The Civil Division is the largest litigating component of the Department of Justice, representing the interests of the United States in some of the nation's most significant civil litigation matters. Our teams handle cases involving constitutional law, national security, immigration, government programs, consumer protection, civil fraud, and other matters of critical public importance.
Summary
The Civil Division is the largest litigating component of the Department of Justice, representing the interests of the United States in some of the nation's most significant civil litigation matters. Our teams handle cases involving constitutional law, national security, immigration, government programs, consumer protection, civil fraud, and other matters of critical public importance.
This announcement is open to individuals who received a qualifying associate, bachelors, master's, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution within the past two years (or longer for certain veterans).
As a GS- 0950-7/9, your typical work assignments may include the following:
GS-0950-07 Grade Level:
- Conduct legal and factual research to support litigation and case preparation.
- Review and analyze case materials, court filings, and other records to become familiar with legal issues and assist attorneys in developing case strategies.
- Collect, organize, index, summarize, and maintain case documents and other litigation materials using electronic databases and case management systems.
- Verify legal citations and references in court filings and ensure documents comply with applicable federal, state, and local court rules.
- Assist attorneys in preparing court filings, including compiling appendices and record excerpts, creating tables of contents and authorities, and coordinating filing and service requirements.
- Review and manage electronic case records to ensure accuracy and completeness throughout the life of a case and upon case closure.
- Assist with legislative history research and other specialized research projects as needed.
- Prepare reports, respond to information requests, and help track case-related data.
- Sort, file, distribute, and maintain legal documents and correspondence, ensuring materials are routed to the appropriate individuals and organizations.
GS-0950-09 Grade Level:
- Assist attorneys in drafting and preparing pleadings, motions, briefs, subpoenas, correspondence, and other litigation documents.
- Review and analyze case documents, identify relevant evidence, and prepare summaries and case materials to support attorneys in litigation.
- Participate in witness interviews and pre-trial preparation activities, helping identify additional facts and issues that require investigation.
- Communicate with federal courts, client agencies, U.S. Attorneys' Offices, and opposing counsel to gather information and coordinate litigation-related matters.
- Conduct legal and factual research to support case development, emergency litigation, and other time-sensitive matters.
- Help manage communications, document requests, and information exchanges among litigation teams, client agencies, and other stakeholders.
You must successfully pass a security/background investigation and drug screening.
You may be required to complete a two-year trial/probationary period.
Additional selections may be made from this announcement, at any time, if openings occur in other offices within the advertised offices or other offices within the Civil Division.
You must sign a pathways agreement.
A USA Hire assessment is required. An email will be sent with additional information after you submit your application. You will have 48 hours from the closing date of this announcement to complete the assessment.
Under Pathways Recent Graduate regulations, you are eligible only if you have graduated from an academic program of study or earned your degree within the last two years.
You must meet all eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement and continue to meet these requirements throughout the hiring process. Offers can be rescinded if requirements are not met.
Qualifications
To qualify for the position of Paralegal Specialist (Recent Graduate), at GS-0950-07-09, you must meet the basic requirements listed below.
Basic Requirement: To be eligible, applicants must apply within two years of degree or certificate completion (except for veterans precluded from doing so due to their military service obligation, who have up to six years after degree completion to apply). For additional information on the Recent Graduates Pathways Program, please click here.
NOTE: You must submit transcripts or official documentation, to verify Recent Graduate Program eligibility. Transcripts MUST reflect the degree/ certificate program and the degree conferred date (official transcripts are required upon selection). If you've graduated in May, please inlcude that information on your resume or in your cover letter if you chose to do one. Official transcripts will be required prior to appointment for all selectees.
In addition to the eligibility requirements for the Pathways Recent Graduate Program, you must also meet the following qualifications requirements in order to qualify for the Paralegal Specialist.
To qualify for the GS-07 position, you must meet one of following minimum qualification requirements:
Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-05 level in the Federal service or comparable pay band system related to the work of this position, conducting research, writing, organizing, and drafting documents related to legal services.
