Attorney Advisor Job in Washington, DC

Vacancy No. EX-25-015-SP Department U.S. International Trade Commission
Salary $139,395.00 to $191,900.00 Grade 14 to 15
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 12/13/2024 Close Date 12/23/2024
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Washington, DC


Summary

The position is located in the Office of the Administrative Law Judges (ALJ). The ideal candidate would possess experience in substantive areas of intellectual property and/or unfair competition law, as well as experience in litigation and adjudication, and have a record of superior achievement in legal and STEM education. The candidate would possess superior writing and organizational skills, and the ability to handle a large volume of information with careful attention to accuracy and detail.

Duties

As an Attorney-Advisor, you will:

  • Serve as an attorney under limited supervision of the Chief ALJ or another ALJ and provide legal expertise to the ALJ in support of complex investigations of alleged unfair import practices.
  • Provide legal expertise in other intellectual property right matters (i.e., patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets).
  • Prepare memoranda on legal issues and make appropriate recommendations to the ALJ.
  • Respond to oral and written inquiries from members of the public or the bar regarding status of the investigation process, as appropriate.
  • Assist the ALJ in conducting legal research, drafting orders and decisions, and reviewing and analyzing arguments and evidence.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • You must be a U.S. citizen or national.
  • You will be required to successfully complete a background investigation.
  • You may be required to submit a Financial Disclosure Statement.
  • You must provide proof of your Bar membership.
  • You may be required to serve a two-year probationary period.
  • You are required to register for Selective Service if you are a male born after 12/03/1959.
  • You must provide a Certificate of Good Standing of the bars to which you are admitted, if you are made an offer.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all of the qualification requirements, including education and any selective placement factors described below by the closing date of this announcement. Education may only be substituted in accordance with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook. Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order to be credited towards qualifications. Applicants must have the general and specialized experience outlined below which provided the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position.

To be hired as an Attorney with USITC, you must:
  • possess at least a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) degree or a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association; AND
  • currently be a member in good standing of the Bar of a state or territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
In addition to meeting the basic qualification requirements above, applicants must meet the specialized experience below.

GS-14: Applicants must have at least four years of experience which provided the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position. This experience must consist of the following: one year of general experience which is defined as professional legal experience of a broad, general nature, not requiring specialization or expertise in a specific area or type of law AND three years of specialized experience which is defined as professional legal experience in areas such as: intellectual property litigation, unfair competition law, administrative law, and/or experience interpreting statutes, regulations, court decisions and agency determinations.

GS-15: Applicants must have at least five years of experience which provided the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position. This experience must consist of the following: one year of general experience which is defined as professional legal experience of a broad, general nature, not requiring specialization or expertise in a specific area or type of law AND four years of specialized experience which is defined as professional legal experience in areas such as: intellectual property litigation, unfair competition law, administrative law, and/or experience interpreting statutes, regulations, court decisions and agency determinations.

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

All applicants must possess a first professional law degree: J.D. or LL.B from an American Bar Association Law School, or equivalent training. Equivalent training is training permitted in some states in lieu of attendance at a law school. To be acceptable, this training must be of the kind and nature required by the state in which the bar exam is taken. A copy of your transcript(s) is required to show proof that you meet this requirement. Please see the Required Documents section of the announcement for more specific information.

Submit a copy of your transcript(s) or list of courses with credit hours, major(s) and grade-point average or class ranking. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the 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 provide such evidence when applying. Click on the link for a list of accredited organizations recognized as specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials: http://www.naces.org/members.htm.

Additional information

Surplus or Displaced Federal Employees: The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) and Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) Programs are available to federal employees that qualify. Those eligible for these programs are granted special priority selection rights. To be considered, you must be deemed well-qualified by receiving a score of 85 or higher. If you are a federal employee claiming CTAP/ICTAP, you must provide the documents listed under the Required Documents section to verify your eligibility. Also, you must indicate in your application that you are applying as a CTAP or ICTAP eligible. For additional information regarding CTAP/ICTAP, please visit: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

Excepted service appointments: This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer rights to permanent Civil Service status.

Selective Service: If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you are registered with the Selective Service or are exempt under Selective Service regulations. For additional information concerning Selective Service requirements, please visit http://www.sss.gov/.

Cover page to fax paper application - OPM Form 1203fx: http://www.opm.gov/forms/pdfimage/opm1203fx.pdf

Assessment Questions: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12641958

Vacancy ID number: 12641958

Reasonable accommodations: This agency provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the contact listed on the vacancy announcement. The decision to grant a reasonable accommodation is made on a case-by-case basis.

Verification of information: Any information claimed on your resume and in application materials, such as education, credentials, employment history, etc., will be verified as part of the security clearance process.

Time period to meet qualifications: All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Benefits

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.

