Paralegal Specialist (Immigration)

United States Attorneys' Offices; Sacramento (CA); On-site; USD 68,000 - 108,000; Full time

Job summary

The United States Attorneys' Offices in California (Sacramento or Fresno) seeks a Paralegal Specialist to support immigration-related litigation and related civil enforcement actions. You will manage large volumes of discovery, conduct legal research, prepare documents, and assist U.S. Attorneys at trial with digital exhibits.

The role may transition to other civil practice areas as workload allows. Qualification requirements include specialized paralegal experience and education options as

Qualifications

• Specialized paralegal experience in immigration litigation and related procedures.
• Ability to analyze laws, precedents, and court decisions for case development.
• Experience organizing complex case files and discovery materials.
• Familiarity with federal court filing systems and document management.

Responsibilities

• Support Assistant U.S. Attorneys on immigration-related litigation.
• Conduct legal research and prepare summaries and recommendations.
• Create and manage case files and discovery materials.
• Organize and retrieve discovery materials and trial exhibits.
• Assist in preparing civil cases for trial.
• Present digital exhibits at trial using advanced software.

Skills

Legal research

Paralegal work

Document management

Trial presentation

Immigration litigation

Education

Master's degree or LL.B/J.D. in related field

Tools

Trial presentation software

Electronic filing systems

Job description

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.

Salary contains multiple grades/steps. In most cases, the salary is set at the minimum salary for the grade applicant(s) is selected.

Sacramento Salary Range: $68,419 - $107,620

Fresno Salary Range: $62,033 - $97,577

Duties

As a Paralegal Specialist 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. You will be assigned to the Civil Division in either the Sacramento or Fresno office. Duties will include, but are not limited to:

• Support Assistant U.S. Attorney's with immigration-related litigation with a focus on defending mandamus and Administrative Procedure Act challenges. May also support Assistant U.S. Attorneys on affirmative civil immigration litigation and enforcement actions, and defending habeas corpus lawsuits.
• Perform extensive legal research into laws, legislative history, precedent setting cases, decisions, and opinions that may be applicable; especially pertaining to immigration cases.
• Create and manage physical and electronic case files for complex cases with voluminous discovery and evidence.
• Analyze documents, reports, and correspondence as well as prepare a wide variety of documents.
• Organize, index, summarize, and retrieve information from voluminous collections of discovery materials and trial exhibits (in both paper and digital formats).
• Present digital exhibits and visual materials at trial using most advanced trial presentation software available.
• Assist Assistant U.S. Attorneys in preparing civil cases for trial.

Initially, litigation casework will consist predominantly or exclusively of immigration matters. However, as workload and office needs allow, there may be opportunities to work on or transition to non-immigration civil practice areas, such as Defense and/or Affiant Civil Enforcement.

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

Requirements

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

Note: In order to be considered "qualified" for this position, your specialized experience must be described in your resume. Please be sure that your resume clearly states any and all of the specialized experience that you may have. If your specialized experience is not clearly detailed in your resume, you will not be considered for this position.

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 Master's or equivalent graduate degree if in a related field (e.g., criminal justice, law) or, two full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or an LL.B or J.D. if in a related field (e.g., criminal justice, law); or a combination of both specialized experience and education as explained below.

Specialized Experience is defined as experience performing paralegal or legal work which demonstrates a basic knowledge of legal research and the ability to interpret legal decisions. Examples of specialized experience may include the following: examining and processing a variety of legal documents; conducting research, analysis and evaluation of data in response to complex or sensitive requests; drafting briefs, pleadings, litigation recommendations, or other legal documents and correspondence; using a variety of electronic or manual filing systems to acquire and store information; document findings and preparing recommendations; searching and reviewing legal references, case files, and other sources for information and data required by attorneys or court personnel.

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 Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, if in a related field (e.g., criminal justice, law), or, three full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or, LL.M. if in a related field (e.g., criminal justice, law); or a combination of both specialized experience and education as explained below.

Specialized Experience is defined as experience is defined as experience performing a variety of analytical paralegal or legal work which demonstrates a practical knowledge of law, the litigation and judicial process, and applicable rules, regulations, policies, and procedures. Examples of specialized experiences may include the following: analyzing and evaluating legal decisions and case files to identify relevant issues and potential evidence; conducting legal research concerning precedents and past court decisions; composing legal briefs, summaries of analyses and decisions, and pre-trial documents; interviewing witnesses and various individuals who can provide insight into cases under review; and preparing evidence and documents to support recommendations.

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%.

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.

Additional 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; telework; life insurance; health benefits; and participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System.

Selecti​ve 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/Policy

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. More information can be found here: https://www.justice.gov/jmd/media/1425556/dl?inline.

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.

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.

Help

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