Trial Attorney

Ideal candidate will have employment law experience.

Duties

What will I do in this position if hired? In this Trial Attorney position, you review and make recommendations on legislation, regulations, or changes in existing policies.Typical assignments include:

• Supporting the Department of Justice in developing and presenting litigation in the federal courts, or state and municipal courts.
• Independently litigating cases before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Merit Systems Protection Board, or other administrative forums and in labor arbitrations and/or alternative dispute resolution proceedings.
• Preparing documentary evidence and witness testimony in support of dispositive motions or trial; preparing declarations and affidavits and directing investigations for the purpose of developing additional evidence in pending litigation.
• Providing trainings on various employment matters.
• Reviewing and making recommendations on proposed employment actions.

What else do I need to know?

At FEMA, our mission is to help people before, during and after disasters, and every employee at FEMA has a role in emergency management. Every FEMA employee has regular and recurring emergency management responsibilities, though not every position requires routine deployment to disaster sites. All positions are subject to recall around the clock for emergency management operations, which may require irregular work hours, work at locations other than the official duty station, and may include duties other than those specified in the employee's official position description. Travel requirements in support of emergency operations may be extensive in nature (weeks to months), with little advance notice, and may require employees to relocate to emergency sites with physically austere and operationally challenging conditions.

This announcement is for a position as a CORE (Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employee). CORE employees are full-time employees hired to directly support the response and recovery efforts related to disasters. Employees are hired under the Robert T. Stafford Act and are excluded from the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing jobs in the competitive service. They can be hired under a streamlined process instead of a competitive process. After three years of continuous service, Stafford Act employees may be granted competitive eligibility to apply for permanent full-time positions at FEMA.This position will be hired into a temporary 2-year, excepted service appointment. Appointments may be renewed based on workload, funding, and supervisory approval.This position has promotion potential to the IC-14 grade level. Promotions are dependent on your ability to perform the duties at a higher level, successful performance review displaying at least one year of experience at the lower grade, the continuing need for an employee assigned to the higher level, and management approval.

FEMA is committed to ensuring that its workforce reflects the diversity of the nation. At FEMA, our workforce includes the many identities, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, ages, cultures, and beliefs of the people we serve. To learn about FEMA's ongoing diversity and inclusion efforts, reasonable accommodation process, and the FEMA Core Values, please visit www.fema.gov.

Salary

• $117,962 - $181,216/year

Conditions of Employment

To ensure the accomplishment of our mission, DHS requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo, successfully pass, and maintain a background investigation for Public Trust/ High Risk as a condition of placement into this position. This may include a credit check after initial job qualifications are determined, a review of financial issues, such as delinquency in the payment of debts, child support and/or tax obligations, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs (please visit: Mythbuster on Federal Hiring Policies for additional information). For more information on background investigations for Federal jobs, please visit OPM Investigations.

Conditions of Employment:

• You must be a U.S. citizen to be considered for this position.
• You must successfully pass a background investigation.
• You must be able to obtain and maintain a Government travel card.
• Selective service registration is required for males born after 12/31/59.
• Travel may be required.

Qualifications

All qualifications and eligibility requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.

To qualify for this Trial Attorney position at the IC-13 level, you must possess at least two (2) years of full-time experience in civil litigation gained after being admitted to the bar, one of which entailed specialized experience to at least the IC-12 level in the Federal government, which has equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. Experience may be obtained in the federal government, a state or local government, or private sector, and must demonstrate the following:

• Preparing and responding to discovery requests.
• Representing individuals/entities before adjudicative bodies.
• Providing advice on employment law to include Title VII, the Rehabilitation Act, and proposed disciplinary/poor performance actions.

To qualify for this Trial Attorney position at the IC-14 level, you must possess at least three (3) years of full-time experience in civil litigation gained after being admitted to the bar, one of which entailed specialized experience to at least the IC-13 level in the Federal government, which has equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. Experience may be obtained in the federal government, a state or local government, or private sector, and must demonstrate the following:

• Preparing and responding to discovery requests.
• Representing individuals/entities before adjudicative bodies.
• Providing advice on employment law to include Title VII, the Rehabilitation Act, and proposed disciplinary/poor performance actions.

Selective Placement Factor: In addition to the minimum qualifications described above, you must meet the following requirement(s) to be considered qualified for the position: A J.D. or LL.B. degree from an ABA accredited law school; AND An active membership, in good standing, of the bar of a state, territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Please read the following important information to ensure we have everything we need to consider your application:

• Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.
• Please limit your resume to five pages. If more than five pages are submitted, only the first five pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility and qualifications.
• Your resume serves as the basis for experience related qualification determinations, and you must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable), as it relates to this job opportunity. Please use your own words, be clear, and specific when describing your work history. We cannot make assumptions regarding your experience.

Are you qualifying based on your work experience?

