Security ClearanceSecret
Duties
The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia (USAO-DC) is recruiting highly-motivated applicants to fill paralegal specialist vacancies in the Superior Court Division (SCD). The SCD has primary responsibility for prosecuting adult criminal cases in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The Division handles the highest volume of felony and misdemeanor cases prosecuted by the Office, including homicides, sexual assaults, carjackings, kidnappings, robberies, burglaries, domestic violence, narcotics and weapons possession, and quality of life offenses. If selected, you may be assigned to one of the Division's four litigating Sections: General Crimes, Major Crimes, Homicide, or Sex Offense and Domestic Violence. More information about the work of these sections can be found on USAO-DC's website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/superior-court-division. Typical work assignments will include: - Obtains, reviews, analyzes, and summarizes evidence, including police body worn camera footage, surveillance video, police paperwork, and digital evidence. - Supports AUSAs at hearings, grand jury, and trials, including assisting with exhibits, witness preparation, strategy, and presentation. - Prepares and organizes evidence for discovery utilizing specialized software. - Conducts factual and legal research, drafting legal pleadings and legal process such as subpoenas and warrants. - Corresponds directly with law enforcement, court employees, defense counsel, and other third parties regarding ongoing investigations and cases. - Researches relevant legal issues and preparing a variety of substantive legal documents. - Interacts with law enforcement, court personnel, victims and witnesses in preparing for court proceedings. Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress. For more information on the Department of Justice and the United States Attorneys' Offices, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/. As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement.
Qualifications
Note: In order to be considered "qualified" for this position, your specialized experience must be described in your resume. Please be sure that your resume clearly states any and all of the specialized experience that you may have. If your specialized experience is not clearly stated in your resume, you will not be considered for this position. To be qualified for the GS-09 Paralegal Specialist, you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal Service; or a master's or equivalent graduate degree; OR 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; or LL.B. or J.D., if related; or a combination of specialized experience and education. Specialized Experience: Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in applying the knowledge of the principles, concepts, and methods of legal research and analysis sufficient to perform assigned duties related to criminal prosecution proceedings. Specialized Experience is defined as preparing and composing a variety of substantive legal documents and correspondence; collecting analyzing and evaluating evidence in connection with litigation; preparing exhibits for court presentations in hearings and trials, including visual materials such as charts, diagrams, photographs and models; providing case management by requesting, organizing and indexing legal documents, information, evidence and exhibits; performing data searches utilizing databases. OR Education: a master's or equivalent graduate degree; OR 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; or LL.B. or J.D, if related (e.g., Criminal Justice, Law). Education at the graduate level must be in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position. OR Combining Education and Experience: a combination of specialized experience and education which when combined equal 100% of the requirements. 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. Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)-The CTAP provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility, 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement, and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and receive a score of 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.
Education
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 http://www.ed.gov OR 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.
Other Information
Payment of relocation expenses will not be authorized. 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. Selective Service: If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. See http://www.sss.gov/. Reasonable Accommodation Statement: Federal Agencies must provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities, where appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the hiring agency directly. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. EEO Statement/Policy: The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non-merit factor. More information can be found here: https://www.justice.gov/jmd/media/1425556/dl?inline. Political Appointees (Current or Former): The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the HR Office. Failure to disclose this information could result in disciplinary action including removal from Federal Service.