Paralegal Specialist (Recent Graduate)

Clarification from the agency

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.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a US Citizen or National.
• 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.

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.

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.

Next steps