Legal Administrative Specialist (Litigation Support)

Full 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-WDTX-12906299-MS.

GS-7: To be eligible at the GS-7 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions, as defined below: Specialized Experience, Education, a combination of Education and Experience, OR Superior Academic Achievement.

Specialized Experience: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level in the Federal service or equivalent paid/nonpaid experience in the private or public sector.

Specialized Experience is defined as experience working in a legal environment performing routine legal assistance or computer support assignments which demonstrate a basic knowledge of litigative procedures.

Examples of specialized experiences include: Assisting attorneys by preparing routine legal documents, such as basic motions, notices, subpoenas, proposed orders, or routine correspondence; assisting attorneys by storing, protecting, and tracking pleadings and work products; assisting attorneys with the discovery process, such as by indexing and organizing discovery items received; transmitting discovery productions, maintaining discovery logs and tracking productions to opposing counsel; assisting attorneys with hearing and trial preparation such as by compiling, organizing and indexing various evidentiary exhibits; compiling witness and exhibit lists; and assembling trial notebooks; assisting attorneys with courtroom presentations by setting up and operating courtroom presentation tools; providing support with computer programs to customers involved in litigation; using a computer software application in a legal environment to provide reports or presentations; or maintaining and retrieving information from a database in a legal environment.

Education: One full year of graduate level education in a related field (e.g., Criminal Justice, Paralegal Sciences, Law) leading to a Master's degree or higher.

Combining Education and Experience: Combinations of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements.

Superior Academic Achievement: Possess a Bachelor's Degree or expect to complete the requirements for a Bachelor's degree within the next 9 months AND possess at least one of the following criteria: class standing in the upper third of the graduating class; an overall GPA of 3.0 OR at least a 3.0 based on courses completed during the final two years of my curriculum; a GPA of at least 3.5 based on the average of required courses completed in my major field OR based on the average of required courses completed during the final two years of my curriculum; OR election to membership in a national scholastic honor society.

GS-9: To be eligible at the GS-9 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions, as defined below: Specialized Experience, Education, OR a combination of Education and Experience.

Specialized Experience: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level in the Federal service or equivalent paid/nonpaid experience in the private or public sector.

Specialized Experience is defined as experience, working under supervision and guidance, performing routine litigation support assignments in support of discovery, which require a basic knowledge of processing, review, and/or production of commonly found electronically stored information (ESI).

Examples of specialized experiences include: using industry standard litigation support technology (such as Everlaw, LAW Pre-Discovery, or Nuix) to process commonly-found electronic file formats (e.g., PDF, MS Office, emails, etc.), load processed discovery into databases, and/or generate electronic discovery productions in support of investigations and litigations; building and maintaining evidence databases using industry standard document review software (such as Everlaw, iPro Eclipse, or Relativity); or providing customer support to case team members on using technology to organize, review, produce, and/or present case information.

Education: One of the following types of education in a related field (e.g., Criminal Justice, Paralegal Sciences, Law): a Master's or equivalent graduate degree (such as an LL.B.); OR 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree.

Education at the graduate level must be in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position.

Combining Education and Experience: Combinations of successfully completed graduate education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements.

In order to qualify based on a combination, graduate education must be in excess of 1 full year.

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/. Major Duties:

At the full performance level, you will support civil and criminal litigation teams by performing litigation support duties necessary to process electronic discovery and prepare it for review and production, using a variety of litigation support software applications and methods requiring analysis of needs to determine appropriate methods to be used.

If selected, you will receive formal and/or on-the-job training as needed.

Duties include: Providing guidance to litigation teams on strategies and appropriate software tools for effectively organizing, storing, preserving, collecting, processing, reviewing, producing, and presenting electronic case materials.

Using specialized software applications to perform processing on various types of electronically stored information for purposes of discovery by consulting with litigation teams to understand case needs and technical requirements to develop a processing plan to best suit those needs.

Designing, building, and maintaining document review databases, to include creating, modifying, importing, and exporting load files by consulting with litigation teams to understand case needs and technical requirements, and designing document review databases to best suit those needs.

Providing guidance and training teams on database functions.

Generating electronic discovery productions (e.g., Bates-numbered images and searchable text or industry standard load files) that comply with court orders and meet the technical needs of litigation teams.

Providing technical assistance to litigation teams presenting or filing electronic evidence or exhibits in legal proceedings, including creating electronic versions of exhibits, loading exhibits into courtroom presentation software, setting up courtroom presentation equipment, and assisting with the creation of demonstrative exhibits and audio or video clips.

Providing customer support services, including troubleshooting, user assistance, and training, to litigation teams relating to their use of litigation support software applications.

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