Legal Careers
Assistant U.S. Attorney
1313 N. Market Street
Wilmington, DE 19801 - United States
The District of Delaware comprises the entire state of Delaware, which has a population of about 897,000. The State consists of three counties (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). Three-fourths of the population resides in New Castle County. The largest metropolitan area is Wilmington (pop. 70,800), in which the U.S. Attorney's Office is located. The United States Attorney for the District of Delaware prosecutes all criminal and civil cases brought by the Federal Government and defends the United States when it is party in a civil case. For additional information regarding the United States Attorney’s Office, District of Delaware, please visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/de
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.
Employment with the United States Attorney's Office offers a unique and challenging experience for highly motivated attorneys, including opportunities to work on their own caseload and handle their own trials. Assistant United States Attorneys have the opportunity to represent the interests of the United States of America in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Court and, in performing this important public service, to exercise responsibility that is unparalleled in any other job that a litigator might undertake. Assistant United States Attorneys immediately undertake numerous cases in either/both Civil or Criminal matters.
Required qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. degree and be duly licensed and authorized to practice as an attorney under the laws of a State, territory, or District of Columbia. Applicants must be active members in good standing of the bar (any jurisdiction). United States citizenship is required.
Preferred qualifications: Applicants with two or more years of litigation experience are preferred. Applicants must demonstrate a quick analytical ability and the facility to accurately and precisely articulate the critical issues in civil and criminal litigation. Applicants must demonstrate superior writing skills as well as strong research and interpersonal skills and good judgment. Applicants must possess excellent communication skills and exhibit the ability to work in a supportive and professional manner with other attorneys, support staff and client agencies. Applicants must have a demonstrated capacity to function, with minimal guidance, in a highly demanding environment, including courtroom and trial settings. Applicants must also demonstrate excellent computer skills to include experience with automated research on the Internet, e-mail and word processing systems.
Interested applicants should send a resume to: usade.hiring@usdoj.gov (link sends e-mail) or mail to U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Delaware, P.O. Box 2046, 1313 N. Market Street, Wilmington, DE 19801. Please include the vacancy announcement number, 19-DE-01, on your resume and all correspondence. Please label all your files: LAST NAME, First name - type document ( i.e. Cover letter, SF50, etc. whatever the document it is). Questions can be directed to Ms. Cathy Doyle at (302) 573-6229.
Required: A resume showing relevant experience and dates of employment (include day/month/year). Cover letter optional.
Required, if applicable: A recent copy of an SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action), showing title, series, grade, and current salary; and a copy of most recent performance appraisal.
Required, if applicable: Veterans’ Preference documentation (see Benefits and Department Policies section for details).
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 $51,811 to $135,519 plus locality pay where authorized.
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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.