Legal Administrative Specialist (Financial Litigation)

About the Role

As a Legal Administrative Specialist in the Financial Litigation Program, you will be responsible for the processes and practices of debt collection, related Federal regulations and procedures, and the identification of hidden financial assets. You will perform a wide range of complex duties involving the processing of cases within the financial litigation function.

Responsibilities

• Preparing a variety of substantive legal documents to include various motions, foreclosures, garnishments, and other legal actions to effect necessary post-judgment action regarding debts owed to the U.S. government.
• Reviewing financial asset information submitted by debtors.
• Processing debt collection claims referred from client agencies.
• Conducting interviews of debtors, employers, and agency officials.
• Utilizing a variety of automated legal research tools as well as public information databases and other automated resources to research case- or program-specific legal matters.
• Reviewing the output of various databases and automated tracking systems to evaluate the progress and effectiveness of the USAO's overall debt collection operation.
• Monitoring the progress of pending cases and initiating action to ensure that legal pleadings, forms, reports, correspondence, and other documents are prepared and submitted within established deadlines.

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

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory pre-employment 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.
• If selected, you may be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
• Time-in-Grade: Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements within 30 days after the closing date of this announcement.
• You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements within 30 days after the closing date of this announcement and before placement in the position.

Qualifications

To be eligible at the GS-9 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions, as defined below: Specialized Experience, Education, or a Combination of Specialized Experience and Education.

• Specialized Experience: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level in federal service. Specialized experience is defined as experience preparing a variety of substantive legal documents to include various motions, foreclosures, garnishments, and other legal actions; assisting with conducting interviews of debtors, employers, and agency officials; and utilizing a variety of automated legal research tools, public information databases, and other automated resources to research case or program-specific legal matters.
• Education: A master's or equivalent graduate degree; or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree in a related field (e.g., Criminal Justice, Law, Legal Studies, Finance), or L.L.B or J.D.
• Combination of Specialized Experience and Education: A combination of specialized experience and successfully completed graduate education may be used to meet total qualification requirements. In order to qualify based on a combination of education and experience, graduate education must be in excess of one (1) full year.

Additional Considerations

• Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): Provides eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies.
• Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP): Provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies.
• Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA): Allows eligible veterans to apply and compete for positions announced under merit promotion procedures when the hiring agency is recruiting from outside its own workforce.
• Special Employment Consideration: Persons with disabilities, veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more, certain other veterans, spouses of certain members of the armed forces, and returning Peace Corps volunteers are examples of individuals who are potentially eligible for non-competitive appointments.

You must specify in your online questionnaire under what authority you wish to be considered and submit appropriate documentation to verify your eligibility.

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. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used 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 provide such evidence with your application materials.

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.