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Legal Administrative Specialist (Litigation Support)

Department of Justice
Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys and the Office of the U.S. Attorneys
District of New Mexico
This job announcement has closed

Summary

For more information on the Department of Justice and the United States Attorneys' Offices, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/.

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

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
07/17/2025 to 08/01/2025
Salary
$61,774 to - $97,158 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9 - 11
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Albuquerque, NM
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
11
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
High Risk (HR)
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
25-NM-12766249-IMP
Control number
840938200

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Current Federal employees in permanent competitive service positions (status candidates) in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, plus well-qualified surplus and displaced DOJ employees (CTAP) in the local commuting area. Internal Employees Only.

Duties

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If selected for this position, you will join a well-respected team that is responsible for providing technical advice to litigation teams on legal automation requirements and systems capabilities to facilitate litigation decisions, trial preparation and presentation. Typical work assignments will include:

  • Reviews incoming discovery and other requested information.
  • Prepare and maintain a variety of trial-related documents, e.g., witness lists, exhibit lists, jury instructions, and subpoenas.
  • Prepare exhibits for legal proceedings, which may involve a wide range of visual materials including charts, diagrams, photographs and models.
  • Providing a variety of legal assistance and technical work requiring a specialized knowledge of processes, procedures, and practices to support legal activities.
  • Preparing computerized trial presentation programs; and
  • Monitoring data entry and output from information management system for accuracy.
Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • 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

GS-09: To be eligible at the GS-09 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions, as defined below: Specialized Experience, Education, OR a combination of Education and Experience.

  • Specialized Experience: One (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as performing routine litigation support assignments such as assisting with organizing case information (i.e., scanning and creating CDs); assisting attorneys in preparing for court such as preparing exhibits, compiling trial notebooks, compiling witness and exhibit lists and preparing computerized trial presentations and exhibits; verifying citations; conducting research, analysis and evaluation of data in response to requests; using automated legal research tools such as Westlaw, Lexis, as well as public information databases to perform basic research of case-specific legal matters; preparing a variety of legal documents; and managing discovery.
  • Education: one of the following types of education in a related field (e.g., Information Technology, Computer Science, Law, Criminal Justice): Master's or equivalent graduate degree; OR 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; OR LL.B. or J.D., if related. 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: A combination of experience and graduate level education can be used if, when combined, are equivalent to 100% of the qualification requirement. (Only graduate education in excess of one full year is creditable.)
GS-11: To be eligible at the GS-11 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions, as defined below: Specialized Experience, Education, OR a Combination of Education and Experience.
  • Specialized Experience: At least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in federal service. Specialized experience is defined as performing the following types of duties: participating in trial preparation and presentations; working with attorneys and legal support staff to recommend effective strategy to meet litigation needs; identifying and utilizing software packages such as databases spreadsheets and word processing applications to present evidence; managing a variety of computer hardware for trial use; customizing databases and programs to meet individual user needs; preparing demonstrative exhibits required for litigation; organizing and managing case specific discovery.
  • Education: One of the following types of education in a related field (e.g. Information Technology, Computer Science, Criminal Justice, Law): Ph.D., or equivalent doctoral degree in a related field; OR 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree; OR LL.M., if related. Education 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: A combination of specialized experience as described in A and education as described in B which when combined equal 100% of the requirements. (Only graduate level education in excess of the first two years can be used in this calculation.)
Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)-The CTAP provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility, 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement, and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and receive a score of 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

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
OR
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.

Additional information

Payment of relocation expenses will not be authorized.

The Department of Justice offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, paid vacation; sick leave; holidays; life insurance; health benefits; and participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System.

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. See http://www.sss.gov/.

Reasonable Accommodation Statement: Federal Agencies must provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities, where appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the hiring agency directly. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.

EEO Statement: The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non-merit factor.

Political Appointees (Current or Former): The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the HR Office. Failure to disclose this information could result in disciplinary action including removal from Federal Service.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your complete application package (resume/supporting documentation, online questionnaire, and USA Hire Competency Based Assessment) 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 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.

You will be rated on the following Competencies (see The OPM Website for definitions):
Attention to Detail, Customer Service, Decision Making, Flexibility, Integrity/Honesty, Interpersonal Skills, Learning, Reading Comprehension, Reasoning, Self-Management, Stress Tolerance, and Teamwork

To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

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