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Legal Careers

Assistant U.S. Attorney

Hiring Organization
USAO District of Minnesota
Hiring Office
United States Attorney's Office - District of Minnesota
Job ID
23-MN-11856298-AUSA-CRM
Location:
300 S. 4th Street, Suite 600
Minneapolis, MN 55415 - United States
Application Deadline:
About the Office

This is an open continuous announcement for 6 months, or until all positions are filled. This announcement will be used to fill immediate and future attorney vacancies for the District, with multiple application review cutoff dates, the first cutoff date being no earlier than 10 days after the initial open date of March 1, 2023, and thereafter as needed.

This position is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

If you are looking for an exciting and challenging career, this is the position for you! With a diverse and talented workforce of over 100,000 men and women, Justice leads the Nation in ensuring the protection of all Americans while preserving their constitutional freedoms. You can be part of a dedicated team helping to enforce Federal criminal and civil laws that protect life, liberty, and the property of citizens.

For more information on the DOJ and the United States Attorneys' Offices, visit www.justice.gov/usao

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 United States Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota is seeking experienced, motivated, and prosecution-minded attorneys to join our Criminal Division. The Office's team of federal prosecutors prosecutes cases on behalf of the United States and places a high priority on assembling a diverse team of Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSAs) with varied backgrounds, experiences, and skills. On a daily basis, Criminal Division AUSAs are required to make impactful strategic decisions in cases involving violent crime, complex frauds, human trafficking, national security, and many other matters in collaboration with their colleagues and their law enforcement partners. The U.S. Attorney's Office believes that its team of federal prosecutors make better, fairer, and more just decisions when its judgments are the product of a vigorous dialogue among a collaborative and diverse group of their peers.

AUSAs in the Office's Criminal Division serve the goal of doing justice by fairly enforcing the criminal laws of the United States. Criminal AUSAs must exercise reasoned judgment in making criminal charging decisions, coordinating federal criminal investigations with the Office's law enforcement partners, and litigating and trying complex cases in federal court. Candidates must be capable of handling significant and complex criminal prosecutions. This responsibility regularly entails working with voluminous discovery and mastering challenging legal concepts. Candidates should demonstrate strong analytical ability, high quality legal writing and research skills, effective communication and advocacy skills, and a commitment to public service. This position may be assigned to one of the following four sections within the Criminal Division. Candidates may, but are not required to, identify one of these sections as a preference in the cover letter. However, individuals hired as AUSAs will be assigned to a section within the Criminal Division at the discretion of the U.S. Attorney.

  • Violent & Major Crimes Section: Prosecutors assigned to the Violent & Major Crimes Section investigate and prosecute those who commit firearms offenses, carjacking, human trafficking, child exploitation, bank robberies, and other violent crimes. The Violent & Major Crimes Section also houses the Office's robust Indian Country team, which prosecutes crimes on the Red Lake, Bois Forte, White Earth, and Mille Lacs reservations and on behalf of Minnesota's eleven federally recognized tribes.
  • Fraud & Public Corruption Section: The Fraud & Public Corruption Section investigates and prosecutes complex financial crimes, such as mail wire and bank frauds, tax crimes, embezzlement, securities fraud, and healthcare fraud. The Fraud & Public Corruption Section also prosecutes public corruption offenses and civil rights crimes.
  • National Security & Cybercrime Section: The Office's National Security & Cybercrime section investigates and prosecutes national security cases as well as cybercrime cases.
  • Organized Crime and Narcotics Section: Working collaboratively with various local, state, and federal agencies from across the District, the prosecutors assigned to this Section primarily investigate and prosecute violent and non-violent offenses tied to the distribution and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, including but not limited to drug trafficking, unlawful firearms possession, racketeering, and money laundering.

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

All initial attorney positions to the Department of Justice are made on a 14-month (temporary) basis.

We may use this vacancy to fill other vacant AUSA positions.

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.

Qualifications

Conditions of Employment

Required Qualifications:

  • You must be a United States Citizen or National.
  • Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory preemployment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. Continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation.
  • You must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable.
  • J.D. degree and active member of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction) required.
  • Must reside in the district to which appointed or within 25 miles thereof. See 28 U.S.C. 545 for district specific information.
  • All initial attorney appointments to the Department of Justice are made on 14 month (temporary) basis pending favorable adjudication of a background investigation.

Preferred Qualifications:

Ideal candidates will have experience involving two or more of the following:

  • Have current or prior experience as an AUSA,
  • Have experience with Indian Country law, including as a prosecutor.
  • Have experience with fraud and public corruption law, including as a prosecutor.
  • Have experience prosecuting complex and long-term investigations, including of criminal street gangs.
  • Have experience litigating cases in federal or state courts, with substantial responsibility for all aspects of investigation, discovery, and trial.
  • Have exceptional written and oral advocacy skills.

Applicants must also demonstrate the following:

  • Desire to work as an AUSA in the District of Minnesota
  • Commitment to excellence, strong work ethic, and drive, which may be demonstrated through successful teamwork, leadership, obstacles overcome, and personal, academic, and professional achievement.
  • Quick analytical ability and the facility to articulate the critical issues accurately and precisely in a case.
  • Excellent communication and courtroom skills, as well as the ability to work in a supportive and professional manner with other attorneys, support staff, and partner law enforcement agencies.
  • Capacity to function, with minimal guidance, in a highly demanding environment and be substantially self-sufficient in preparing day-to-day correspondence and pleadings.

You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.

Education

Applicants must possess a J.D. Degree

Benefits

The Department of Justice offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, paid vacation; sick leave; holidays; telework; life insurance; health benefits; and participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System. The Benefits link provides an overview of the benefits currently offered to Federal Employees.

Application Process

This is an open continuous announcement for 6 months, or until all positions are filled. This announcement will be used to fillimmediate and future attorney vacancies for the District, with multiple application review cutoff dates, the first cutoff date being noearlier than 10 days aft er the initial open date of March 1, 2023, and thereaft er as needed.

Applications are being acctepted via USAJobs at: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/709964300

Salary

Assistant United States Attorney's pay is administratively determined based, in part, on the number of years of professional attorney experience. The range of basic pay is $74,973 to $183,400, which includes 26.49% locality pay.

Number of Positions
1 or more
Travel
1 to 5 nights of travel required per month.
Relocation Expenses
Relocation expenses will not be paid.

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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.

Updated March 2, 2023