Legal Assistant (Office Automation)

US-Executive-Office-For-U.S.-Attorneys-and-the-Office-of-the-U.S.-Attorneys-; Greenbelt (MD); On-site; USD 42,000 - 66,000; Full time

Job summary

US Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys and the Office of the U.S. Attorneys in the United States announces positions at GS-5 through GS-7 levels.

Eligible applicants may be reviewed under Merit Staffing procedures. Qualifications include education beyond high school or specialized experience with legal documents, rapid typing, and strong organizational skills. Responsibilities include reviewing legal documents for accuracy, assembling information for hearings, and assisting with discovery and

Qualifications

• To be eligible at GS-5, one year of specialized experience (GS-4) or four years of education above high school, or a combination.
• GS-6 requires one year of specialized experience at GS-5 level.
• GS-7 requires one year of specialized experience at GS-6 level; typing 40 wpm test may be required.

Responsibilities

• Review documents with legal implications for accuracy and completeness.
• Retrieve and assemble information for hearings/trials.
• Research legal sources to verify information.
• Prepare court documents, complaints, motions, orders, and related materials.
• Assist with discovery and trial preparation; compile notebooks and witness/exhibit lists.

Skills

Typing 40 wpm

Legal document review

Office filing & records

Research skills

Education

Some college coursework

Tools

Automated legal reports software

Legal research databases

Job description

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 26-MD-13107278-MS.

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.

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.

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.

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:

To be eligible at the GS-7 level, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-6 level.

Specialized experience is defined as experience providing trial support to attorneys by preparing complaints, motions, subpoenas, orders, or other hearing and/or trial documents accurately and in proper format; verifying citations and statutory references contained in legal documents; assisting with discovery, hearing or trial preparation by performing duties such as compiling trial notebooks, assembling jury instructions, and compiling witness and exhibit lists; and using software applications and legal and non-legal databases to produce legal related reports and documents, conduct factual research, develop tables of contents and indices to briefs, and prepare courtroom presentations.

To be qualified, you must type at least 40 words per minute based on a 5 minute sample with three or fewer errors. (A typing test may later be required.)

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 ... Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.