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General Attorney (Information Law)

Department of Commerce
Patent and Trademark Office
Office of the General Counsel, Office of General Law (OGL)

Summary

The USPTO Office of the General Counsel, Office of General Law (OGL) is seeking an experienced attorney to provide expert legal advice on information law matters, including the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act. The selected attorney will work with a team of professionals to manage the USPTO's FOIA and Privacy Act request programs, defend the USPTO in FOIA/Privacy Act litigation, provide training to clients, and provide as-needed legal support on other information law topics.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Posted yesterday · Apply by 06/25/26
Due by 11:59 p.m. ET on June 25, 2026
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—Situational Telework Program
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$167,279 - $197,200 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 15
Promotion potential
15
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Not required
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Excepted Service
Represented by a union
No
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Other
Position sensitivity and risk
High Risk (HR)
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Financial disclosure required
Yes
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
TMCO - OGLW-26-12973433-EX
Control number
871800600

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted from all U.S. Citizens or Nationals.

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Duties

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The physical worksite for this position is located in Alexandria, Virginia. Presence at the Alexandria, VA campus is required for this role, as it includes on site functions that must be performed in person. Position may be eligible for situational telework in accordance with agency policy/business unit discretion. The agency currently allows for 52 hours of telework per calendar year.

The individual selected for this position will…

  • Provide legal support and program management for USPTO's FOIA and Privacy Act request programs, working closely with other OGL attorneys and USPTO FOIA Officers; this will involve first-hand involvement with FOIA and Privacy Act requests, working with e-discovery software, and coordinating with records custodians.
  • Lead USPTO's representation in FOIA and Privacy Act litigation in coordination with the Department of Justice.
  • Provide expert advice to all levels of management and fellow support organizations on a wide array of information law topics, such as records management, applying privileges, responding to third-party subpoenas, evaluating social media issues, publishing data, and other disclosure issues.
  • Thoughtfully analyze proposed and existing USPTO policies and procedures related to information law; develop and train on agency-wide programs related to FOIA, the Privacy Act, and other information law topics.
  • Possess top-notch oral and written communication skills, excellent interpersonal skills, and a commitment to improvement.
  • Demonstrate initiative and creativity; the ability to set, manage, and balance evolving and challenging projects and priorities; and outstanding legal research skills.
  • Be a flexible teammate, willing to support OGL's other general law functions as needed by providing legal advice and litigation services in other disciplines.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Applicants will only be accepted from United States Citizens and Nationals.
  • Your resume and question responses must demonstrate the job-related competencies.
  • You must meet the definition of specialized experience.
  • Required to pass a background investigation and fingerprint check.
  • Must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable (www.sss.gov) Suitable for Federal employment.
  • If selected, you may be required to complete a two-year trial period.
  • You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.
  • This position requires the completion of OF-450 Financial Disclosure.

Qualifications

You must meet the United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position. You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement. OPM Qualifications Standards are available at OPM Website.

Specialized Experienceis experience that has equipped applicants with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least one year at the next lower grade level in the federal service. For this position, the next lower grade level is a GS-14.

In order to qualify for this position at the GS-15 level, you must possess at least (1) one-year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-14 grade level in the federal service AND at least (4) four-years of professional legal/law experience post J.D. performing attorney duties as defined below:

Specialized experience for this position includes

  • Experience working directly in a FOIA or Privacy Act request program (either at the initial request level, appeals level, or litigation level); or advising in a field of federal information law, which may include FOIA, privacy, records management, or other information disclosure area.

AND

In addition to the required one-year specialized experience, applicants must possess four (4) years of Professional Legal/Law experience post J.D. performing attorney duties as defined below:

  • Experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies to perform successfully the duties of the position to be filled. This experience is characterized by breadth and depth of experience in rendering professional legal advice and services with respect to questions, regulations, practices, or other matters falling within the purview of a Federal government agency, private sector, law firm, or other organization; investigating matters, such as related to Congressional or Inspector General inquiries; preparing interpretative and administrative orders, rules, or regulations to give effect to the provisions of governing statutes or other requirements of law; drafting, negotiating, or examining contracts or other legal documents; drafting, preparing formal comments, or making substantive recommendations regarding proposed legislation; editing and preparing for publication statutes enacted by Congress and opinions or decisions of a court, commission, or board; drafting and reviewing decisions for consideration and adoption by an organization or official; determining answers to questions of law; and/or studying, analyzing and evaluating legal precedents to present findings. Qualifying legal work must be extremely complex and difficult and require a high order of original and creative legal endeavor in balancing conflicting interests; have broad or wide-scope impact on an economy, industry, private or public interests; and may involve directly or indirectly very large sums of money. Qualifying legal work may also involve acting as principal attorney in charge of the preparation and presentation of cases; recommending policies and developing procedures and regulations to implement new or amended legislation; and acting as legal, general or senior counsel to a major firm or organization.