• Qualifications are based on your ability to demonstrate in your resume that you possess one year of the specialized experience for this announcement at a comparable scope and responsibility. To ensure all of the essential information is in your resume, we encourage you to use the USAJOBS online Resume Builder. If you choose to use your own resume, it must contain the following information organized by experience/position: (1) job title, (2) name of employer, (3) start and end dates of each period of employment (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY), (4) detailed description of duties performed, accomplishments, and related skills, and (5) hours worked per week (part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience). Federal experience/positions must also include the occupational series, grade level, and dates in which you held each grade level.
• Are you a current or former FEMA Reservist/Disaster Assistance Employee (DAE)? To accurately credit your experience from intermittent positions and Reservist Deployments, you must list the dates (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY) of deployments that are relevant to your qualifying experience, along with the job title and specific duties you were responsible for during each deployment.
• Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information. Failure to provide the above information in your resume may result in your application being found "not qualified."
• 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 provides valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
• For additional information on crediting experience and/or education, please reference the OPM General Schedule Qualification Standards

Education Positive Education Requirement: This position has a positive education requirement, as outlined in the "requirements" section. You must submit a copy of your transcripts (unofficial are acceptable) with your online application. Once selected and prior to appointment, applicants must provide official college transcripts. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet Federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States. For example, specific courses accepted for college-level credit by an accredited U.S. college or university, or foreign education evaluated by an organization recognized for accreditation by the Department of Education as education equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. college or university. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence with your application. Visit the Department of Education's Recognition of Foreign Qualifications for more information. Other Information

• STAFFORD ACT EXCEPTED SERVICE APPOINTMENTS: Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employee (CORE) is an appointment type granted under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Section 306 (b), which authorizes FEMA to appoint such temporary employees as necessary to accomplish work authorized under the Act. Appointments under this authority within FEMA are made to the excepted service and are nonpermanent in nature.
• If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application, prior to entry on duty. False statements on any part of the application may result in withdrawal of offer of employment, dismissal after beginning work, fine, or imprisonment.
• The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits the Department of Homeland Security and its Components from requesting an applicant's criminal history record before that individual receives a conditional offer of employment. In accordance with 5 U.S. Code § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201 certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Chance to Compete Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, may submit a written complaint to FEMA-Misconduct@fema.dhs.gov.
• DHS uses E-verify, an internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities.
• The salary range indicated in this announcement reflects the minimum locality pay up to maximum locality pay for all duty locations listed. The range will be adjusted for selected duty location. General Schedule locality pay tables may be found under Salaries & Wages. Please note: first time hires to the Federal Government are typically hired at the Step 01.
• Deployment travel may be required, based upon agency needs. Deployment expectations can vary and will be discussed with candidates during the selection process.
• During the application process you will have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

Required Documents

Do not include any photos, personally identifying information (PII) (including birthday and social security numbers), or personal information such as age, gender, religious affiliation, medical history, etc.

1. Your resume. Please limit your resume to five pages. If more than five pages are submitted, only the first five pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility and qualifications. For resume writing guidance, please review the requirements section of this announcement or visit the USAJobs Resource Center.
2. Your responses to the job questionnaire. You will be directed to the online job questionnaire once you begin the application process for this position.
3. Are you a current or former federal employee? This position does not have any competitive eligibility requirements. However, you will need to submit a Standard Form (SF)-50, Notification of Personnel Action, which demonstrates your current/highest grade level. Examples of appropriate SF-50s include promotions, within-grade increases and accessions. Award SF-50's will not be accepted.
4. Are you qualifying based on education? Submit a copy of your college transcripts (unofficial are acceptable) from accredited institutions. Once selected and prior to appointment, applicants must provide official college transcripts.

It is your responsibility to verify that any information entered or uploaded is received and is accurate. Determining your eligibility and qualifications is dependent on the supporting documentation and information provided, which may impact your referral for further consideration. If a document is not legible, Human Resources will not be able to view it in your application. All application materials, including transcripts, must be in English.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the online application and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section above by 11:59pm (EST) on 12/18/2024.

Please note that this announcement may close sooner than the published close date if the application limit is reached.

• To begin, click the "Apply Online" button on the job announcement posting.
• Follow the directions to register or login if you have an existing account.
• Submit all required documents and complete the assessment questionnaire.
• Upon completion of your application, you will receive an acknowledgement email.

Note: One or more positions may be filled using this vacancy announcement. Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for DHS to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions.

If you have questions about this announcement or the application process, please contact the Human Resources Specialist listed in the Agency Contact Information prior to the close of the announcement.

An employee, job applicant, or an individual acting on behalf of the employee, may request a Reasonable Accommodation by emailing fema-ocr-ra@fema.dhs.gov with "time sensitive" in the subject line.

To review the common definitions of terms found in this announcement, please visit the DHS Common Definitions page.

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. Learn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits