Legal Assistant (Office Automaton)

Summary For more information on the Department of Justice and the United States Attorneys’ Offices, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/.

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

This position is also being announced to applicants eligible to apply through Merit Staffing procedures under 27-VAW-13088167-MS Duties

Help

At the full performance level, you will support Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSA), Civil Division, by providing a variety of legal assistance and office support services. If selected, you will receive formal and/or on-the-job training as needed.

Typical Work Assignments Will Include

• fielding phone calls and emails with client agencies, members of the public, and the court regarding cases.
• drafting a variety of legal documents, e.g., complaints, answers, discovery pleadings, motions, and subpoenas
• reviewing and processing document discovery in accordance with federal rules and established procedures
• proofreading and cite-checking legal briefs, discovery pleadings, and other legal documents
• supporting attorneys in hearings and trial preparation by conducting non-complex research of litigation, statutes, regulations, and court cases
• supporting attorneys in depositions and trials by assembling exhibits and affidavits
• supporting attorneys with managing their casework, including electronically filing pleadings, ordering transcripts, assisting in retention of expert witnesses, and other duties as assigned
• maintaining attorneys’ dockets and being responsible for case file organization, including opening cases, maintaining the case file, and closing cases for disposition or transfer to records depository
• maintaining calendar of internal and external deadlines

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

Requirements Help

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.
• You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.

Qualifications GS-5: To be eligible at the GS-5 level, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-4 level; or four years of education above the high school level; or a combination of both specialized experience and education as explained below.

Specialized Experience is defined as experience reviewing documents with legal implications for accuracy and completeness (e.g., court documents, real estate documents, contracts, insurance or benefits claims, mortgage or loan applications, tax forms, or other types of legal documents); typing and formatting correspondence and forms; maintaining file systems; and obtaining needed information from files or general reference sources.

Education: I have successfully completed four academic years of education above the high school level, or I possess a bachelor’s or higher degree.

Combining Education and Experience: Successfully completed post-high school education may be used to meet the total one year of specialized experience requirement equivalent to the GS-4 grade level. Only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours (i.e., beyond the second year) is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. One full academic year of study (30 semester hours) beyond the second year is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience.

GS-6: To be eligible at the GS-6 level, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level.

Specialized Experience is defined as experience reviewing legal documents such as complaints, motions, orders, answers, pleadings, subpoenas, and libels for completeness of factual information; retrieving and assembling information for hearing and/or trial use; researching a variety of legal sources to obtain and/or verify information; and using automated software to produce legal related reports, documents, correspondence and related materials.

**GS-7…