Assistant United States Attorney

USAO Eastern District of California
Civil Division (Affirmative Litigation Unit), Fresno Office
Attorney
2500 Tulare Street, Suite 4401
Fresno, CA 93721
United States
19-EDCA-07A
About the Office: 

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California represents the Federal government in virtually all litigation involving the United States in the Eastern District of California. This includes all criminal prosecutions for violations of Federal law, civil lawsuits by and against the government, and actions to collect judgments and restitution on behalf of victims and taxpayers. The office places a high value on diversity of experience and cultural perspective and encourages applications from attorneys from all ethnic groups, women, veterans, and individuals with disabilities.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California is headquartered in Sacramento. The District includes the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada Mountains and encompasses most of the land mass of California – from the Coastal Mountain Range to the Nevada border, and from Bakersfield in the south to the Oregon border. The Sacramento office serves the northern counties of the District: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sutter, Trinity, Tehama, Yolo, and Yuba.

Fresno is one of the fastest growing cities in California, due in part to its central location to major tourist areas in California. Fresno is located in the middle of the fertile San Joaquin Valley, also known as the Central Valley, which is a major supplier of food and agricultural products for the United States and the world. This area also includes national treasures such as Yosemite National Park and Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks.

Our office places a high value on diversity of experiences and perspectives and encourages applications from all qualified men and women from all ethnic and racial backgrounds, veterans, LGBT individuals, and persons with disabilities.
Job Description: 

The United States Attorney is seeking an experienced attorney to serve as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Civil Division’s Affirmative Litigation Unit. Responsibilities include enforcement investigations and litigation involving healthcare fraud, procurement fraud, grant fraud, financial fraud, pharmaceutical diversion, and wildfire recovery actions, among other things.  The selected applicant will be based in our Sacramento office and will collaborate with other Assistant U.S. Attorneys based in both Sacramento and Fresno, and will be supported by a staff of paralegals, investigators, auditors, and other professionals.

Following appointment, Assistant U.S. Attorneys generally must reside in the district to which they are appointed. See 28 U.S.C. § 545 for district-specific information.

This is a permanent position; however, all initial attorney appointments to the Department of Justice are made on a 14 month (temporary) basis pending favorable adjudication of a background investigation.

This position is open to any U.S. Citizen to apply.

Qualifications: 

Required Qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. degree, be duly licensed and authorized to practice as an attorney under the laws of a State, territory, or the District of Columbia, and have at least one year of post-J.D. experience. Applicants must be active members in good standing of the bar (any jurisdiction). Ideal qualifications include at least 3-5 years of experience litigating cases in federal courts, with substantial responsibility for all aspects of discovery, trial, and appeals.

Preferred Qualifications: Applicants must demonstrate a quick analytical ability and the facility to accurately and precisely articulate the critical issues in a case. Applicants must demonstrate superior oral and writing skills as well as strong research and interpersonal skills, and good judgment. Applicants must possess excellent communication and courtroom skills and exhibit the ability to work in a supportive and professional manner with other attorneys,  paralegals, support staff and client agencies. Applicants must have a demonstrated capacity to function, with minimal guidance, in a highly demanding environment.

Preferred Qualifications: Applicants will be expected to do their own legal research and writing and will be substantially self-sufficient in preparing day-to-day correspondence and pleadings. Applicants must also  demonstrate excellent computer literacy skills to include experience with automated research on the Internet, electronic court filing, and electronic e-mail and word processing systems.

Security Requirements: Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory pre-employment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, tax and credit checks, and drug testing. In addition, continued employment is subject to a  favorable adjudication of a background investigation.

Salary: 
Assistant U.S. Attorneys' pay is administratively determined, based in part on the number of years of professional attorney experience. The current recruiting range of pay is $61,218 to $160,122 (which includes 15.37% locality pay for the Fresno area).
Travel: 
The position is based in Fresno. Travel will occasionally be required.
Application Process: 

Interested applicants should send a resume, cover letter, and recent writing sample to:

United States Attorney’s Office
ATTN: Phillip A. Talbert, First Assistant U.S. Attorney
501 I Street, Suite 10-100
Sacramento, CA 95814

Resumes should include a detailed description of employment history, to include dates of employment (month/year). This announcement is open until filled but no later than Friday, May, 10, 2019, and applications must be postmarked by that date to be considered. Please include the vacancy announcement number listed at the top of this announcement (19-EDCA-07A) on your resume and cover letter.

No telephone calls please.

This and other attorney vacancy announcements can be found at http://www.justice.gov/careers/legal/attvacancies.html and http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae.

Application Deadline: 
Friday, May 10, 2019
Relocation Expenses: 
Relocation expenses are not authorized.
Number of Positions: 
This announcement is to fill one position; however, depending on the needs of the office, additional positions may be filled using this announcement.
Updated November 7, 2018

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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 color, race, religion, national origin, political affiliation, marital status, disability (physical or mental), age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, status as a parent, membership or non-membership in an employee organization, on the basis of personal favoritism, or any other non-merit 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.

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 targeted/severe disabilities are encouraged to register for the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Shared List of People with Disabilities (the Bender Disability Employment Registry) by submitting their resume to resume@benderconsult.com and referencing "Federal Career Opportunities" in the subject line.  Additional information about the Bender Registry is available at www.benderconsult.com.  Individuals with disabilities may also contact one of the Department’s Disability Points of Contact (DPOC).  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 his  or her retirement was due to a permanent service-connected disability or that he/she was transferred to the permanent disability retired list (the statement or retirement orders must indicate that the disability is 10% or more).

 

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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.