Clarification from the agency

U.S. citizens or nationals

The Appellate Section is responsible for civil and criminal appeals in all cases handled by an ENRD trial section in federal or state trial courts. It also handles directly, or coordinates with the United States Attorney offices (USAOs), on civil and criminal appeals in cases involving Division subject matters that were handled by a USAO in the trial court. In addition, the Section has responsibility for certain petitions for review filed directly in the courts of appeals that seek review of decisions of the Energy and Interior Departments and of the FAA, NRC, STB, and in some instances FERC. The Section works closely with the Office of the Solicitor General in determining whether to appeal adverse district court decisions to the courts of appeals, to seek further review of adverse court of appeals decisions, and to participate as amicus in federal and state courts of appeals and the Supreme Court. The Section prepares initial drafts of briefs filed in the Supreme Court in Division cases handled by the Section and works closely with the Solicitor General's Office in Division cases before the Supreme Court.

The Section's management consists of a Chief, a Deputy Section Chief, and three Assistant Section Chiefs. The Deputy and Assistant Chiefs divide management of the work of the Section by subject matter and have direct supervisory responsibility for all aspects of this work in their respective subject areas. The supervisory responsibilities involve, among other things, assigning legal casework to attorneys, ensuring appropriate staffing on each matter, providing strategy and other guidance as needed, ensuring compliance with all relevant DOJ guidance and policies, reviewing all written briefs, memoranda, and other written work product for substantive accuracy and for consistency with positions in other litigation, coordinating with counterparts at client agencies and with the Office of the Solicitor General as well as other DOJ and ENRD components, briefing agency and DOJ leadership as necessary, assisting in the determination of settlement positions, and preparing attorneys for oral argument. The Assistant Section Chiefs also are responsible for performance management and serve as the rating official for attorneys. The Assistant Section Chiefs also assist the Section Chief and Deputy Chief on non-litigation and administrative matters, and with overall management of the Section.

We are currently seeking to hire an Assistant Chief to manage many of the cases in the Section's docket involving natural and marine resources.

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 maintain a bank account for direct deposit of salary.
• J.D. degree required, must be an active member of the bar, any jurisdiction.
• Financial Disclosure: If selected, you may be required to disclose financial information in accordance with DOJ and Federal ethics guidelines.

Qualifications

Applicants must possess a J.D. Degree (or equivalent), be an active member in good standing of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction), and be a U.S. citizen or national.

Applicants must have a minimum of 7 years post-J.D. or post clerkship litigation experience that includes significant federal litigation experience or substantive familiarity with the Administrative Procedure Act and natural resource statutes within the Section's jurisdiction.

Applicants should demonstrate outstanding legal writing skills; excellent judgment; the ability to mentor and manage attorneys and administrative staff to produce high quality work under tight time frames; the ability to manage multiple assignments simultaneously and to adjust to meet new priorities; the ability to work cooperatively and effectively with client agencies and other ENRD and Department of Justice components; and a commitment to the highest ethical and professional standards.

YOUR RESUME MUST 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 experience requirement. Part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience. Failure to provide details will result in an ineligible rating.

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

How you will be evaluated

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

Veterans: There is no formal rating system for applying veteran preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Justice considers veteran preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veteran preference must include that information in their resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., the DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty and other supporting documentation) to their submissions.

Although the "point" system is not used, per se, applicants eligible to claim 10-point preference must submit Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, and submit the supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed (visit the OPM website, www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf for a copy of SF 15, which lists the types of 10-point preferences and the required supporting document(s). Applicants should note that SF 15 requires supporting documentation associated with service-connected disabilities or receipt of nonservice-connected disability pensions to be dated 1991 or later except in the case of service members submitting official statements or retirement orders from a branch of the Armed Forces showing that his or her retirement was due to a permanent service-connected disability or that he/she was transferred to the permanent disability retired list (the statement or retirement orders must indicate that the disability is 10% or more).