. This position requires office automation skills. Some examples of office automation skills include database management and various word processing software packages (MS Office Suite: Excel, PowerPoint, and Word) and database applications.

Time in Grade : Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements (one year at the next lower grade) by the closing date of announcement.

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

YOUR RESUME MUST support your responses to the online questionnaire and provide specific details as to how your experience meets the specialized experience as described in the vacancy announcement if you are using experience to meet all or part of the qualification requirements. Please ensure that your resume includes the month and year that you began and ended each position held or that position will not be credited toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. Part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience. Failure to provide details will result in an ineligible rating. Your latest resume submitted for this vacancy announcement will be used to determine qualifications and supersedes previous submissions.

Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered .

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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

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

Career Transition Programs: The Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in DOJ with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. 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 you have received written notification of your eligibility for consideration under CTAP/ICTAP, you may receive special priority consideration for this position if you are well-qualified for the position with a score of 85 or better on established ranking criteria.

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, 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 the 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. You can find additional information at:

Military Spouses :You're eligible if you are a spouse of an active duty member of the armed forces; a spouse of a service member who is 100% disabled due to a service-connected injury; or a spouse of a service member killed while on active duty. You must meet certain criteria for each of these eligibility categories. Learn more about the specific criteria for military spouses

Schedule A : DOJ welcomes and encourages applications from persons with disabilities and is firmly committed to satisfying its affirmative obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advanced on the basis of merit within the Department. DOJ also encourages eligible Schedule A applicants to submit their resumes to View email address on click.appcast.io, and reference "Federal Career Opportunities" in the subject line. Additional information is found at:

Land Management applicants on a time-limited appointment are eligible to apply. The Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act, P.L. 114-47 was signed into law on August 7, 2015, allowing certain individuals who currently are or formerly were under time-limited competitive appointments at certain land management agencies to compete for permanent positions in the competitive service at a land management agency, or any other agency, under merit promotion procedures.

Benefits : DOJ 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.

General Employment Information:

1. DOJ EEO STATEMENT: Find our EEO statement online at:
2. SELECTIVE SERVICE: Additional information is found at:

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.