Paralegal Specialist

This vacancy includes a Selective Placement Factor. Please see Qualifications for more information.

As a Paralegal Specialist, you may perform duties such as:

• Assisting at all levels in the development of criminal litigation or appeals, beginning at the investigation level, to filing pleadings with the court.
• Assisting attorneys by preparing filings and exhibits for trials or appeals.
• Organizing case documents, conducting first-level document review, and coordinating document productions.
• Proofreading and cite-checking legal briefs, memoranda, and other documents, and ensuring accordance with Bluebook and/or other citation and style requirements for legal writing.
• Conducting various document searches using document management databases such as Relativity.
• Producing work products that are well written, clear, and free of errors.
• Preparing for interviews, depositions, hearings, and appeals.
• Conducting extensive and thorough research in a variety of legal and non-legal databases and providing information in response to a wide range of questions.
• Preparing and organizing evidence, discovery and trial exhibits, such as statistical charts, graphs, and maps, to be presented in court.

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to qualify for this position.
• You must complete the online questionnaire and additional assessment(s).
• You must undergo a pre-employment security investigation.
• Selective Service Registration is required, as applicable.
• You must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
• You must meet status eligibility for this announcement.
• Direct Deposit: All federal employees are required to have federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
• A one-year probationary period may be required.
• The Criminal Division participates in the Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification Program. E-Verify helps employers to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. For more information, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.

To qualify at the GS-09 level, applicants must demonstrate one of the qualifications as listed below:

• Have at least one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience at, or equivalent to, the GS-07 level. This experience must include duties such as: conducting legal research; writing legal reports, to include summarizing factual information, legal issues, and case law relevant to a given case; and assisting with the preparation of exhibits, such as statistical charts, graphs and maps to be presented in court; OR
• Two full years of graduate education or a master's degree, LL.B, J.D., or equivalent degree that demonstrates the competencies needed to do the work of the position may be substituted for the experience required; OR
• A combination of education and experience as listed above. Please note, only education in excess of one year of graduate education may be used in this calculation.

• Have at least one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience at, or equivalent to, the GS-09 grade level. This experience must include duties such as: independently conducting legal research for litigation or appeals; reviewing evidence such as subpoenas and witness binders for use during litigation or appeals; writing legal reports, to include summarizing factual information, legal issues and case law relevant to a given case; and preparing exhibits, such as statistical charts, graphs and maps, to be presented in court; OR
• Three years of progressively higher graduate education, leading to a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; OR
• A combination of education and experience.