One full year of graduate level education in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. OR Superior Academic Achievement: Successful completion of all the requirements for a bachelor's degree with Superior Academic Achievement. In order to be creditable under this provision, Superior Academic Achievement must have been gained in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled. Superior Academic Achievement is based on:(1) Class Standing - Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses; OR (2) Grade-Point Average (G.P.A.) - Applicants must have a grade-point average of either (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on your official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or (b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum.; OR (3) Honor Society Membership - Applicants may be considered eligible based on membership in one of the approved national scholastic honor societies listed by the Association of College Honor Societies (https://www.achsnatl.org/).
Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) by 18. Add the two percentages.
To qualify for the GS-9 position, you must meet one of the following minimum qualification requirements:
Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-7 level in the Federal service or comparable pay band system related to the work of this position: assisting senior staff attorneys in preparing pleadings or briefs, performing tasks analyzing factual data, preparing exhibits, preparing statements of case, and performing advanced research into factual aspects of assigned cases.
Have a master's or equivalent graduate degree, or successfully completed at least 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, OR received an LL.B or J.D.
Have a combination of graduate education and experience, as described above that meets 100% of the requirements. Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) by 36. Add the two percentages.
You MUST meet all qualification requirements by the Close Date of this announcement.
Your resume must support your responses to the online questionnaire and the qualification requirements. Failure to do so may result in an ineligible rating.See the Required Documents section for important notes about what must be included in your resume.
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 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 https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/international-affairs/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications.
All documentation must be in English or include an English translation.
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. Candidates will not be hired based on their race, sex, color, religion, or national origin.
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.
USA Hire 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 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request an 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. To determine if you need an RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire.
EEO Statement/Policy: 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.
DOJ Reasonable Accommodation Policy: 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. The DOJ Reasonable Accommodation policy can be found here: https://www.justice.gov/jmd/reasonable-accommodation#policy
Selective Service: If you were born male, on or 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.
Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs: The Fair Chance Act prohibits Federal agencies from requesting an applicant's criminal history information before the agency makes a conditional offer of employment. If you believe a DOJ employee or Federal contractor acting on its behalf has violated your rights under this Act, you may submit a written complaint within 30 days of the date of the alleged non-compliance directly to Victoria Jones at Victoria.jones@usdoj.gov.
Note: In accordance with 5 U.S. Code § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201(b) certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Chance Act.
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.
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.
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.
You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the online assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):
Attention to Detail
Customer Service
Decision Making
Flexibility
Integrity/Honesty
Interpersonal Skills
Learning
Reading Comprehension
Reasoning
Research
Self-Management
Stress Tolerance
Teamwork
When addressing the specialized experience statement, applicants must present evidence of the experience in their resume. If the specialized experience statement is repeated, in the applicant's resume, Human Resources will deem the applicant as ineligible.
Please Note: Additional selections may be made from this announcement for up to 90 days should additional similar openings occur in this, or any other office within DOJ.
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.
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.
To apply for this position, you must submit a complete Application package which includes:
Resume showing relevant experience, work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment (month and year) and duties performed. 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. (cover letter optional).
Veteran documentation, (if applicable).
SF-50 (most recent career/career conditional, if applicable); or for reinstatement to Federal service purposes, the SF-50 that shows you have acquired competitive status
CTAP/ICTAP documentation, (if applicable)
Schedule (A) Documentation (if applicable)
If you are requesting a reasonable accommodation to the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, submit documentation to support your request, including the Reasonable Accommodation Request Form found here.
An unofficial college transcript, if qualifying based on education. (Note: If you are selected for this position, official transcript(s) will be required prior to your first day.) (Use if education is being credited for the purpose of meeting minimum qualification requirements or if grade point average is being used to determine superior academic achievement.)
Your Responses to the Occupational Questionnaire.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online assessment and submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 07/02/2026 to receive consideration. The application process is as follows:
1.) To begin the application process, click the Apply Online button.
2.) Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation.
