Paralegal Specialist (Appellate)

About the Role

This position is within the Appellate Division of the United States Attorney's Office, Eastern District of California. As a Paralegal Specialist, you will support Appellate Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) by providing a variety of paralegal or legal work that demonstrates practical knowledge of law, litigation, the judicial process, and applicable rules, regulations, policies, and procedures.

Responsibilities

• Conduct legal research on cases and issues identified by AUSAs, utilizing statutes, case law, regulations, court rules, legal periodicals, and policy documents.
• Prepare drafts of a variety of legal documents, such as pleadings, memoranda of law, trial briefs, appellate briefs, summonses, complaints, indictments, answers, motion papers, and stipulations.
• Review and organize complex factual material and other documentary data for appellate briefing.
• Provide advice on the most efficient method for preparing legal documents.
• Generate tables, proofread drafts, and check citations in drafts with efficiency.
• Develop and enter various case material into a computer database.
• Maintain calendars and track deadlines for court filings.
• Provide advanced case support to AUSAs by reviewing witness materials, identifying deficiencies, and coordinating needed investigative follow-up.

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, including 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

GS-9: To be eligible at the GS-9 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions:

Specialized Experience

One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level. Specialized experience is defined as experience performing legal research using statutes, case law, regulations, court rules, policy documents, and electronic databases such as Westlaw and Lexis. Examples of specialized experience include:

• Summarizing findings into memoranda, annotated references, bibliographies, and organized research packages to support appellate litigation.
• Drafting pleadings, memoranda, briefs, motions, and other legal documents by incorporating legal references, analyzing precedents, proofreading, and citation checks for accuracy.
• Assisting with oral-argument preparation by gathering and indexing briefs, case law, and record materials under established procedures.

Education

One of the following types of education in a related field (e.g., Criminal Justice, law):

• A Master's or equivalent graduate degree (such as an LL.B. or J.D.).
• 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 demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position.

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.

Additional Information

• 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 may be eligible for non-competitive appointments.

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 it is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States.

Payment of relocation expenses will not be authorized.

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.