Legal Careers
Assistant United States Attorney
Montgomery, AL 36104 - United States
The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Alabama has jurisdiction and responsibility in a broad range of areas, all of which involve representing the legal interest of the federal government, primarily in United States District Court. The Middle District of Alabama consists of 23 counties in central and southeastern Alabama and employs approximately 52 employees, including 22 Assistant United States Attorneys. The United States Attorney, George L. Beck, Jr., is currently seeking to hire one or more outstanding candidates for Assistant United States Attorney positions in the Criminal Division. More information about our office may be found at our website: http://www.justice.gov/usao/alm
Montgomery is the capital city of the state, but has a small town atmosphere. The office is a short and easy commute from most outlying residential areas. Montgomery is a wonderful place to live and raise a family.
As the federal agency whose mission is to ensure the fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans, the Department of Justice is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. To build and retain a workforce that reflects the diverse experiences and perspectives of the American people, we welcome applicants from the many communities, identities, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, religions, and cultures of the United States who share our commitment to public service.
The District is seeking applications from highly qualified attorneys for one or more AUSA vacancies who will be responsible for investigating and prosecuting various criminal and civil cases.
This is a permanent position. All initial attorney appointments to the Department of Justice are made on a time-limited 14 month (temporary) basis pending favorable adjudication of a background investigation. Temporary appointments may be extended or made permanent without further competition.
Required Qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. Degree, be active members in good standing of the bar (any jurisdiction), and have at least five (5) years of post J.D. work experience as a lawyer, with a minimum of three (3) years of civil or criminal litigation experience. U. S. Citizenship is required.
Preferred qualifications: Applicants should demonstrate quick analytical ability and the facility to accurately and precisely articulate the critical issues in a case. Applicants should demonstrate superior oral and writing skills, strong research and interpersonal skills, and good judgment. Applicants should possess excellent communications, strong advocacy skills, courtroom skills and presence, and exhibit the ability to work in a supportive and professional manner with other attorneys, support staff and client agencies. Applicants should have excellent judgment and the ability to handle high-charged issues. Applicants should possess excellent computer skills which should include experience with automated research and various word-processing systems. This applicant will be expected to do the majority of his/her own legal research and writing and should be substantially self-sufficient in preparing day-to-day correspondence and pleadings.
Opening Date is August 24, 2015 and Closing Date is September 4, 2015 To be considered for a position, applications must include a detailed resume, one writing sample (NMT 20 pages) cover letter (list the vacancy announcement number 15-MDAL AUSA-08 in the letter) and a list of significant criminal and/or civil cases in which you were first and second chair, indicate whether the case was tried to verdict, settled or otherwise resolved to:
George L. Beck, Jr., United States Attorney
Middle District of Alabama
Attention: Retta Goss, Administrative Officer
131 Clayton Street
Montgomery, Alabama 36104
Email applications and materials listed above should be submitted via-email to: usaalm.personnel@usdoj.gov
- Applications must be received in the U. S. Attorney's Office, MDAL by COB (5:00pm CST) on September 4, 2015.
Application packages will not be accepted by fax.
Submit all attachments as pdf documents. Do not submit your application package by both email and regular mail, FedEx, UPS, etc.
- Applications must be received in the U. S. Attorney's Office, MDAL by COB (5:00pm CST) on September 4, 2015.
USAO Middle District's Internet: http://www.justice.gov/usao/alm
OARM web-site: http://www.justice.gov/legal-careers/vacancies.
Assistant United States Attorneys' pay is administratively determined based, in part, on the number years of professional attorney experience. The range of basic pay is $45,477.00 to $120,365.00 plus 14.16% locality pay where authorized .
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Department Policies
Equal Employment Opportunity: The U.S. Department of Justice is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer. Except where otherwise provided by law, there will be no discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex - including gender identity, sexual orientation, or pregnancy status - or because of age (over 40), physical or mental disability, protected genetic information, parental status, marital status, political affiliation, or any other non-merit based factor. The Department of Justice welcomes and encourages applications from persons with physical and mental disabilities. The Department is firmly committed to satisfying its affirmative obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advanced on the basis of merit within the Department of Justice. For more information, please review our full EEO Statement.
Reasonable Accommodations: This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Outreach and Recruitment for Qualified Applicants with Disabilities: The Department encourages qualified applicants with disabilities, including individuals with targeted/severe disabilities to apply in response to posted vacancy announcements. Qualified applicants with targeted/severe disabilities may be eligible for direct hire, non-competitive appointment under Schedule A (5 C.F.R. § 213.3102(u)) hiring authority. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to contact one of the Department’s Disability Points of Contact (DPOC) to express an interest in being considered for a position. See list of DPOCs.
Suitability and Citizenship: It is the policy of the Department to achieve a drug-free workplace and persons selected for employment will be required to pass a drug test which screens for illegal drug use prior to final appointment. Employment is also contingent upon the completion and satisfactory adjudication of a background investigation. Congress generally prohibits agencies from employing non-citizens within the United States, except for a few narrow exceptions as set forth in the annual Appropriations Act (see, https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/non-citizens/). Pursuant to DOJ component policies, only U.S. citizens are eligible for employment with the Executive Office for Immigration Review, U.S. Trustee’s Offices, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unless otherwise indicated in a particular job advertisement, qualifying non-U.S. citizens meeting immigration and appropriations law criteria may apply for employment with other DOJ organizations. However, please be advised that the appointment of non-U.S. citizens is extremely rare; such appointments would be possible only if necessary to accomplish the Department's mission and would be subject to strict security requirements. Applicants who hold dual citizenship in the U.S. and another country will be considered on a case-by-case basis. All DOJ employees are subject to a residency requirement. Candidates must have lived in the United States for at least three of the past five years. The three-year period is cumulative, not necessarily consecutive. Federal or military employees, or dependents of federal or military employees serving overseas, are excepted from this requirement. This is a Department security requirement which is waived only for extreme circumstances and handled on a case-by-case basis.
Veterans: There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Justice considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans' preference must include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., the DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty and other supporting documentation) to their submissions. Although the "point" system is not used, per se, applicants eligible to claim 10-point preference must submit Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, and submit the supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed (visit the OPM website, www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf for a copy of SF 15, which lists the types of 10-point preferences and the required supporting document(s). Applicants should note that SF 15 requires supporting documentation associated with service- connected disabilities or receipt of nonservice-connected disability pensions to be dated 1991 or later except in the case of service members submitting official statements or retirement orders from a branch of the Armed Forces showing that their retirement was due to a permanent service-connected disability or that they were transferred to the permanent disability retired list (the statement or retirement orders must indicate that the disability is 10% or more).
USAO Residency Requirement: Assistant United States Attorneys must reside in the district to which appointed or within 25 miles thereof. See 28 U.S.C. 545 for district specific information.
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This and other vacancy announcements can be found under Attorney Vacancies and Volunteer Legal Internships. The Department of Justice cannot control further dissemination and/or posting of information contained in this vacancy announcement. Such posting and/or dissemination is not an endorsement by the Department of the organization or group disseminating and/or posting the information.