Clarification from the agency

All United States Citizens and Nationals.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York seeks experienced attorneys to serve as Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) in the Civil Division, including in both the defensive civil litigation and Affirmative Civil Enforcement (ACE) units. Applicants should indicate in their cover letter whether they seek consideration for defensive civil litigation, the ACE unit, or both.

Civil Division AUSAs serve as lead counsel in federal litigation from investigation through appeal and receive substantial responsibility from the outset. Attorneys manage their own dockets, appear regularly in federal court, collaborate closely with federal agencies and Department of Justice components, and handle matters of significant national and regional importance.

Defensive Civil Litigation: Attorneys in the defensive civil litigation unit represent the United States, its agencies, and federal employees in a broad range of complex federal litigation matters. These matters include negligence actions under the Federal Tort Claims Act, employment discrimination suits, constitutional tort claims against federal officers, Freedom of Information Act litigation, prisoner litigation, civil immigration matters, and related defensive civil actions. Attorneys may also defend constitutional and administrative challenges to federal statutes, regulations, policies, programs, and agency decisions. Attorneys may also represent the United States in bankruptcy proceedings.

Civil AUSAs handling defensive litigation manage all phases of their assigned matters, including factual investigation, discovery, depositions, settlement negotiations, mediation, motion practice, trials, and appeals. AUSAs serve as lead counsel in federal court proceedings and work directly with client agencies and agency counsel throughout the litigation process.

Affirmative Civil Enforcement (ACE): Attorneys in the ACE unit investigate and litigate affirmative civil matters on behalf of the United States, with a particular emphasis on False Claims Act cases involving health care fraud, procurement fraud, grant fraud, and other fraud affecting federal programs. The Office maintains an active and sophisticated False Claims Act practice, including matters initiated through qui tam complaints and investigations conducted jointly with federal law enforcement agencies, inspectors general, and agency partners across the government.

In addition to False Claims Act matters, ACE AUSAs handle affirmative litigation involving environmental violations and federal civil rights statutes, including matters involving voting rights and discrimination based on race, sex, religion, or disability. Attorneys may also handle matters involving civil violations of the Controlled Substances Act and other enforcement priorities of the Department of Justice and the Office. ACE AUSAs may also represent the United States in bankruptcy proceedings.

ACE matters frequently involve parallel criminal, regulatory, and administrative investigations and require close coordination with agents, auditors, investigators, and attorneys from the Department of Justice and other United States Attorneys' Offices. Attorneys are expected to manage investigations strategically, exercise sound judgment, and litigate independently in federal court.

Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as training and experience progress.

Security Requirements: Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory preemployment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. In addition, continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation.

Selective Service Requirement: If you are a male applicant born 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. See www.sss.gov.

Residency Requirement:Assistant United States Attorneys generally must reside in the district to which he or she is appointed or within 25 miles thereof. See 28 U.S.C. 545 for district-specific information.

Travel Requirement: Employment will require occasional travel to court at one of the designated District sites, namely Albany, Auburn, Binghamton, Malone, Plattsburgh, Syracuse, Utica, and Watertown. Other occasional travel within and/or outside the District may be required.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a United States Citizen or National.
• Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory preemployment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. Continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation.
• You must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable.
• J.D. degree and active member of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction) required.
• Must reside in the district to which appointed or within 25 miles thereof. See 28 U.S.C. 545 for district specific information.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Applicants must possess a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree (or equivalent), be an active member in good standing of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction), and have at least 1-year post-J.D. (or equivalent) legal or other relevant experience.
• Applicants must hold United States citizenship.

Preferred Qualifications:

The ideal candidates will:

• Have at least 3 years of post-J.D. experience that provided significant opportunity to develop strong legal writing, oral advocacy, and courtroom litigation skills;
• Demonstrate facility with federal civil practice;
• Be comfortable with all aspects of electronic discovery and litigation;
• Collaborate effectively with others, including AUSAs, law enforcement, support staff, and court personnel;
• Possess impeccable integrity;
• Be self-motivated, justice-oriented, organized, and courteous; and
• Capable of receiving substantial responsibility from the outset and expect to manage matters independently while maintaining the highest standards of advocacy and public service.

Applicants must meet all qualification requirements upon closing date of this announcement.

Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory pre-employment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. In addition, continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation.