3.) Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59PM (ET) on the announcement closing date.
4.) After submitting an online application, you will be notified whether or not you are required to take additional online assessments through the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment system. This message will be delivered to you both on screen and via email notification. The email may be routed to your "Spam" or "Junk" folder.
5.) If you are asked to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be presented with a unique URL to access the USA Hire system. Access to USA Hire is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning your USA Hire Assessments. Click here for Computer System Requirements
6. Note, set aside at least 3 hours to take these assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue at a later time, you can re-use the URL sent to you via email and also found on the Additional Application Information page that can be located in the application record in your USAJOBS account.
To update your application, including supporting documentation, at any time during the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account (https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login). There you will find a record of your application, the application status, and an option to Update Application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.
To verify the status of your application both during and after the announcement open period, log into your USAJOBS account: https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login. All of your applications will appear on the Welcome page. The application record in your USAJOBS account provides an Additional Application Information page that provides information regarding the documentation you submitted and any correspondence we have sent related to this application. 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/.
Civil Division
1100 L Street, NW
Washington, DC 20530
US
Next steps
Based on your application and your responses to the application questionnaire, you may be presented with instructions on how to access the USA Hire system to complete the online assessments. The online assessments must be completed within 48 hours following the close of this announcement. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation for the assessment should you have a disability covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Your assessment results will be kept on record for one year and used toward future positions for which you might apply that require the same assessments.
To be considered for the position, you must meet all qualifications.
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 90 days after the closing date of the announcement.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
To apply for this position, you must submit a complete Application package which includes:
Resume showing relevant experience, work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment (month and year) and duties performed. 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. (cover letter optional).
Veteran documentation, (if applicable).
SF-50 (most recent career/career conditional, if applicable); or for reinstatement to Federal service purposes, the SF-50 that shows you have acquired competitive status
CTAP/ICTAP documentation, (if applicable)
Schedule (A) Documentation (if applicable)
If you are requesting a reasonable accommodation to the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, submit documentation to support your request, including the Reasonable Accommodation Request Form found here.
An unofficial college transcript, if qualifying based on education. (Note: If you are selected for this position, official transcript(s) will be required prior to your first day.) (Use if education is being credited for the purpose of meeting minimum qualification requirements or if grade point average is being used to determine superior academic achievement.)
Your Responses to the Occupational Questionnaire.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online assessment and submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 07/02/2026 to receive consideration. The application process is as follows:
1.) To begin the application process, click the Apply Online button.
2.) Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation.
3.) Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59PM (ET) on the announcement closing date.
4.) After submitting an online application, you will be notified whether or not you are required to take additional online assessments through the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment system. This message will be delivered to you both on screen and via email notification. The email may be routed to your "Spam" or "Junk" folder.
5.) If you are asked to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be presented with a unique URL to access the USA Hire system. Access to USA Hire is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning your USA Hire Assessments. Click here for Computer System Requirements
6. Note, set aside at least 3 hours to take these assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue at a later time, you can re-use the URL sent to you via email and also found on the Additional Application Information page that can be located in the application record in your USAJOBS account.
To update your application, including supporting documentation, at any time during the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account (https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login). There you will find a record of your application, the application status, and an option to Update Application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.
To verify the status of your application both during and after the announcement open period, log into your USAJOBS account: https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login. All of your applications will appear on the Welcome page. The application record in your USAJOBS account provides an Additional Application Information page that provides information regarding the documentation you submitted and any correspondence we have sent related to this application. 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/.
Civil Division
1100 L Street, NW
Washington, DC 20530
US
Next steps
Based on your application and your responses to the application questionnaire, you may be presented with instructions on how to access the USA Hire system to complete the online assessments. The online assessments must be completed within 48 hours following the close of this announcement. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation for the assessment should you have a disability covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Your assessment results will be kept on record for one year and used toward future positions for which you might apply that require the same assessments.
To be considered for the position, you must meet all qualifications.
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 90 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.
