Legal Careers
Assistant United States Attorney - Major Frauds and Public Corruption Section
San Diego, CA 92101 - United States
The position is located in America’s Finest City! San Diego has year-round perfect weather with 70 miles of coastline and amazing beaches. Local activities include: Balboa Park, the San Diego Zoo, LEGOLAND, and Belmont Park. San Diego has beautiful golf courses, hiking trails, the Del Mar Race Track, and Comic-Con. San Diego is home to nationally recognized colleges and universities including University of California San Diego, San Diego State University and University of San Diego.
The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California is one of the largest in the country. The office prosecutes federal crimes and defends the interests of the United States Government in civil cases. The Southern District of California encompasses San Diego and Imperial Counties and includes a branch office located in Imperial, California.
The SDCA is home to the largest concentration of Navy and Marine Corps installations in the world. The entire Southern boundary of the District borders the Republic of Mexico. Contained within the district are international ports of entry at San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Tecate, Calexico (two ports, East and West) and Andrade. The entire west boundary of the District lies on the Pacific Ocean, with a major port in San Diego.
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 United States Attorney's Office is currently seeking experienced attorneys for one or more positions as Assistant United States Attorneys ("AUSAs") in the Major Frauds and Public Corruption Section ("MFPCS"). The MFPCS handles complex grand jury investigations, trials and appeals involving public corruption and all types of financial frauds, including bank fraud, corporate fraud, government procurement fraud, health care fraud, mortgage fraud, securities fraud, and tax fraud, as well as a related money laundering and forfeiture offenses.
The MFPCS hosts several dedicated Coordinators, including Financial Fraud, Health Care Fraud, Elder Fraud, Defense Procurement Fraud, Bankruptcy Fraud, and Mortgage Fraud. Each Coordinator assists Management and the Department of Justice with assessing and monitoring the progress and oversight of prosecutions in the corresponding program areas. In addition, Section attorneys host the region's Procurement Fraud Working Group and serve on several regional task forces, including the Environmental Crimes Task Force and the Health Care Fraud Task Force.
Required Qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. degree and must currently be an active member of a state bar in order to be considered. Proof of an active bar membership is required. Three full years of postgraduate legal experience is required. Qualifying legal experience may include work as an attorney, a judicial law clerk in either federal or state court and/or litigation experience in either the public or private sector. An exceedingly strong academic background and exemplary writing skills are essential. Two years of experience in public prosecution or securities regulation is preferred but not required. An exceedingly strong academic background, exemplary writing skills, and experience leading and collaborating in complex litigation are essential.
U.S. citizenship is required. You must meet the all the qualifications upon the closing of this announcement.
All AUSAs are given training by the U.S. Department of Justice and by the U.S. Attorney's Office. Appointment is subject to successfully completing an FBI background investigation, including credit, arrest, reference and drug inquiries. Continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation.
Residency Requirements: Assistant United States Attorneys generally must reside in the district to which he or she is appointed or within 25 miles thereof. See 28 U.S. C. 545 for district specific information.
Applicants should ideally possess: (1) experience in building successful theories of prosecution and organizing complex legal and factual issues, especially in document-intensive cases; (2) some experience in litigating legal issues commonly arising in white-collar investigations and prosecutions, such as the scope of the attorney client privilege, the impact of parallel proceedings, defense requests for witness immunity, and the disqualification of counsel because of a conflict of interest; (3) organizational and advocacy skills; and (4) a strong collaborative work ethic, with the ability to complete multiple and varied tasks simultaneously.
In order to apply please visit USAJobs website and apply on-line. If you are a new user through USAJobs, please create a profile first. The link to the USAjobs vacancy is https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/547349500
You must provide a complete Application Package, which includes the following:
-Required-Your responses to the Occupational Questionnaire Online (online questionnaire)
-Required-Your cover letter and resume showing relevant experience and dates of employment (include month and year).
-Required-if applicable- Veteran's Preference Documentation (see Benefits and Other Information Section on the job announcement on the link above for details)
-Required-You will have to upload two (2) Legal Writing Samples. Please attach these documents as an "Other" document.
-Required- The Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Application Form found at https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/assistant-u-s-attorney-positions
(Under the Application Form Section in Adobe Acrobat or Microsoft Word). Please attach this document as an "Other" document.
The point of contact for this Vacancy Announcement is Nitza Williamson, who can be reached at 619-546-9273 or nitza.williamson@usdoj.gov
$74,459 - $166,400
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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.