Paralegal Specialist

Overview

For more information on the Department of Justice and the United States Attorneys' Offices, visit justice.gov/usao/. As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement. If you are a new federal employee, your starting salary will be set at Step 1 of the grade for which you are selected. This announcement has a USAHIRE Assessment that must be completed to qualify.

Note that your resume cannot exceed two pages.

To qualify for this position, you must meet the experience/education requirements for at least one of the grade levels as described below.

• To be eligible at the GS-7 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions as defined below
• Specialized
  
  Experience:
  
  One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level. Specialized experience is defined as experience drafting a variety of legal documents and correspondence; assists in the preparation and organization of documentation and evidence for production as discovery and for use in trial; compiles, organizes and indexes evidentiary exhibits for use at hearings or trials; prepares draft list of exhibits to be offered at trial;
  
  review legal documents to extract information related to specific issues; verifying citations and statutory references contained in legal documents; and utilizing various computerized data base programs to organize extensive documents.
• -OR-
• Education: Successful completion of one (1) full year of progressively higher-level graduate education (18 semester hours or the number of units your school uses to describe one graduate year of academic study) in a related field (e.g., Criminal Justice, Paralegal Studies, Law) leading to a master's degree
• OR completed bachelor's degree with superior academic achievement.
  Superior Academic Achievement is defined as standing in the upper third of your graduating class or major subdivision, OR membership in one of the national scholastic honor societies, OR obtaining a sufficient grade point average as defined by the agency (e.g., 3.0/4.0 or higher, or 3.5/4.0 or higher depending on the policy).

• To be eligible at the GS-9 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions as defined below
• Specialized
  
  Experience:
  
  One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level. Specialized experience is defined as experience performing paralegal or legal work which demonstrates a basic knowledge of legal research and the ability to interpret legal decisions. Examples include: examining and processing a variety of legal documents; assisting in receiving, evaluating, producing, and presenting discovery; conducting research, analysis and evaluation of data in response to complex or sensitive requests;
  
  drafting briefs, pleadings, litigation recommendations, or other legal documents and correspondence; using a variety of electronic or manual filing systems to acquire and store information; documenting findings and preparing recommendations; searching and reviewing legal references, case files, and other sources for information and data required by attorneys or court personnel.
• -OR-
• Education: One of the following types of education in a related field (e.g., Criminal Justice, Paralegal Studies, Law): a Master’s or equivalent graduate degree (such as an LLB or J.D., if related); OR 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree. Education at the graduate level must be in an accredited college or university and must require graduates to have the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position.
• -OR-
• Combining
  
  Education and Experience:
  
  Combinations of successfully completed graduate education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. In order to qualify based on a combination, graduate education must be in excess of 1 full year. In order to qualify based on combined education and experience, candidates must demonstrate a combination of specialized experience and graduate-level education that equals 100% of the requirements.
  
  To…