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 skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Education

You must possess a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree or Master of Laws (L.L.M) degree from an American Bar Association accredited law school and an active bar membership of any State, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or any Territorial Court under the U.S. Constitution.

If this position requires proof of higher education, or you are substituting education for experience, you must submit an unofficial transcript or a list of courses that includes the following information: name of accredited institution, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements. Please refer to General Schedule Qualification Policies for more information. You are not required to submit official documents at this time; copies are sufficient.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Qualifying education from colleges and universities in foreign countries must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. A listing of these accredited organizations can be found on the Department of Education's website - US Department of Education. Another listing of services that can perform this evaluation is available at the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) website. You must provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation when requested will result in lost consideration.

NOTE: Only education and experience acquired before the filing deadline will be considered. Report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Additional information

If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System. If you are exempt from registration under Selective Service Law, you must provide appropriate proof of exemption. Please visit the Selective Service System website for more information.

This is a Non Bargaining Unit position.

If selected for this position, you may be required to complete the Fair Credit Act Memo, which gives consent so that one or more consumer credit reports may be obtained for employment purposes.

Financial disclosure statement (OGE Form 450) is required for this position. For more information, please visit www.OGE.gov.

This is a Public Trust position and has a risk level designation of "HIGH RISK".

The USPTO participates in E-Verify. For more information on E-Verify, please visit the Department of Homeland Security Website.

Trial Period - If selected, you may be required to complete a two-year trial period.

Background Investigation - If selected for this position, you may be required to complete a Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306), which includes a fingerprint and credit check, to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation.

The USPTO participates in E-Verify. For more information on E-Verify, please visit the Department of Homeland Security Website.

All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choice.

Relocation Expenses are not authorized and will not be paid.

More than one selection may be made from this announcement if additional identical vacancies in the same title, series, grade, and unit occur within 90 days from the date the certificate was issued.

All application materials become the property of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

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.

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

Your resume, optional cover letter and supporting documentation will be reviewed to determine if you meet the minimum qualification requirements for the position. All applicants who meet the minimum qualification requirements, as defined in the job opportunity announcement, will be referred for selection consideration. Preference eligibles are encouraged to submit their supporting documentation (DD-214 stating disposition of discharge or character of service, VA letter, SF-15, etc.).

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Influencing/Negotiating
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork


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

The best qualified candidates will be identified for referral to the hiring manager and may be invited for an interview. If referred all relevant documents submitted with your application package will be forwarded to the selecting official, due weight shall be given to performance appraisals and awards in accordance with 5 CFR § 335.103(b)(3), during the interview/selection process conducted by the hiring manager. Falsifying your background, education, and/or experience is cause for not hiring you or for changing your scored responses to questions you've answered, which may affect your overall final score.

Please Note: Writing samples may be requested prior to being interviewed.

Your resume and any other supporting documentation will be evaluated by a Human Resources Specialist. Falsifying your background, education, and/or experience is cause for not hiring you.

Please click the link below to preview the Assessment Questionnaire:
https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12973433

Please note that a complete application is required for consideration. (Please review the "Required Documents" section of this job announcement to see what must be included in a complete application).

The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation), national origin, political affiliation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, retaliation for engaging in protected activity, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors. If you believe that you have been discriminated against and would like to file an EEO complaint, you must do so within 45 days of the date of the alleged discriminatory act. Claims of employment discrimination must be submitted to the attention of the USPTO's Office of Equal Employment Opportunity via email (oeeo@uspto.gov) or phone (571-272-8292).

Patent and Trademark Office

Come work for the Patent and Trademark Office, we have been ranked as one of the best places to work in the federal government! The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been serving the economic interests of America for more than 200 years. We are responsible for granting US intellectual property rights for patents and trademarks. The USPTO is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, and has over 12,000 employees. For more information about the USPTO, please visit the USPTO Jobs Website.

Agency contact information

Madison Burch
Email
madison.burch@uspto.gov
Address
TMCO-Office of General Law
Office of Human Resources
Mail Stop 171
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
US

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