Skip to main content
U.S. flag
Back to results
 

Attorney Advisor

Judicial Branch
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts

Summary

The Attorney Advisor position is in the Department of Program Services, Judicial Services Office, Judicial Programs Division (JPD). JPD provides subject matter expertise on legislative, legal, policy, administrative, and operational matters affecting judges and their staffs, and provides support to the Judicial Conference Committee on International Judicial Relations.

Overview

Help
Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
03/31/2026 to 04/21/2026
This job will close when we have received 150 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Salary
$121,785 - $197,200 per year
Pay scale & grade
AD 00
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Washington, DC
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
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
Excepted
Promotion potential
00
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Financial disclosure
Yes
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
26-DPS-12922910
Control number
863149400

Duties

Help

The Judicial Services Office (JSO) is seeking an experienced Attorney Advisor to join its Judicial Programs Division (JPD) team. This position reports to the JPD Chief.

The Attorney Advisor performs complex legal and policy research and analysis, provides support and oversight of JPD's various programs and services, and is responsible for writing and presenting agenda items to committees, advisory councils, and advisory groups.

The duties of this position include, but are not limited to:

  1. Providing information, advice, policy guidance, training, and assistance to federal judges, chambers staff, court executives and their staffs, AO management, members of Congress and congressional staff, and the public on a variety of legal, policy, and administrative matters impacting all federal judges.
  2. Providing attorney support for the new chief circuit, district, and bankruptcy judge orientation programs, chief judge follow-up programs, and judicial nominee orientation programs.
  3. Developing and updating publications and resources on the judiciary's internet and intranet sites.
  4. Performing judgeship and judge position surveys, including the analysis of requests for temporary, new, and ongoing Article III and bankruptcy judgeships and magistrate judge positions, and cyclical utilization reviews of judgeships and magistrate judge positions.
  5. Providing policy and program support to the Judicial Conference Committees on International Judicial Relations, Intercircuit Assignments, the Administration of the Bankruptcy System, and the Administration of the Magistrate Judges System, and the Subcommittee on Judicial Statistics of the Committee on Judicial Resources.
  6. Reviewing and providing feedback on Judicial Conference committee, advisory council, and advisory group agenda items, topic briefs, and policy proposals impacting judges, chambers staff, and staff attorneys.
  7. Providing support to the AO's Judicial Programs and Services Advisory Council, Magistrate Judges Advisory Group, Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Group, Chambers Staff Advisory Group, Artificial Intelligence Task Force, and Pro Se Working Group.
  8. Providing oversight of supplemental law clerk programs, including the pro se law clerk program, court law clerk program, and temporary emergency fund (which provides additional law clerk support to judges in certain emergency situations); providing expertise in Article III chief judge authorities and senior status; and providing expertise in magistrate judge authority.
  9. Coordinating with judges, court staff, internal groups, and AO and JSO management on the development of other projects, reports, and publications.

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

  1. All information is subject to verification. Applicants are advised that false answers or omissions of information on application materials or inability to meet the following conditions may be grounds for non-selection, withdrawal of an offer of employment, or dismissal after being employed.
  2. Selection for this position is contingent upon completion of OF-306, Declaration of Federal Employment during the pre-employment process and proof of U.S. citizenship for competitive status positions or conversion to a competitive status position with the AO. If non-citizens are considered for hire into a temporary or any other position with non-competitive status or when it is confirmed by the AO Human Resources Office there are no qualified U.S. citizens for a competitive status position (unless prohibited by a law or statue), non-citizens must provide proof of authorization to work in the U.S. and proof of entitlement to receive compensation. Additional information on the employment of non-citizens can be found at USAJOBS Help Center | Employment of non-citizens/. For a list of documents that may be used to provide proof of citizenship or authorization to work in the United States, please refer to Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.
  3. All new AO employees will be required to complete an FBI fingerprint-based national criminal database and records check and pass a public trust suitability check.
  4. New employees to the AO will be required to successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights/responsibilities, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.
  5. All new AO employees are required to identify a financial institution for direct deposit of pay before appointment.
  6. You will be required to serve a trial period if selected for a first-time appointment to the Federal government, transferring from another Federal agency, or serving as a first-time supervisor. Failure to successfully complete the trial period may result in termination of employment.
  7. If appointed to a temporary position, management may have the discretion of converting the position to permanent depending upon funding and staffing allocation.

Qualifications

Applicants must have demonstrated experience as listed below. This requirement is according to the AO Classification, Compensation, and Recruitment Systems which include interpretive guidance and reference to the OPM Operating Manual for Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions.

Bar Membership: Applicants must currently be an active member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or a federal court of general jurisdiction (attach a copy of license). Applicants are responsible for citing minimum qualifications such as J.D. and bar membership information (institution name, state(s) for bar, and dates) on their respective resumes. Failure to supply details will constitute an incomplete application. All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Post J.D. Experience: Applicants must also possess at least 4 years of post J.D. experience.

Specialized Experience: Subsequent to graduation from law school, applicants must have at least one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience which is in or directly related to the line of work of this position. Specialized experience for this position is demonstrated experience performing legal work involving the interpretation and application of statutes and regulations and preparing legal memoranda directly related to assessing judicial administration and operational matters.

Attaching a cover letter is highly encouraged but not required to qualify for this position.

Education

Applicants must possess a law degree (J.D.) from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) (Transcript required). Qualifying education must have been obtained from an accredited college or university recognized by the Department of Education. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on OPM's website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/.

Additional information

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

How you will be evaluated

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

We will review your resume and supporting documentation and compare this information to your responses on the occupational questionnaire to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for this job. If you meet the minimum qualifications for this job, we will evaluate your application package, to assess the quality, depth, and complexity of your accomplishments, experience, and education as they relate to the requirements listed in this vacancy announcement.

You should be aware that your ratings are subject to evaluation and verification. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume and/or narrative responses, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Failure to submit the mandatory narrative responses will result in not receiving full consideration and/or rating credit. Deliberate attempts to falsify information may be grounds for not selecting you, withdrawing an offer of employment, or dismissal after being employed.

Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts

The Administrative Office (AO) of the United States Courts supports, through excellence and innovation, the constitutional and statutory mission of the federal judiciary to provide equal justice under the law as an independent and equal branch of government.

The AO, an agency of the judicial branch of the federal government, is committed to serving and supporting the federal court system of the United States. The AO provides a broad range of legislative, legal, financial, technology, management, administrative and program support services to the Federal courts.

AO positions are classified and paid under a broad-banded system with the exception of positions in the AO Executive Service. Salary is commensurate with experience. Most AO employees are eligible for full federal and judiciary benefits.

The AO is committed to attracting the best and brightest applicants in our support of the third branch of government. We take pride in serving the judicial branch and supporting its mission to provide equal justice under law.

Agency contact information

Heather Tyndall-Best
Phone
(202) 502-3800
Email
heather_best@ao.uscourts.gov
Address
Department of Program Services
One Columbus Circle, NE
Washington, DC 20544
US

Your session is about to expire!

Your USAJOBS session will expire due to inactivity in 8 minutes. Any unsaved data will be lost if you allow the session to expire. Click the button below to continue your session.