Supervisory Paralegal Specialist

Summary

This position is located in the Appellate Section which is responsible for handling most Environmental and Natural Resources Division cases in federal and state appellate courts, for preparing appeal recommendations, and for preparing drafts for the Office of the Solicitor General of petitions and briefs in these cases if they go the U.S. Supreme Court. The incumbent will supervise the work of paralegals assigned to support trial attorneys.

This job is open to

• Internal to an agency
  
  Current federal employees of this agency.

Clarification from the agency

Open to current Federal Status employees in the ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISION (ENRD).

Duties

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Supervising paralegal staff; assigning and reviewing work; providing advice and guidance to paralegal staff as they assist attorneys on litigation matters including discovery, court filings, and preparing for trials and other court proceedings.
• Providing advice and assistance to paralegal staff on assigned worked and advising on how to prioritize work and balance deadlines.
• Developing and updating training materials for paralegals.
• Serving as a liaison between paralegals, attorneys, legal assistants, and managers.
• Serving as a paralegal on assigned cases.
• Providing legal and technical support on cases by using document management tools to manage document collections and produce presentations for hearings, trials, and litigation.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen or national.
• You must complete a background investigation to include pre-employment drug testing.
• Selective Service Registration is required, as applicable.
• You must complete or have completed a one-year supervisory probationary period.
• You must maintain a bank account for direct deposit of salary.
• Supervisory probationary period required if not already completed.

Qualifications

To qualify for GS-12: You must have at least one year of specialized experience at, or equivalent to, the GS-11 Federal grade level or above providing a variety of analytical paralegal and legal support work that demonstrates a practical knowledge of law; the litigation process; and applicable rules, regulations, policies, and procedures.

Examples of specialized experience may include the following: verifying the accuracy and format of legal citations in briefs and other documents; conducting legal research using on-line legal databases such as Westlaw and Lexis; drafting, proof-reading, and editing legal documents; creating and maintaining large databases of case-related materials; conducting privilege reviews; summarizing trial and deposition transcripts; and providing support at trials and other court proceedings.

Experience in complex litigation, including motion practice, records, and court hearings is highly desirable. Experience supervising paralegals or employees is also desirable, but not required.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skill and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Time in Grade: Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements (one year at the next lower grade) by the closing date of announcement.

YOUR RESUME MUST support your responses to the online questionnaire and provide specific details as to how your experience meets the specialized experience as described in the vacancy announcement if you are using experience to meet all or part of the qualification requirements. Please ensure that your resume includes the month and year that you began and ended each position held or that position will not be credited toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. Part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience. Failure to provide details will result in an ineligible rating. Your latest resume submitted for this vacancy announcement will be used to determine qualifications and supersedes previous submissions.

Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.

To preview questions, please click here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12507969.

Education

There is no substitution of education for experience at this grade level.

Additional information

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP): The Career Transition Assistance Program provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in DOJ with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies.

If you have received written notification of your eligibility for consideration under CTAP, you may receive special priority consideration for this position, if this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility and you are well-qualified for the position. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements and score 85 or better on established ranking criteria.

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. Additional information is found at: www.sss.gov.

Benefits: DOJ 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. Please review the link below for an overview of the benefits currently offered to Federal employees.

• Benefits
  
  A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
  
  Review our benefits
  
  Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your resumé and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed on this announcement. If you are basically qualified for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses on the online assessment questionnaire. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. If you are found to be among the top candidates, you will be referred to the selecting official for employment consideration.

All applicants' qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, and other characteristics):

• Managing Employees
• Administration & Management
• Litigation Support
• Written Communication
• Performance and Awards

Please Note: Additional candidates may be selected if more positions become available in the Division within 90 days after the HR office issues the selection certificate.

• Benefits
  
  A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
  
  Review our benefits
  
  Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
• Required Documents
  
  As a new or existing federal employee, you and your family may have access to a range of benefits. Your benefits depend on the type of position you have - whether you're a permanent, part-time, temporary or an intermittent employee. You may be eligible for the following benefits, however, check with your agency to make sure you're eligible under their policies.
  
  
  • Resumé demonstrating relevant experience and dates the experience was obtained.
  • Cover letter (optional)
  • SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action which shows career or career-conditional tenure in the competitive service or Federal reinstatement eligibility, such as an appointment action, within-grade increase, or promotion,whichever is most recent. An Award or General Pay Adjustment action will not suffice.
  • For Federal employees, performance appraisal issued within the last 12 months.
  • Your online responses to the Occupational Questionnaire.
  • CTAP documentation, if applicable.
  
  Your resumé MUST include full employment information such as periods of employment with month/year started and ended, title of position(s), PT hours worked, and description of duties. If Federal employment, you must include the grade of the position(s) on your resumé.
  
  To prove eligibility for the special CTAP selection priority, you must submit a copy of your latest performance appraisal showing a rating of at least fully successful AND one of the following:
  
  
  • A separation notice;
  • A "Notice of Personnel Action" (SF-50) documenting separation;
  • An agency certification that you cannot be placed after injury compensation has been terminated;
  • An OPM notification that your disability annuity has been terminated; or
  • A Military Department of National Guard Bureau notification that you retired under 5 U.S.C. 8337(h) or 8456.
  
  Additional information about CTAP eligibility can be found at http://www.opm.gov/ctap/index.asp.
  
  Do not include the following types of information in your profile or resume:
  
  
  • Classified or government sensitive information
  • Social Security Number (SSN)
  • Photos of yourself
  • Personal information, such as age, gender, religious affiliation, etc.
  • Encrypted and digitally signed documents
  
  If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate content, you may not be considered for this vacancy.
• How to Apply
  
  You must apply online through USAJOBS. Click on the APPLY button. Follow the prompts to login or create an account, answer a few questions, and submit all required documents by 11:59 PM (EST) on the closing date to receive consideration.
  
  To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login), all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/.
  
  If you are unable to apply online, you must request an alternative application which is available from the Office of Human Resources. Please see the contact information below.
  
  Agency contact information
  
  Carmen Browne
  
  Phone
  
  (202) 616-3127
  
  Email
  
  carmen.browne@usdoj.gov
  
  Address
  
  Appellate Section
  
  950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
  
  Washington, DC 20530
  
  US
  
  Next steps
  
  Once the online questionnaire is received, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. After a review of your complete application is made, you will be notified of your rating and/or referral to the hiring official. We will notify you of the outcome after each step of the recruitment process has been completed. After making a tentative job offer, we will conduct a suitability/security background investigation. We expect to make a final job offer within 80 days after the closing date of the announcement.
• Fair and Transparent
  
  The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
  
  
  • Criminal history inquiries
  • Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy
  • Financial suitability
  • New employee probationary period
  • Privacy Act
  • Reasonable accommodation policy
  • Selective Service
  • Signature and false statements
  • Social security number request

Required Documents

• Resumé demonstrating relevant experience and dates the experience was obtained.
• Cover letter (optional)
• SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action which shows career or career-conditional tenure in the competitive service or Federal reinstatement eligibility, such as an appointment action, within-grade increase, or promotion,whichever is most recent. An Award or General Pay Adjustment action will not suffice.
• For Federal employees, performance appraisal issued within the last 12 months.
• Your online responses to the Occupational Questionnaire.
• CTAP documentation, if applicable.

Your resumé MUST include full employment information such as periods of employment with month/year started and ended, title of position(s), PT hours worked, and description of duties. If Federal employment, you must include the grade of the position(s) on your resumé.

To prove eligibility for the special CTAP selection priority, you must submit a copy of your latest performance appraisal showing a rating of at least fully successful AND one of the following:

• A separation notice;
• A "Notice of Personnel Action" (SF-50) documenting separation;
• An agency certification that you cannot be placed after injury compensation has been terminated;
• An OPM notification that your disability annuity has been terminated; or
• A Military Department of National Guard Bureau notification that you retired under 5 U.S.C. 8337(h) or 8456.

Additional information about CTAP eligibility can be found at http://www.opm.gov/ctap/index.asp.

Do not include the following types of information in your profile or resume:

• Classified or government sensitive information
• Social Security Number (SSN)
• Photos of yourself
• Personal information, such as age, gender, religious affiliation, etc.
• Encrypted and digitally signed documents

If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate content, you may not be considered for this vacancy.

How to Apply

You must apply online through USAJOBS. Click on the APPLY button. Follow the prompts to login or create an account, answer a few questions, and submit all required documents by 11:59 PM (EST) on the closing date to receive consideration.

To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login), all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/.

If you are unable to apply online, you must request an alternative application which is available from the Office of Human Resources. Please see the contact information below.

Agency contact information

Carmen Browne

Phone

(202) 616-3127

Email

carmen.browne@usdoj.gov

Address

Appellate Section

950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW

Washington, DC 20530

US

Next steps

Once the online questionnaire is received, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. After a review of your complete application is made, you will be notified of your rating and/or referral to the hiring official. We will notify you of the outcome after each step of the recruitment process has been completed. After making a tentative job offer, we will conduct a suitability/security background investigation. We expect to make a final job offer within 80 days after the closing date of the announcement.

Fair & Transparent

The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.

• Criminal history inquiries
• Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy
• Financial suitability
• New employee probationary period
• Privacy Act
• Reasonable accommodation policy
• Selective Service
• Signature and false statements
• Social security number request