Attorney-Advisor (Clerk of Court)

Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to all U.S. citizens. This is an excepted service position. All applicants who meet the qualification requirements will be forwarded to the selecting official for further consideration. Category Rating, Schedule A and traditional rating and ranking of applicants does not apply to this vacancy.

APPLICATION LIMIT: This vacancy announcement is limited to the first 200 applications received and will close at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the day that we receive the 200th application, or at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the listed closing date, whichever occurs first. We encourage you to read this entire vacancy announcement prior to submitting your application.

This is an Excepted Service position. The job will be filled by alternative hiring process and is not in the competitive civil service. Applicants selected for an excepted service position are subject to a one-year trial period. Join our Team! The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is looking for the best and brightest to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation.

As a Attorney-Advisor (Clerk of Court), GS-0905-15, you will be responsible for:

• Performing a variety of complex management tasks to assist in the running of an efficient and effective judicial office, improving office systems and processes, taking a leadership role in budget and acquisition matters, and primarily responsible for communicating to attorneys, other courts, and the public.
• Serving as a Principal Legal Advisor to the OHA Director, ALJs, and other OHA hearing officers on matters of administrative law, policy and procedure, judicial administration, and judicial ethics.
• Hearing officer for cases not requiring an ALJ or administrative judge, including acting as the Waiver Official in employee wage offset cases and as a Department-wide Debarment Official as delegated by the OHA Director.
• Serving as a first line supervisor for attorney-advisors and legal administrator. Advises, mentors, and instructs law school interns.

Conditions of employment

Condition of Employment:

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a probationary period or trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: - your performance and conduct;
- the needs and interests of the agency;
- whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
- whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period OR trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement.

If you are a current federal employee, you must meet all time-in-grade and time-after competitive appointment qualifications within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement. To verify that you meet these requirements, we will review your responses to the core eligibility questions on the occupational questionnaire, as well as your submitted resume and required documents. To make an accurate determination, you will need to include on your resume your federal position title, pay plan, occupational series, grade level, agency, dates for which you held the grade level (stated as MM/YYYY to MM/YYYY, OR MM/YYYY to PRESENT), and total hours worked per week. 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).

Key Requirements:
Relocation will not be paid.
Males 18 and over must be registered with the Selective Service.
Must be a US Citizen.
This position requires drug testing.

Qualifications

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. We will consider all qualifying experience, including any volunteer experience.

Education
Graduation from an accredited university with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) or Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.).

Qualifying Experience:

• Proof of admission to the Bar of the highest court of a state, territory, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and current membership in such Bar as would permit the practice of law. You must be a member in good standing of a state, territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico bar,

• Have five years professional legal experience, at least one of the five years MUST be at the level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to that of an attorney at the grade of GS-14, OR
• Have four years professional legal experience, at least one of the four years MUST be at the level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to that of an attorney at the grade of GS-14, PLUS a second professional law degree (LL.M.) which requires one full year of graduate study, OR
• Have four years professional legal experience, at least one of the four years MUST be at the level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to that of an attorney at the grade of GS-14, PLUS an academic record that shows superior law schoolwork or activities as demonstrated by one of the following:
  • Academic standing in the upper third of your law school graduating class;
  • Work or achievement of significance on your law school's official law review;
  • Special high-level honors for academic excellence in law school, such as election to the Order of the Coif;
  • Winning of a moot court competition or membership on the moot court team that represents the law school in competition with other law schools;
  • Full-time or continuous participation, for one year or two semesters of law school, in a legal aid program (as opposed to one-time, intermittent, or casual participation);
  • Significant summer law office clerk experience after beginning law school; OR
  • Other equivalent evidence of clearly superior achievement.

• Have at least one year of specialized professional legal experience at the level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to that of an attorney at the grade of GS-14 performing two (2) out of three (3) of the following duties or work assignments:
• • Experience researching complex legal issues where there is often no clear applicable precedent and presenting legal advice, legal options, and their ramifications to judges, senior attorneys, or other senior executives.
  • Experience supervising (formally or informally) or mentoring attorneys, legal interns, paralegals, or legal administrators.
  • Experience managing an active docket of judicial or administrative law cases, either as a court staff attorney or advocate appearing before trial, appellate, or administrative courts.

• Skill in communicating with the public, and budget and acquisition processes, assess case management and court automation (including AI) systems.
• Skill in drafting a legal opinion where factual situations are often complicated and clear precedents are not readily available or apparent.
• Ability to critically think and apply applicable agency policies, regulations, and statutes to arrive at a final decision on an issue.
• Skill in leadership of program management and administration.

How you will be evaluated

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

• A Resume (Not to exceed 2 pages): You are required to submit a resume demonstrating your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiating your responses to the occupational questionnaire. For current or previous federal employees, include the pay plan, series and grade. Please limit your resume to a font size no smaller than 10 points. If your resume is more than 2 pages, only the first 2 pages will be reviewed and considered for the qualifications determination.
• Bar Certificate of Good Standing: You are required to submit a certificate of good standing issued within 90 days of submission by the highest court of at least one state, territory, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico indicating current membership in such Bar as would permit the current practice of law.
• Cover Letter (Not to exceed 1 page): You are required to submit a cover letter that addresses your skills and goals that are relevant to this application.
• Writing Sample (Not to exceed 15 pages): You are required to submit a brief or comparable analytic legal exposition that is your work product.
• Transcripts: You are not required to submit transcripts to apply to the vacancy announcement, unless you are relying on your academic record to show superior law schoolwork or activities to meet the minimum qualification requirements. Otherwise, any applicant may be required to submit transcripts at later stages in the selection process.
• List of references: You are not required to submit a list of references to apply to the vacancy announcement. You may be required to submit them at later stages in the selection process.
• If you are claiming Veterans' Preference you must submit:
  • A copy of your DD-214 that shows active service and character of discharge, member copy 4 (Separated Members only); OR
  • A certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions within 120 days from the date of application (Current Active Duty Members only); AND/OR
  • The Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (SF-15) AND all documents indicated on the form as proof of type of preference; AND/OR
  • Proof of Sole Survivorship Preference (e.g., certificate of death or 100% disability as a result of serving in the armed forces).

Veterans' Preference: Department of the Education attorney positions are in the excepted service, not the competitive civil service. There is no formal system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of the Education considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor consideration in the attorney hiring process. If you are eligible for veterans' preference in hiring, you are encouraged to include that information in your application along with the supporting documentation, e.g., SF-15, DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, or other supporting documentation.

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