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. The position could be located in either Boston or Springfield, MA.

This position is also being announced to applicants eligible to apply through Merit Staffing procedures under 26-MA-12846816-MS.

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 two full years of progressively higher level graduate education or master's degree in a related field (e.g., Information Technology, Computer Science, Law, Criminal Justice) or an equivalent graduate degree such as an LL.B or J.D.; or a combination of both specialized experience and education as explained below.

Specialized Experience involves performing the following types of duties: performing routine litigation support assignments such as working in automated legal databases; performing routine and recurring litigation support assignments (e.g., preparing computerized trial presentations or exhibits, and indexing documents into a database); providing assistance to litigation support customers; and preparing a variety of legal and trial related documents.

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 three full years of progressively higher level graduate education, LL.M., Ph.D.

or equivalent doctoral degree in a related field (e.g., Information Technology, Criminal Justice, Law); or a combination of both specialized experience and education as explained below.

Specialized Experience involves performing the following types of duties: Assessing service and information requirements needed to complete litigation technology support projects.

This would include knowledge of database creation and utilization; electronic data acquisition and processing; pre-trial and trial litigation technology support, including courtroom presentation services; analyzing, defining and creating case databases; electronically organizing and managing voluminous case information; diagnosing and resolving litigation support computer system problems.

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/. Major Duties:

As a Legal Administrative Specialist (Litigation Support) 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 to the United States Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts.

Your duties will include, but are not limited to: Providing technical advice to litigation teams on legal automation requirements and systems capabilities to facilitate litigation decisions, trial preparation and trial presentation.

Analyzing litigation support requirements to develop or recommend appropriate strategies to meet litigation needs.

Recommending alternative methods and promoting the use of automated approaches as well as visual means of proof.

Preparing computerized trial presentation programs by using and appropriately employing a variety of software packages including database, spreadsheet and word processing applications such as: Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, OnCue, Camtasia, Beyond Compare, Eclipse, Time Map, Case Map, EverLaw, etc., based on which software would be most effective for presentation of complex and voluminous evidence or to production of graphic demonstrative evidence, as well as meeting individual user needs.

Performing tasks associated with the organization, preparation, delivery, and tracking of discovery in cases involving large volumes of documentary and/or digital evidence.

Researching, analyzing, and summarizing relevant legal precedents for applicability to assigned cases as appropriate.

Preparing and maintaining a variety of trial-related documents, e.g., discovery letters, exhibit lists, jury instructions, trial subpoenas, etc., by applying a thorough knowledge of the Federal Rules of Evidence and Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and applying practical litigative experience.

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