Assistant United States Attorney

USAO Northern District of Illinois
Rockford Branch Office
Attorney
327 S. Church Street
Room 3300
Rockford, IL 61101
United States
AUSA-NDIL-23-3
About the Office: 

The United States Attorney Office for the Northern District of Illinois has over 160 Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) working in its Criminal and Civil Divisions. AUSAs assigned to the Criminal Division handle a wide variety of cases, including drug trafficking and money-laundering crimes, terrorism-related offenses, firearms, and other violent crime offenses, cyber-crimes, environmental crimes, and a variety of fraud, public corruption, and white-collar offenses.  AUSAs assigned to the Civil Division handle an array of defensive and affirmative litigation on behalf of the United States, its agencies, and employees. Defensive litigation includes medical malpractice and other personal injury cases, employment discrimination cases, challenges to agency actions, FOIA, immigration, etc.  Affirmative matters include civil rights, environmental, food and drug, along with health-care and other civil fraud cases.

The District has two offices that are located in Chicago and Rockford.  AUSAs are assigned to each of these offices to handle criminal and civil cases.  Attorneys in both offices work closely with agents of all of the federal investigative agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the offices of inspector general of the various federal agencies and departments (such as the Departments of Defense and State). The office also encourages extensive cooperation between state, local and federal law enforcement agencies.  On the Civil side, virtually every federal agency, law-enforcement or not, is our client when it or its officials are sued.

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.

Job Description: 

The Northern District of Illinois, Chicago Office is accepting applications for Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) openings in our Civil Division in Rockford, Illinois. The applicants selected will represent the U.S. Government as an AUSA in a wide range of unique and complex cases.  This position will focus on handling a variety of civil cases involving prisoner litigation.  These cases include tort claims (including medical malpractice claims), various constitutional Bivens claims, Religious Freedom Restoration Act claims, and petitions for writs of habeas corpus challenging the fact or length of confinement.  In addition, depending on mission needs in Rockford, civil AUSAs may be asked to assist with criminal matters.

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

All initial attorney appointments to the Department of Justice are made on a time-limited (temporary) basis.  Temporary appointments may, or may not, be extended or made permanent without further competition.

Qualifications: 

Required qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. degree, be an active member of the bar (any jurisdiction) and have at least 2 years post-J.D. experience.

Preferred qualifications: Excellent academics, significant litigation experience, civil law experience (for our Civil Division), strong legal writing skills, and a demonstrated commitment to public service.

United States citizenship is required.

Salary: 
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 $59,319.00 to $155,155.00, plus applicable locality pay.
Travel: 
Some. Not on a regular basis.
Application Process: 

 Application information for AUSA-NDIL-23-3 is available at the following site:  https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/job-listing.

The Northern District of Illinois only accepts electronic submissions.  Mailed packages will not be reviewed.  Please send all materials, in PDF format only, to: usailn.hiring@usdoj.gov

No telephone calls please.

Applicants should familiarize themselves and comply with the relevant rules of professional conduct regarding any possible conflicts of interest in connection with their applications. In particular, please notify this Office if you currently represent clients or adjudicate matters in which this Office is involved and/or you have a family member who is representing clients or adjudicating matters in which this Office is involved so that we can evaluate any potential conflict of interest or disqualification issue that may need to be addressed under those circumstances.

Application Deadline: 
Thursday, October 5, 2023
Relocation Expenses: 
Relocation expenses will not be paid.
Number of Positions: 
This position is to fill one position. However, depending on the need of the office, additional positions may be filled using this announcement.
Updated September 6, 2023

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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.