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Legal Careers

Attorney Advisor

Hiring Organization
Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA)
Hiring Office
Office of Legal Education (OLE)
Job ID
17-EOUSA-1988912-MS
Location:
National Advocacy Center (NAC)
1620 Pendleton Street
Columbia, SC 29201 - United States
Application Deadline:
About the Office

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 will be part of a dedicated team helping to enforce Federal criminal and civil laws that protect life, liberty, and the property of citizens.

The United States Attorney's Office (USAO)/Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA) is a great place to work. The Department of Justice ranked #3 out of 19 large agencies and EOUSA/United States Attorneys' Offices ranked #43 out of 320 agency subcomponents in a study, "The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government, 2015 Ratings" published by the Partnership for Public Service. See http://bestplacestowork.org/BPTW/index.php.

This position is located in the Office of Legal Education (OLE), EOUSA at the National Advocacy Center (NAC) in Columbia, SC. The Office of Legal Education is responsible for the training of attorneys in the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Students include Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys and legal staff, legal personnel from other federal, state, local and tribal governments and foreign governments.

For more information on the Department of Justice and the United States Attorneys' Offices, visit http://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

If selected for this position, you will serve as an Assistant Director in the Office of Legal Education (OLE), Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA), Publications Unit, and also serve as the principal advisor to the Associate Director, OLE on the formulation of policy for the publication of legal periodicals, manuals and materials, and planning, designing, directing, editing, coordinating, controlling and executing of legal publications. Duties include but are not limited to:

· Reviewing and analyzing existing and proposed publications for consistency with OLE, EOUSA, Department of Justice goals, objectives and policies.

· Providing legal expertise for the analysis of complex issues involving new and emerging legal topics.

· Providing guidance on the availability and use of various publications.

· Developing comprehensive guidelines for evaluating the effectiveness of assigned publications.

· Making recommendations for new publications, to include changes in policies, procedures, content, and delivery methods.

· Providing guidance in the development, implementation, and assessment of OLE policies, criteria and guidelines for government-wide legal publications.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

- Applicants MUST possess a J.D. Degree and

- Be an active member of the bar* (any jurisdiction).

*You must include your bar membership information in your application package to be considered.

Qualifying Experience:

To qualify at the GS-15 grade level, applicants must have at least 5 years post J.D. legal and other relevant experience to qualify.

Qualifying experience is defined as having substantial experience as a legal writer, whether as a part of professional legal duties (e.g., appellate brief writing) or through external legal writing (e.g., writing for a bar journal or other legal publications); experience as a legal researcher and analyst, along with experience as an editor or reviewer of legal writing produced by other individuals; experience in planning and executing medium and long term projects; and experience in working under established deadlines to produce written deliverables.

In addition, applicants should have a demonstrated capacity to function, with minimal guidance, in a highly demanding office; should possess analytical ability to quickly identify and clearly and accurately articulate critical issues in pending litigation; should be able to demonstrate superior oral and writing skills as well as strong legal research skills; should exhibit strong interpersonal skills and good judgment.

United States citizenship is required.

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

All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, see www.ed.gov

Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the above education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to timely provide such evidence by submitting proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency with your application materials. More information may be found at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html. All documentation must be in English or include an English translation.

All initial attorney appointments to the Department of Justice are made on a 14 month (temporary) basis pending favorable adjudication of a background investigation.

Application Process
Salary

$119,285-$155,073 Per Year

Number of Positions
One
Travel
Occasional Travel
Relocation Expenses
No

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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 August 1, 2017