Legal Administrative Specialist bei Department of Justice

Top Secret

Duties

As a Legal Administrative Specialist (Litigation Support) in the United States Attorney's Office (USAO), you will join a well-respected team that is responsible for providing a variety of legal support services to the United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of California. You will be assigned to the Criminal Division and your duties will include (but are not limited to): Providing technical advice to litigation teams (attorney's, paralegal staff, legal staff, etc.) on legal automation requirements and systems capabilities to facilitate litigation decisions, trial preparation and trial presentation. Analyzing litigation support requirements to develop or recommend appropriate strategies to meet litigation needs. Assisting and/or training attorneys in organizing voluminous case information for efficient retrieval through automated means such as scanning, indexing, and controlling of documents into a data base. Preparing computerized trial presentation programs. Using and appropriately employing a variety of software packages including database, spreadsheet and word processing applications such as: Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, Trial Director, Concordance, Eclipse, Time Map, Case Map, eScan It, etc., based on which software would be most effective for presentation of complex and voluminous evidence or to production of graphic demonstrative evidence, as well as meeting individual user needs. Preparing and maintaining a variety of trial-related documents, e.g., discovery letters, exhibit lists, jury instructions, trial subpoenas, etc., by applying a thorough knowledge of the Federal Rules of Evidence and Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and applying practical litigative experience. Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

Qualifications

GS-9: To be eligible at the GS-9 level, you must have at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 grade level in the Federal service as defined below; or two full years of progressively higher level graduate education or master's degree in a related field (e.g., Information Technology, Computer Science, Criminal Justice, Law) or an equivalent graduate degree such as an LL.B or J.D.; or a combination of both specialized experience and education as explained below. Specialized Experience involves performing the following types of duties: performing routine litigation support assignments such as assisting with organizing case information (i.e., scanning and creating CDs); assisting attorneys in preparing for court such as preparing exhibits, compiling trial notebooks, compiling witness and exhibit lists and preparing computerized trial presentations and exhibits; verifying citations; conducting research, analysis and evaluation of data in response to requests; using automated legal research tools as well as public information databases to perform basic research of case-specific legal matters; preparing a variety of legal documents; and managing discovery. A combination of experience and 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%. GS-11: To be eligible at the GS-11 level, you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service as defined below; or three full years of progressively higher level graduate education, LL.M., Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in a related field (e.g., Information Technology, Computer Science, Criminal Justice, Law); or a combination of both specialized experience and education as explained below. Specialized Experience involves performing the following types of duties: working in a legal environment providing technical assistance to litigation teams on legal automation requirements and systems capabilities; organizing and generating basic electronic discovery; analyzing litigation support requirements to develop or recommend appropriate strategies to meet litigation needs; using automated litigation support technology, or related programs to organize voluminous case information for retrieval, prepare computerized trial presentations, and index digital evidence; researching, analyzing and summarizing relevant legal precedents; and preparing and maintaining a variety of trial-related documents. A combination of experience and 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%. GS-12: To be eligible at the GS-12 level, you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level as defined below: Specialized Experience involves performing the following types of duties: working in a legal environment providing technical advice and guidance to litigation teams on legal automation requirements, systems capabilities, and complex litigation support issues; actively participating in the investigation and litigation of criminal cases; processing complex and voluminous electronically stored information and preparing it for review or production by a litigation team; diagnosing litigation support computer system problems to meet individual user needs and evaluating new developments in legal technology, including software courtroom presentation equipment and trial exhibit preparation; performing a wide range of information system analysis, development, and installation in support of litigation support activities for cases; and providing advice, customer support services, and project management services in connection with electronic discovery and evidence, litigation support projects, and litigation technology software applications. 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: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. 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 http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

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 http://www.ed.gov 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 http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html. All documentation must be in English or include an English translation.

Other 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; 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 www.sss.gov. 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: 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. 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.