Paralegal Specialist presso Legislative Branch

Not Required

Duties

As a Paralegal Specialist, you will support ALD’s Legislative Attorneys by researching and verifying legal citations; formatting written products consistent with applicable style manuals including the Bluebook; analyzing legal and factual issues within ALD’s responsibility; proofreading and editing a wide variety of ALD products; providing technical assistance on the use of legal software and databases; updating, maintaining, and troubleshooting ALD’s internal and public-facing websites; and providing support for major CRS legal programs and initiatives, including congressional client outreach, seminar programs, constitutional print and web publications, and legal citation training and support. Strong cite-checking, Bluebooking, writing, legal research, and technological skills are essential. Experience with XML tagging is beneficial but not required. CRS works exclusively for the United States Congress, providing policy and legal analysis to committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of party affiliation. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS has been a valued and respected resource on Capitol Hill for more than a century. CRS is well known for analysis that is authoritative, confidential, objective, and nonpartisan. Its highest priority is to ensure that Congress has immediate access to the nation's best thinking on public policy issues of interest to its Members and Committees. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce that ensures the Service is well positioned to anticipate and meet the information and analytical research needs of a 21st-century Congress. Paralegal Specialist duties include: Cite-checks ALD written products and researches legal citations to ensure propositions are accurate, correct, complete, and fully supported by valid legal authorities. Revises textual citations and footnotes to comply with applicable style manuals, including the Bluebook. Gathers authoritative legal information, using both traditional and electronic resources. Assists ALD Legislative Attorneys in analyzing legal and factual issues. Selects, assembles, summarizes, and compiles substantive legal information, including legislative histories. Analyzes and organizes legal, factual, and archival records. Uses legal software and online research databases to assist Legislative Attorneys in authoring, editing, and publishing written content. Proofreads and edits a wide variety of ALD written products, including reports, presentations, outreach communications, and testimony. Advises ALD Legislative Attorneys to ensure products conform to CRS editorial standards using applicable style manuals, including Bluebook and the CRS Style Guide, and to resolve editorial and publishing issues. Provides Legislative Attorneys with technical assistance with ALD software, hardware, custom web applications, legal research databases, and more. Researches IT tools and internal publishing applications systems to support ALD’s publications. Recommends technical and editorial standards for published material. Manages competing priorities and ensures deadlines are met. Supports major CRS legal programs and initiatives, including congressional client outreach, seminar programs, constitutional print and web publications, and legal citation training.

Requirements

Library of Congress employees are prohibited from using illegal drugs, including marijuana. The Library is part of the Federal Government and abides by federal law, so regardless of individual state or District of Columbia laws, marijuana use is illegal, considered criminal activity, and can affect your employment at the Library. In addition, past or current drug use and activities (e.g., selling or distributing) may deem you ineligible for employment.

Qualifications

Applicants must have had progressively responsible experience and training sufficient in scope and quality to furnish them with an acceptable level of the following knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the position without more than normal supervision. Ability to cite-check, format, and edit legal materials. ** Ability to conduct legal research. ** Ability to prepare legal materials for publication. Ability to solve problems and make decisions. Ability to interact collaboratively with others. Ability to communicate effectively other than in writing.

Other Information

Although it is the Library's policy to afford the maximum pay benefit to employees when setting rates of pay, a new appointee who has had no previous Federal service will generally be paid at step one of the grade. The Library of Congress is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants must submit a complete application package that is received by the closing date of this announcement. Appointment/retention is subject to a favorable evaluation of an appropriate personnel security/suitability investigation. For more information, please see: Vetting Process This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please email [email protected]. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Applicants with disabilities may be considered under special hiring procedures and must submit an appropriate certificate of eligibility when applying for this position. The proof or disability/certification may be issued by the State Vocational Rehabilitation Office, Disability Services or Career Services office of the applicant’s college or university, or the Department of Veterans Affairs. The letter must verify that the applicant has a severe disability and must be dated within three years of the date of the application. Certification from health care providers are not accepted. For more information contact the Library's Office of Equal Employment Opportunity at 202-707-6024 or email [email protected]. FAILURE TO SUBMIT YOUR CERTIFICATION WILL CAUSE YOUR APPLICATION TO NOT BE CONSIDERED UNDER THE SELECTIVE PLACEMENT PROGRAM. The Library of Congress is the national library of the United States and is part of the Legislative Branch of the Federal government. As such, all positions are in the excepted service. The Library reserves the right to fill a lesser or greater number of vacancies indicated during the life of this vacancy announcement. Initial permanent appointments to the Library of Congress require completion of a one-year probationary period. Probationary periods served at other Federal agencies do not count toward this requirement. The Library of Congress may offer repayment for all or part of federally insured student loans. However, not all service units within the Library of Congress participates in the repayment of federally insured student loans. Therefore, determination to repay a federally insured student loan is subject to approval by the appropriate service unit. A “Not to Exceed" (NTE) status is used to identify an appointment with a specific ending date. However, the Library has the right to separate a NTE employee at any time due to either performance issues or budget constraints. Are you a veteran? Please indicate the type of veterans' preference you are claiming in your application materials and/or applicant profile and provide the appropriate supporting documentation to validate your claim. Those applying for 5-point preference must submit Member Copy 4 of your DD 214. Those applying for 10-point preference must fill out an SF-15 (click here for the form) and provide the required documentation listed on the back of the form. If required supporting documentation is not attached, Veterans' Preference will not be considered in the application process.