Review our 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.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:

  • Knowledge of alleged unfair import practices
  • Knowledge of intellectual property right matters (ie., patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets)
  • Skill in oral and written communication
  • Knowledge of unfair competition law
We will evaluate your relevant education and/or work experience as they relate to the competencies, knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) mentioned above. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. Based on the results of this evaluation, you will be placed in one of the following categories:

Best: This category indicates you have the type and quality of experience and/or education that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position, including any selective placement factors and/or appropriate quality ranking factor(s).

Better: This category indicates you have the type and quality of experience and/or education that exceed the minimum qualifications of the position.

Good: This category indicates you meet the minimum qualifications and/or education of the position and are proficient in some, but not all, of the requirements of the position. You may require extensive training and/or orientation in order to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position.

Candidates in the Best category will be the first ones sent to the hiring manager for interview consideration.

Upon closing of this announcement, we will first review your application to ensure it is complete. If you fail to submit all the required documentation, you will be ineligible for further review or consideration. Completed applications are then evaluated for basic qualifications requirements, and for the skills needed to perform the duties of the position, as described in the vacancy announcement and identified by the Selecting Official for the position.

To preview the assessment questionnaire, click the following link:https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12641958

Required Documents

To receive consideration, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified below by

1. Resume: Your resume serves as the basis for qualification determinations and must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience(s) as it relates to this job opportunity. In order to fully evaluate your application and receive proper credit, your resume should include: (1) paid and non-paid experience, job title, dates held (month and year for qualifying purposes to receive credit), number of hours worked per week, and salary (2) knowledge of the subject matter and technical skills pertinent to this position; (3) specific duties performed that fully detail the level and complexity of the work; and (4) names and phone numbers of your current and/or previous supervisor(s). Your resume should contain sufficient information to make a valid determination that you fully meet the basic/specialized experience requirements as stated in this job opportunity announcement for each grade level(s) for which you are applying.

2. Occupational questionnaire: A completed job-specific occupational questionnaire should be submitted through your Application Manager account.

3. Proof of Bar Membership: Documentation must show that you are a member of the Bar of a state, territory or commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia. If you are made an offer, you must submit a Certificate of Good Standing dated within 30 days of the offer.

4. Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP)/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) Eligibles.

You must submit the following documents:

  • a copy of your agency notice;
  • a copy of your most recent performance rating; and
  • a copy of your most recent SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, noting your current position, grade level, and duty location

5. Cover Letter. This is optional.

6. SF-50. current and former federal employees must submit a copy of an SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action," which documents your highest permanent grade/step/salary held. Award SF-50s typically don't contain your grade/step/salary.

7. Performance Appraisal. if you're a current or former federal employee, you must submit a copy of your most recent performance appraisal dated within 18 months. If you do not have one, you must submit a statement.

8. Veterans' Preference. There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney positions, which are in the excepted service; however, the Commission considers veterans' preference eligibility a positive factor in the hiring of all positions. Applicants eligible for veterans' preference must include such information in their cover letter, or resume, and submit supporting documents (e.g. DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active duty) as part of their application package. Although the point preference system is not used as in the competitive service, applicants eligible to claim a 10-point preference must submit a Standard Form 15 (SF-15), and documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed, as listed on the SF-15. Specific information is available on the Office of Personnel Management website at: http://www.opm.gov.

9. Transcripts. (for Individual Occupational Requirements and/or Substitution of Education for specialized experience): You MUST submit copies of your college transcripts for verification of the education requirements. Unofficial copies are acceptable, however, if selected you will be required to furnish official transcripts. It is your responsibility to provide adequate proof that you meet the above educational requirements. Inadequate or illegible information could result in non-qualification and loss of consideration.

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 an perform this evaluation is available at the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). 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.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

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.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below.

The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 12/23/2024 to receive consideration.

1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.

2. Click the Submit My Answers button to submit your application package. It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation are submitted prior to the closing date.

3. To verify that your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the More Information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.

4. To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.

The Vacancy ID is 12641958

Agency contact information

Steve Parker
Address
Office of Administrative Law Judges
500 E St SW
Washington, DC 20436
US
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

You will receive an auto-generated e-mail from USAJOBS informing you of the receipt of your application. After the closing date of the announcement, your application package will be reviewed by the Human Resources Office for completeness and satisfaction of the basic qualification requirements for this position. Applicants who have complete applications and meet the basic qualification requirement are referred to the hiring official in accordance with the process outlined in the How You Will Be Evaluated section of this announcement.

You will be notified on the status of your application on the following activities:

  1. Receipt of your application;
  2. Minimum qualification determination;
  3. Whether or not your application was in the group for referral to the hiring official; and,
  4. The final outcome of the vacancy.
These notices will be posted directly on your USAJOBS account.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.


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