Attorney Advisor (General)

• Provide legal advice and conduct complex legal analysis concerning USDA programs and activities, interpreting and applying federal statutes, executive orders, and case law.
• Prepare legal opinions, recommendations, and guidance on complex legal issues, and communicate legal advice orally and in writing, clearly identifying legal risks and options.
• Review proposed regulations, policy directives, and agency actions for legal sufficiency.
• Conduct and/or support administrative and federal litigation, including the development of litigation strategies and preparation of pleadings, motions, briefs, litigation reports, and other legal documents.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a US Citizen or US National.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
• If selected, you may be required to serve a probationary or trial period as applicable to appointment type.
• Direct Deposit: Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify at https://www.e-verify.gov/.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. For consideration, all applicants must meet the minimum qualifications for attorney positions:

• Successful completion of a full course of study in a school of law accredited by the America Bar Association (ABA) and have the first professional law degree (LLB or JD) (Law School transcript required) and
• Currently be a member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants should have demonstrated specialized experience in legal research, excellent writing and communication skills, and a strong academic record. This experience should be clearly documented in the cover letter and resume.

GS-11: Meet minimum qualifications above and demonstrateFederal service or equivalent responsibility in the private sector or elsewhere that has equipped you with the particular competencies to successfully perform as an Attorney Advisor (General) possessing excellent written and communication skills, strong writing and research ability, a strong academic record, problem-solving ability and demonstrated ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously; Providing legal advice, research, analysis and interpretation of federal, state, and local laws; Assisting in writing opinions, memoranda, pleadings, briefs, and legal support of agency/organization programs and litigation; Federal litigation experience is preferred.

GS-12: Specialized experience, equivalent to the (GS-11) level in the Federal service or equivalent responsibility in the private sector/pay systems that has equipped you with the particular competencies to successfully perform as an Attorney Advisor (General). Examples of such experience include: Providing legal advice, research, analysis and interpretation of federal, state, and local laws; Writing opinions, memoranda, pleadings, briefs, and legal support of agency/organization programs and litigation; Performing other legal services as assigned; Rendering of legal advice, oral or written, to administrative officials in connection with the day-to-day operations of programs; preparing various kinds of legal documents, both for specific case use and for general use; Ability to conduct substantial research to handle cases involving the Department's programs; Ability to apply creative legal analysis and sound legal judgment to find appropriate precedent or distinguish applicable law or facts to support or justify legal positions.

GS-13: Specialized experience, equivalent to the (GS-12) level in the Federal service or equivalent responsibility in the private sector/pay systems that has equipped you with the particular competencies to successfully perform as an Attorney Advisor (General). Examples of such experience include: Providing professional legal services to major components of an agency or organization; Knowledge of the principles and techniques of legal analysis and practice in order to (1) prepare pleadings, motions, briefs, litigation reports, and related documents (2) determine nature of legal issues involved; and (3) effectively represent agencies or organizations; Thorough knowledge of activities and program initiatives of agencies or organizations to provide timely and relevant legal advice regarding program operations to management officials and to expertly represent clients in negotiations and legal proceedings.

GS-14: Specialized experience, equivalent to the (GS-13) level in the Federal service or equivalent responsibility in the private sector/pay systems that has equipped you with the particular competencies to successfully perform as an Attorney Advisor (General). Examples of such experience include: Ability to plan and assign priorities to tasks and assignments to further develop knowledge of complex assignments; Working independently to determine methodologies, milestones, goals, and termination points for most assignments; Completing assignments to management requirements with satisfaction of organizational objectives.

NOTE: This experience must be demonstrated on your resume/supporting documents. 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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.