PARALEGAL SPECIALIST

Full Job Description

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The primary purpose of this position is: To provide specialized and professional legal support and services as senior paralegal for the Department of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) Judge Advocate's Directorate on any and all issues relating to criminal indexing and expungement of criminal database entries In order to qualify, you must meet the specialized experience requirements described in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions, for Administrative and Management Positions SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicant must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 specialized experience is a comprehensive knowledge of the professional field of criminal law, criminal indexing law, information law, civil law, and national security law, including the ability to analyze legal precedent, to conform policy and practice to the confines of the law and/or regulation, an intensive, practical knowledge of and experience applying the principles of Information Law, including the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Manual for Courts-Martial, case law, Executive Orders, DoD guidance, policies and opinions concerning the collection and dissemination of information of the Department of Justice, the Office of Management and Budget, DoD, the Air Force, and AFOSI, so as to be able to develop and apply experimental theories and new developments to problems not susceptible to treatment by commonly accepted methods, a mastery of the principles, concepts and methods of legal research and reference resources such as agency manuals, directives, and other legal authority, computerized reference sources (i.e., Lexis and/or Westlaw), court and/or administrative decisions and precedent cases, commercial legal publications, and ability to perform in-depth legal research into the legislative history, precedent cases, decisions and opinions which bear on particular legal issues, an extensive knowledge and experience in researching legal issues raised by requests for formal opinions, analyzing complex factual situations in light of the results of such legal research and general legal principles, and independently drafting clear and comprehensive legal reviews, legal briefs, memoranda, instructional material, and other documents relevant to all aspects of the AFOSI mission and appropriate for specified levels of command, from highest to lowest, an ability to exercise independent editorial judgment in combining numerous materials from a variety of sources into an easily comprehensible form based upon such research and analysis, and A comprehensive ability to present high-quality briefings, lectures, and speeches to high-level audiences on short notice FEDERAL TIME-IN-GRADE (TIG) REQUIREMENT FOR GENERAL SCHEDULE (GS) POSITIONS: Merit promotion applicants must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible.

One year at the GS-11 level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-12 level. TIG applies if you are in a current GS position or held a GS position within the previous 52 weeks.

NOTE: Applicants applying as VEOA candidates who are current GS civil service employees or are prior GS civil service employees within the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas: 1.

In-depth knowledge of the rules, procedures, formats, concepts and methods of legal research as they relate to the military justice system necessary to perform legal research, and the ability to analyze complex factual situations in light of the results, and the ability to independently draft clear and comprehensive legal reviews, instructional material, and other documents relevant to the command's mission 2.

Knowledge of correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and formatting to be able to accurately review, prepare and edit written correspondence and reports 3.

Mastery of techniques and knowledge of various titles of law necessary to independently identify and analyze both issues of fact and issues of law with relation to Information law, Civil law, and National Security law 4.

Knowledge of word-processing and other office automation software and systems to support office operations and produce a variety of textual and graphical documents as well as the ability to compile and report data, use effective, analytical and evaluative measurement methods to accurately assess information and trends, and to make adjustments to programs based on such analysis 5.

Comprehensive knowledge of roles and duties of Government attorneys, the ability to provide knowledgeable answers to questions relating to the Directorate's mission and the often complex and overlapping subject matter areas, and the skill to apply that knowledge to the roles of the law enforcement and judicial systems 6.

Expert knowledge of Department of Defense law enforcement structures and operational procedures, and the ability to work independently to identify issues relevant to the command's multiple mission areas.

PART-TIME OR UNPAID EXPERIENCE: Credit will be given for appropriate unpaid and or part-time work.

You must clearly identify the duties and responsibilities in each position held and the total number of hours per week.

VOLUNTEER WORK EXPERIENCE: Refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service Programs (i.e., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student and social).

Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge and skills that 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:

Senior DAF-CJIC Paralegal: As the senior paralegal for DAF-CJIC, the incumbent manages and responds to requests for information and expungement requests that require a reasonable balance between protection of constitutional and individual rights and the need to index and capture derogatory information about individuals to ensure future investigations receive relevant information General Paralegal Support: The incumbent provides general paralegal support to attorneys in the fields of information law, general law, criminal law, justice and discipline, and national security law.

Incumbent provides paralegal support in the field of information law on issues related to information maintained by the command, as regulated by FOIA and the Privacy Act, and will assist the Chief of Information Law in responding to Congressional requests, inquiries, and actions, as well as media requests.

Incumbent independently and without preliminary instruction examines complex law enforcement records, counterintelligence records, internal regulations and other AFOSI records that have been proposed for release in response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Privacy Act, civil and criminal discovery, subpoenas, inter- and intra-agency requests for information, and/or media requests to determine whether the releases are in compliance with existing federal statutes, regulations, Executive Orders, Attorney General Policy Statements, DoD Directives, or Air Force Instructions, and identifies any deficiencies to be corrected.

Assistance to Law Office Superintendent: The incumbent performs myriad administrative duties as assigned in support of the Staff Judge Advocate, Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, Judge Advocate Directorate's staff attorneys, and Law Office Superintendent, helping to ensure the smooth administration of a FOA legal office.