General Attorney (Employment Law)

Full Job Description

The USPTO Office of the General Counsel, Office of General Law (OGL) is seeking an experienced attorney to provide expert legal advice on employment and investigations matters.

The selected attorney will represent the USPTO in administrative litigation before the MSPB and the EEOC and will provide advice and legal opinions on personnel matters including disciplinary and performance actions, reasonable accommodations, and harassment.

You must meet the United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position.

You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement. OPM Qualifications Standards are available for your review on OPM.GOV.

Specialized Experience is experience that has equipped applicants with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled.

To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the federal service. For this position, the next lower grade level is a GS-14.

Qualified applicants should possess both specialized experience and professional legal/law experience as listed below: Specialized experience for this position includes: Experience advising clients and/or representing clients in litigation, drafting memoranda of fact and law, motions, pleadings, litigation reports and other legal documents, and/or reviewing policies, procedures and actions for legal sufficiency.

In addition to the required specialized experience, applicants must possess four (4) years of professional law/legal experience, post J.D.

as described below: Professional Legal/Law Experience includes: Experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies to perform successfully the duties of the position to be filled.

This experience is characterized by breadth and depth of experience in rendering professional legal advice and services with respect to questions, regulations, practices, or other matters falling within the purview of a Federal government agency, private sector, law firm, or other organization; investigating matters, such as related to Congressional or Inspector General inquiries; preparing interpretative and administrative orders, rules, or regulations to give effect to the provisions of governing statutes or other requirements of law; drafting, negotiating, or examining contracts or other legal documents; drafting, preparing formal comments, or making substantive recommendations regarding proposed legislation; editing and preparing for publication statutes enacted by Congress and opinions or decisions of a court, commission, or board; drafting and reviewing decisions for consideration and adoption by an organization or official; determining answers to questions of law; and/or studying, analyzing and evaluating legal precedents to present findings.

Qualifying legal work must be extremely complex and difficult and require a high order of original and creative legal endeavor in balancing conflicting interests; have broad or wide-scope impact on an economy, industry, private or public interests; and may involve directly or indirectly very large sums of money.

Qualifying legal work may also involve acting as principal attorney in charge of the preparation and presentation of cases; recommending policies and developing procedures and regulations to implement new or amended legislation; and acting as legal, general or senior counsel to a major firm or organization.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social).

Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment.

You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Major Duties:

The physical worksite for this position is located in Alexandria, Virginia.

Presence at the Alexandria, VA campus is required for this role, as it includes on site functions that must be performed in person.

This position may be eligible for situational telework in accordance with agency policy/business unit discretion. The agency currently allows for 52 hours of telework per calendar year.

The individual selected for this position will...

Support OGL's employment law and investigations function by serving as the agency's representative in litigation before various administrative tribunals, including the EEOC, MSPB, and arbitrators.

This duty includes investigating legal claims, engaging in discovery practice (including both written discovery and the taking of depositions), drafting dispositive motions and/or briefs, negotiating with opposing counsel, and participating in adversarial hearings.

This duty also includes assisting the United States Attorney when litigations are filed in federal courts.

Provide expert advice to all levels of management and fellow support organizations regarding proposed disciplinary and performance actions, compliance with anti-discrimination laws, merit systems principles, reasonable accommodations, employee compensation, and leave.

Investigate allegations of unlawful harassment as well as potential fraud, waste, and abuse referred by the Department of Commerce's Office of the Inspector General.

Thoughtfully analyze proposed and existing USPTO policies and procedures concerning personnel and compliance matters.

Possess top-notch oral and written communication skills, excellent interpersonal skills, and a commitment improvement.

Demonstrate initiative and creativity; the ability to set, manage, and balance evolving and challenging projects and priorities; and outstanding legal research skills.

Be a flexible teammate, willing to support OGL's other general law functions as needed by providing legal advice and litigation services in other disciplines