Paralegal Specialist (Immigration)

As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement.

About the role

As a Paralegal Specialist in the United States Attorney's Office (USAO), you will join a well-respected team that is responsible for providing a variety of legal support services. You will be assigned to the Civil Division in either the Sacramento or Fresno office. Initially, litigation casework will consist predominantly or exclusively of immigration matters. However, as workload and office needs allow, there may be opportunities to work on or transition to non-immigration civil practice areas, such as Defense and/or Affirmative Civil Enforcement. Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

Duties

• Support Assistant U.S. Attorneys with immigration-related litigation to include defending habeas corpus, mandamus, and Administrative Procedure Act challenges, and prosecuting affirmative civil litigation and enforcement actions.
• Perform extensive legal research into laws, legislative history, precedent-setting cases, decisions, and opinions that may be applicable, especially pertaining to immigration cases.
• Create and manage physical and electronic case files for complex cases with voluminous discovery and evidence.
• Analyze documents, reports, and correspondence as well as prepare a wide variety of documents.
• Organize, index, summarize, and retrieve information from voluminous collections of discovery materials and trial exhibits (in both paper and digital formats).
• Present digital exhibits and visual materials at trial using the most advanced trial presentation software available.
• Assist Assistant U.S. Attorneys in preparing civil cases for trial.

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

Note: In order to be considered "qualified" for this position, your specialized experience must be described in your resume. If your specialized experience is not clearly detailed in your resume, you will not be considered for this position.

GS-9:

To be eligible at the GS-9 level, you must have at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 grade level in the Federal service as defined below; or a Master's or equivalent graduate degree in a related field (e.g., criminal justice, law), or two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, or an LL.B or J.D. in a related field (e.g., criminal justice, law); or a combination of both specialized experience and education as explained below.

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 of specialized experience may include:

• Examining and processing a variety of legal documents.
• 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.

A combination of experience and graduate-level education can be used if, when combined, they are equivalent to 100% of the qualification requirement. Only graduate-level education in excess of the first full year can be used in this calculation.

GS-11:

To be eligible at the GS-11 level, you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service as defined below; or a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in a related field (e.g., criminal justice, law), or three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, or an LL.M. in a related field (e.g., criminal justice, law); or a combination of both specialized experience and education as explained below.

Specialized Experience is defined as experience 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. Examples of specialized experiences may include:

• Analyzing and evaluating legal decisions and case files to identify relevant issues and potential evidence.
• Conducting legal research concerning precedents and past court decisions.
• Composing legal briefs, summaries of analyses and decisions, and pre-trial documents.
• Interviewing witnesses and various individuals who can provide insight into cases under review.
• Preparing evidence and documents to support recommendations.

A combination of experience and graduate-level education can be used if, when combined, they are equivalent to 100% of the qualification requirement. Only graduate-level education in excess of the first two years can be used in this calculation.

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.

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.

Pay

Salary contains multiple grades/steps. In most cases, the salary is set at the minimum salary for the grade applicant(s) is selected.

• Sacramento Salary Range: $68,419 - $107,620
• Fresno Salary Range: $62,033 - $97,577

Benefits

The Department of Justice offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part:

• Paid vacation
• Sick leave
• Holidays
• Telework options
• Life insurance
• Health benefits
• Participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System

Payment of relocation expenses will not be authorized.