Paralegal Specialist

Full Job Description

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia is unique in the size and the scope of its work. It serves as both the local and the federal prosecutor for the nation's capital.

On the local side, AUSAs assigned to the Superior Court Division prosecute cases ranging from misdemeanors to homicides.

On the federal side, AUSAs assigned to the Criminal Division prosecute federal crimes. The Civil Division further defends the United States in civil suits brought in the District of Columbia.

Note: In order to be considered "qualified" for this position, your specialized experience must be described in your resume.

Please be sure that your resume clearly states any and all of the specialized experience that you may have.

If your specialized experience is not clearly stated in your resume, you will not be considered for this position.

To be qualified for the GS-11 Paralegal Specialist, you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in the Federal Service; or a Ph.D.

or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related; or a combination of specialized experience and education.

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

Specialized Experience is defined as maintaining current knowledge of regulations, laws, and requirements applicable to Department of Justice (DOJ) policy related to expungement of criminal records; conducting research and analysis of statues, legislative intent, judicial precedents, rules, regulations, precedents, and laws in support of preparing legal documents and summarizing relevant legal precedents; maintaining systems of records to make certain that appropriate action is taken in a timely fashion to comply with court orders; coordinating litigation and administrative responses to court orders directing the expungement of records of the USAO-DC and other law enforcement agencies; providing legal support to attorney's by analyzing data, summarizing facts, drafting responses, maintaining case files, obtaining necessary records, and filing documents.

OR Education: a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related.

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 Combining Education and Experience: a combination of specialized experience and education which when combined equal 100% of the requirements.

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 2 full years.

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:

If selected for this position, you will join a well-respected team in the Special Proceedings Division of the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia that is responsible for a variety of legal matters in post-trial matters.

Typical work assignments will include: - Under the guidance of an attorney drafts and files responses in a timely fashion to court orders regarding the sealing or expungement of criminal records and or convictions.

- Provides specialized legal research and legal support of complex cases involving post-trial matters handled by Special Proceedings - Reviews and maintains case files, inventory of case materials, and prepares and maintains a variety of post-trial related documents.

- Conducts research, examines cases, prepares documents, organizes files, requests documents, and processes actions in the expungement process.

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

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.