Paralegal Specialist

About the role

The position is located in the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi. As a Paralegal Specialist, you will provide a wide range of legal support services to Assistant United States Attorneys involved in criminal prosecutions and grand jury investigations for federally cognizable cases.

Responsibilities

• Preparing a variety of substantive legal documents for criminal cases.
• Conducting interviews of agents and potential witnesses.
• Researching, analyzing, and summarizing relevant legal precedents for applicability to assigned cases.
• Reviewing, preparing, and maintaining documents and other materials produced during criminal trials.
• Providing a variety of legal assistance and technical work requiring specialized knowledge.
• Providing litigative case management and organizing cases for court presentation.
• Monitoring the progress of pending cases.
• Serving as the contact person for assigned cases.
• Compiling, organizing, and indexing various discovery and evidence exhibits for trial.
• Providing advice to attorneys and other legal support staff.
• Using one or more types of personal computer-based software.

Requirements

• To be eligible at the GS-9 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions:
  • One year of full-time specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level in Federal service performing paralegal or legal work which demonstrates a basic knowledge of legal research and ability to interpret legal decisions.
• To be eligible at the GS-11 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions:
  • One year of full-time specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 level in the Federal service independently performing a variety of analytical paralegal or legal work which demonstrates a practical knowledge of law, the litigation and judicial process, and applicable rules, regulations, policies and procedures.

Qualifications

• GS-9: Possession of a J.D. or LL.B; a masters or equivalent graduate degree or higher; OR two full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in law, criminal justice, public administration, business administration, or a closely related field that provided the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to do the work of a Paralegal Specialist.
• GS-11: Possession of an LL.M; a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; OR three full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in law, criminal justice, public administration, business administration, or a closely related field that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of a Paralegal Specialist.

Special Employment Considerations

• 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.