ATTORNEY-ADVISER (REAL PROPERTY)

• Serves as legal advisor to the District Counsel, and Fort Worth District personnel, concerning real estate issues arising out of projects in the Fort Worth District.
• Advises and performs legal services in connection with the acquisition of real property interests, by purchase, donation, exchange, or interagency transfer.
• Researches, analyzes, and provides legal advice during various stages of all real estate processes, including, but not limited to, acquisition, in-lease formulation, out-grant management and disposal and disposition of real estate claims.
• Researches, analyzes, and provides legal advice and prepares legal documents for real estate condemnation and litigation involving very large sums of money, or large sums of money, or where the issues are strongly contested.
• Researches, analyzes, and provides legal advice and prepares legal documents for the planning and implementation of projects leading to a Project Partnership Agreement (PPA).
• Reviews contractual documents and furnishes oral and written opinions as to their legal sufficiency.
• Preparing attorney title opinions consistent with statutory and constitutional requirements

Conditions of employment

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• This position requires active bar membership, in good standing (as defined by the pertinent bar) of the bar of the highest court of a State, U.S. territory, the District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
• The duties of this position require the incumbent to possess or obtain and maintain a valid state Driver’s License.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: US Citizens

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

The following minimum qualification requirements must be met before applicants are eligible for further consideration:

Education:
An applicant must have successfully completed a full course of study in a school of law accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and have the first professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.). Law school transcripts must be submitted at the time of application.

Bar Membership: An applicant must currently be a member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory, or commonwealth of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Experience: An applicant must have more than two years of professional legal experience, acquired after being admitted to the bar, commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the position.

Time in Grade Requirement: If currently employed as an attorney by the Federal Government you must have completed one year at the next lower grade level within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement, or previously served at the same or higher grade as the position being filled.

Specialized Experience:
Two or more years of specialized experience which includes: 1) Providing legal advice during various stages of the real estate acquisition process; 2) Reviewing legal documents to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations and policies; 3) Drafting documents associated with real estate acquisitions; AND 4) Reviewing all legal instruments and/or documents with potential legal ramifications. (NOTE: EXPERIENCE MUST BE DOCUMENTED IN YOUR RESUME).

You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas:

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Your application package will be evaluated to ensure your experience, knowledge, skills, training and/or education meet the qualification requirements stated in this vacancy announcement. Quality of experience relates to how closely or to what extent an applicant's background and recency of experience and education clearly reflect that you possess the following required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA's) to successfully perform the duties of this position. The following KSA's must be addressed in your resume. Failure to do so may result in an ineligible rating or effect your overall rating.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities (KSAs) Qualification Requirements:
1. Knowledge and experience with the Regulations of the Attorney General Governing the Review and Approval of Title for Federal Land Acquisitions (2016) (the DOJ Title Standards), applicable USACE rules and regulations, and state laws affecting the acquisition of real property.

2. Ability to analyze and provide legal advice during various stages of the real estate acquisition process.

3. Ability to balance external and agency (internal) program goals and priorities; ability to balance customer programs with legal goals and priorities; and ability to utilize various approaches in solving problems and issues.

4. Ability to organize work effectively to meet established deadlines and priorities.

5. Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.

You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas:

How you will be evaluated

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

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may lose consideration for this position.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities (KSAs) Qualification Requirements:

1. 1. Knowledge and experience with the Regulations of the Attorney General Governing the Review and Approval of Title for Federal Land Acquisitions (2016) (the DOJ Title Standards), applicable USACE rules and regulations, and state laws affecting the acquisition of real property.
2. Ability to analyze and provide legal advice during various stages of the real estate acquisition process.
3. Ability to balance external and agency (internal) program goals and priorities; ability to balance customer programs with legal goals and priorities; and ability to utilize various approaches in solving problems and issues.
4. Ability to organize work effectively to meet established deadlines and priorities.
5. Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.

Veterans and Military Spouses will be considered along with all other candidates.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT REQUIRED DOCUMENTS FOR THIS ATTORNEY POSITION: If you DO NOT provide the required documents listed below for this US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Attorney position, your application will be determined to be an incomplete application package and will not receive further consideration for this position.

The documents you are required to submit vary based on whether or not you are eligible for preference in federal employment. A complete description of preference categories and the associated required documents is in the Applicant Checklist for Public Announcements.

As described above, your complete application includes your resume, your responses to the online questionnaire, and documents which prove your eligibility to apply. If you fail to provide these documents, you will be marked as having an incomplete application package and you will not be considered any further.

1. Your resume:

• Your resume must be two pages or less and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement. Resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration.
• For each relevant work experience, make sure you include the employer's name, job title, start and end dates (include month and year), for qualifications purposes, the number of hours worked per week, and a brief description that show you can perform the tasks at the required level listed in the job announcement. If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete, and you may not receive consideration for this position.
• Use plain language. Avoid using acronyms and terms that are not easily understood. The hiring agency will not make assumptions about what's in your resume.
• If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations, and you may not be considered for this vacancy.
• For additional information, to include formatting tips, see: What to include in your resume.

2. Other supporting documents:

• Cover Letter, optional
• Most recent Performance Appraisal, if applicable
• Time-in-grade documentation: If you are applying for a higher grade and your SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you meet the one year time-in-grade requirement so you will need to provide an SF-50 which clearly demonstrates you meet the time-in-grade requirements (examples of appropriate SF-50s include Promotions, Within-grade Grade/Range Increases, and SF-50s with an effective date more than one year old).

3. If you are a current U.S. Army Corps of Engineers attorney, you MUST ALSO submit the following documents:

• Your latest non-award Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50);
• A writing sample (Required for Non-USACE Applicants) NOTE: Writing samples shall not exceed 10 pages

4. If you are NOT a current U.S. Army Corps of Engineers attorney, you MUST submit the following documents:

• Copy of law school transcripts AND an official statement of relative standing in your class, or official statement demonstrating the unavailability of class standing information (official copies will be required if selected and before placement);
• Certificate issued by the Bar Registrar or similar official showing that you are a member in good standing with the Bar of a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia, dated NO MORE THAN 90 days before the opening date of this announcement (a copy is sufficient for the application, but a certified copy may be necessary upon selection);
• A sworn statement, certifying that your fitness to practice law or your conduct as an attorney has never been challenged in any jurisdiction. This statement MUST be notarized, on a date NO MORE THAN 3 months before the opening date of this announcement. If your fitness to practice law or your conduct as an Attorney has been challenged in any jurisdiction, you must provide a notarized statement concerning the facts and circumstances, and any other explanation you deem appropriate.
• The names of three professional references who are each members of the Bar of a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia.
• A writing sample NOTE: Writing samples shall not exceed 10 pages.

NOTE: Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove another person's personal information before you submit your application. You may be asked to provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected to confirm your eligibility.

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