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-UT-12901740-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: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level.

Specialized experience is defined as assisting with organizing case information, preparing discovery productions, including scanning, and coding documents and creating CDs; assisting attorneys in preparing for court such as preparing exhibits, compiling trial notebooks and compiling witness and exhibit lists; verifying citations; assisting in the use of technology to organize digital evidence; preparing, drafting and editing a variety of legal and trial-related documents.

OR Education: One (1) full year of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a degree in a related field (e.g., Legal Studies, Law, Criminal Justice).

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.

OR 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: (1) Class standing- in the upper third of the graduating class in the college or university.

(2) Grade-point average (G.P.A.) - have a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum.

(3) Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society - Applicants can be considered eligible based on membership in one of the national scholastic honor societies.

These honor societies are listed by the Association of College Honor Societies.

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

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: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level.

Specialized experience is defined as performing routine litigation support assignments such as assisting with organizing case information (i.e., scanning and creating CDs); assisting attorneys in preparing for court such as preparing exhibits, compiling trial notebooks, compiling witness and exhibit lists and preparing computerized trial presentations and exhibits; verifying citations; conducting research, analysis and evaluation of data in response to requests; using automated legal research tools such as Westlaw, Lexis, as well as public information databases to perform basic research of case-specific legal matters; preparing a variety of legal documents; and managing discovery.

OR Education: Master's Degree or equivalent graduate degree in a related field (e.g., Legal Studies, Law, Criminal Justice); or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; or LL.B.

or J.D., if related. This education was obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrates the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position.

OR Combination of 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 serve as the primary support specialist for litigation support in criminal and civil cases by utilizing automated litigation support (ALS) software applications and other resources to organize, review, analyze and compile information for a variety of criminal cases.

Typical work assignments will include: Providing technical assistance to Assistant United States Attorney's (AUSA's) in facilitating the management of incoming and outgoing document discovery in accordance with e-Discovery and other procedural requirements.

Assisting in eliciting the most complete and useful response from law enforcement agencies, witnesses, victims, and subpoena recipients for discovery purposes.

Assisting and/or training attorneys and legal support staff in organizing and processing voluminous case information for efficient retrieval through automated means such as scanning, indexing, and organizing documents in a database.

Utilizing a variety of Automated Litigation Support (ALS) software applications to locate, organize, analyze, characterize, and present information that is pertinent to the government's position in the case.

Preparing and maintaining a variety of trial-related documents, e.g., witness lists, exhibit lists, jury instructions, and subpoenas, by applying a thorough knowledge of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Evidence and Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and by application of practical legal experience.

Providing customer support services to case team members relating to their use of litigation technology applications.

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