The staffing of these positions is subject to the availability of funds.

As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement.

How you will be evaluated

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

Evaluation Method: Once your complete application package is received, it will be reviewed to ensure you meet all job requirements. After the application period closes, the NDNY leadership team will review all qualified applicants to make determinations on who they will interview. You will be notified if selected for an interview. Our hiring process will involve in-person interviews.

The Occupational Questionnaire will take you approximately 20 minutes to complete.

Veterans' Preference: There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Justice considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans' preference must indicate their preference in response to the appropriate question in their assessment questionnaire (it is also recommended that information is included in their cover letter or resume) and they must submit supporting documentation (e.g., DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty and other supporting documentation) which verifies their eligibility for preference. 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, http://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 retirement was due to a permanent service-connected disability or that they were transferred to the permanent disability retired list (the statement or retirement orders must indicate that the disability is 10% or more).

Reasonable Accommodations: This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.

You must provide a complete Application Package, which includes the following information/documents in the format specified:

• Required: Responses to the Online Occupational Questionnaire (Completed automatically during the apply online process).
• Required: Cover letter not-to-exceed one page addressed to the First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III, describing your qualifications, interest in NDNY, and desired office to include Albany, Binghamton, Plattsburgh, and/or Syracuse, and whether you are seeking consideration for defensive civil litigation, the ACE unit, or both.
• Required: Resume not-to-exceed one page including relevant experience and dates of employment (incl. month/year) for each period (paid or volunteer), date J.D. was awarded (incl. month/year), and date of Bar Admission (incl. month/year). (Note: In general, resumes cannot exceed two pages. You will be deemed ineligible and receive no further consideration if your resume exceeds two pages.)
• Required: Writing sample representing written legal advocacy. Please include a cover letter to the writing sample with a short description of the source of the sample, the level of editing it received, and the degree of original work.
• Required, if applicable: Rrecent copy of an SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action), showing title, series, grade, and current salary; and a copy of your most recent performance appraisal.
• Required, if applicable: To get Veterans' Preference, you must indicate your preference in response to the appropriate question in your assessment questionnaire and you must submit the appropriate supporting documentation. See the "How you will be Evaluated" section for details regarding what is appropriate Veterans' Preference documentation. It is also recommended that you include veterans' preference information in your cover letter or resume.

Outreach and Recruitment for Qualified Applicants with Disabilities: The Department encourages qualified applicants with disabilities, including individuals with targeted/severe disabilities to apply in response to posted vacancy announcements. Qualified applicants with targeted/severe disabilities may be eligible for direct hire, non-competitive appointment under Schedule A (5 C.F.R. § 213.3102(u)) hiring authority. Individuals with targeted/severe disabilities are encouraged to contact one of the Department's Disability Points of Contact (DPOC) to express an interest in being considered for a position. See list of DPOCs.

Suitability and Citizenship: It is the policy of the Department to achieve a drug-free workplace and persons selected for employment will be required to pass a drug test which screens for illegal drug use prior to final appointment. Employment is also contingent upon the completion and satisfactory adjudication of a background investigation. Congress generally prohibits agencies from employing non-citizens within the United States, except for a few narrow exceptions as set forth in the annual Appropriations Act (see, https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/non-citizens/). Pursuant to DOJ component policies, only U.S. citizens are eligible for employment with the Executive Office for Immigration Review, U.S. Trustee's Offices, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unless otherwise indicated in a particular job advertisement, qualifying non-U.S. citizens meeting immigration and appropriations law criteria may apply for employment with other DOJ organizations. However, please be advised that the appointment of non-U.S. citizens is extremely rare; such appointments would be possible only if necessary to accomplish the Department's mission and would be subject to strict security requirements. Applicants who hold dual citizenship in the U.S. and another country will be considered on a case-by-case basis. All DOJ employees are subject to a residency requirement. Candidates who have lived outside the United States for two or more of the past five years will likely have difficulty being approved for appointments by the Department Security Staff. The two-year period is cumulative, not necessarily consecutive. Federal or military employees, or dependents of federal or military employees serving overseas, are excepted from this requirement.

Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office by providing a copy of your applicable SF-50, along with a statement that provides the following information regarding your most recent political appointment:

• Position title;
• Type of appointment (Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES, or Presidential Appointee);
• Agency; and
• Beginning and ending dates of appointment.

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