Legal Careers
Assistant United States Attorney (Criminal)
Miami, FL 33132 - United States
The United States Attorney's Office (USAO), Southern District of Florida (SDFL) is seeking several experienced attorneys to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) within the criminal division located in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, or Fort Pierce, Florida. This District is known to be one of the largest USAOs in the nation.
The United States Attorney's Office (USAO) for the Southern District of Florida is the chief federal law enforcement officer for the District. The Southern District of Florida encompasses a geographical area of approximately 15,197 square miles extending south to Key West, north to Sebastian and west to Sebring. The Southern District includes the counties of Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, Okeechobee and Highlands.
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 Southern District of Florida carries one of the busiest criminal trial dockets in the nation. If selected, you will be part of a dedicated team helping to enforce Federal criminal and civil laws that protect life, liberty and the property of citizens within our main office located in Miami, or one of our branch offices located in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, or Fort Pierce, Florida.
Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.
- Applicants may apply to a single office, or to more than one location.
- The incumbent will represent the U.S. Government as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in a wide range of unique and complex criminal cases, in a District that extends over 300 miles from Key West to Vero Beach.
- You will be responsible for prosecuting a variety of violations of federal laws such as immigration, drugs, firearms, public corruption, and white-collar crime.
Job Location: The position may be located in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and/or Fort Pierce.
All initial attorney positions to the Department of Justice are made on a 14-month (temporary) basis.
Required Qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. Degree, be an active member of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction), and have at least 1* year post-J.D. legal or other relevant experience.
Proof of active bar membership is required.
Preferred Qualifications: Applicants should have demonstrated an interest in appellate work, excellent writing and analytical skills, and an exceptional academic background. Federal judicial clerkship experience is highly desirable. Applicants should also possess strong interpersonal skills, and the capacity to function in a highly demanding environment with minimal guidance. You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.
You must be a United States Citizen or National.
Security Requirements: Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory preemployment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. In addition, continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation.
Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office by providing a copy of your applicable SF-50, along with a statement that provides the following information regarding your most recent political appointment:
- Position title;
- Type of appointment (Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES, or Presidential Appointee);
- Agency; and
- Beginning and ending dates of appointment.
Selective Service: If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. See www.sss.gov.
Applicants are required to apply online via the website link USAJOBS to this vacancy announcement, 24-FLS AUSA-12509440-01, by the closing date of September 9, 2024.
Your application must contain the following are required documents:
• Required - Your responses to the Online Occupational Questionnaire (This is completed automatically during the apply online process).
• Required - Your resume showing relevant experience and dates of employment (include day/month/year). A cover letter is optional but preferred and addressed to the Hiring Committee.
• Required - A legal writing sample.
• Required - A copy of bar membership, in good standing.
• Required, if applicable - A recent copy of an SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action), showing title, series, grade and current salary.
• Required, if applicable - To get Veterans' Preference, you must indicate your preference in response to the appropriate question in your assessment questionnaire and you must submit the appropriate supporting documentation. See the "How you will be Evaluated" section for details regarding what is appropriate Veterans' Preference documentation. It is also recommended that you include veterans' preference information in your cover letter or resume.
Assistant United States Attorney's pay is administratively determined based, in part, on the number of years of professional attorney experience. The range of pay is $117,842.00 to $191,800.00 Per Year; The salary range includes a locality payment of 24.42%.
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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.