PARALEGAL SPECIALIST

About the Position: This announcement is for current, permanent Army employees that would like to be considered for a time-limited promotion, reassignment, or change to lower grade. External status candidates should apply to Announcement #CERA245624789075. See additional information section below for further details.

Duties

• Provides paralegal, administrative, and logistical support for cases in litigation and federal courts and administrative proceedings, involving contract claims and appeals, and personnel issues.

• Prepares litigation reports, pleadings, affidavits, exhibit lists, and other documents necessary to litigate before administrative bodies and federal courts.

• Performs extensive independent research on a multitude of complex legal issues relating to execution of the Corps' missions and present or anticipated litigation in various forms.

• Uses computerized legal research, ediscovery tools, other online resources, and /or legal periodicals/reference materials.

• Organizes, analyzes, and summarizes depositions and litigation documents obtained during discovery

• Participates in general legal office management, including assistance with preparation of reports, budget development, data and information management, and office administration.

• Assists with the District FOIA's and Privacy Act programs, including assisting with tracking requests, utilizing databases, communicating with requestors and responding to requests, asserting exemptions, and preparing annual reports.

Salary

• $55,924 - $107,590/year

Conditions of Employment

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• This position requires the incumbent to be able to obtain and maintain a determination of eligibility for a Secret security clearance for the duration of employment.
• This position may require occasional TDY travel up to 10% of the time.

Qualifications Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. See Proof of Eligibility for an extensive list of document requirements for all employment authorities.

• Current Department of Army Civilian Employees Applying on Time-Limited Assignments

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

Qualifications for the GS-07: Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes knowledge relevant to or demonstrated ability to assist with office administration, to include assisting with budget development, tracking metrics, and developing reports and presentations; knowledge relevant to or demonstrated ability to communicate with managers and supervisors in order to prepare recommendations to meet office requirements; knowledge relevant to or demonstrated ability to draft and prepare correspondence on complex matters; knowledge relevant to or demonstrated ability to assist attorneys and paraprofessionals with preparation of basic motions, interrogatories, briefs, or litigation reports; knowledge relevant to or demonstrated ability to organize facts to assist in case preparation; knowledge relevant to or demonstrated ability to assist with basic legal research; knowledge relevant to or demonstrated ability to manage case files; knowledge relevant to or demonstrated ability to identify relevant regulations and/or guidance; knowledge relevant to or demonstrated ability to extract pertinent information from legal documents for ongoing matters; and knowledge relevant to or demonstrated ability to assist in the preparation of discovery responses; knowledge relevant to or demonstrated ability to requesting electronic discovery. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-05).
OR
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. (Note: You must attach a copy of your transcripts).
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:(l) 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.

Qualifications for the GS-09: Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes assisting attorneys and paralegals with preparation of motions, interrogatories, briefs, or litigation reports; organizing facts to assist in case preparation; independently conducting legal research and analysis of single issue or fundamental substantive issues; managing case files; identifying relevant regulations and/or guidance; extracting pertinent information from legal documents for ongoing matters; assisting in the preparation of administrative records and discovery responses; assisting with office administration, to include assisting with budget development, tracking metrics, and developing reports; and communicating with managers and supervisors in order to prepare recommendations or draft legal opinions and positions, extracting and requesting electronic discovery using various computer programs.

This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-07).

OR

Education: Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LLB. or J.D., if unrelated in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: Paralegal, Legal studies or Business Administration.
OR

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) beyond the first year (total graduate semester hours minus 18) by 18. Add the two percentages.

You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas:

• Interpersonal Skills
• Legal, Government and Jurisprudence
• Problem Solving
• Teamwork

Education Continuation: Qualifications for the GS-11: Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes Prepare motions, interrogatories, briefs, or litigation reports; organizing facts and ideas to assist in case preparation; independently conducting legal research and analysis in multi-issue or complex substantive issues; Managing and updating case files; identifying relevant regulations and/or guidance; extracting pertinent information from legal documents for ongoing matters; preparing draft legal documents such as affidavits and discovery responses with minimal supervision; and communicating with managers and supervisors in order to prepare recommendations or draft legal opinions and positions; selecting and assembling substantive information by use of statutes, regulations, department orders, digests, commentaries, legal instruments, and other legal reference material; Identifying issues from case law and preparing synopses for attorney use; and researching relevant legislation, regulations and precedents. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS- 09). OR Education: PhD or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. OR 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) beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages. Time in Grade Requirement: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-05, GS-07 and GS-09 respectively). PLEASE NOTE: This position may be filled at either the GS-07, GS-09 or GS-11 level. FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Other Information

• Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
• You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
• One year trial/probationary period may be required.
• Direct deposit of pay is required.
• This position requires you to submit a Public Financial Disclosure Report (OGE 278) or a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE450) upon entry, and annually thereafter.
• Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.
• If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet.
• This is a(n) 56 Career Field position.
• Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
• Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement.
• Payment of Permanent Change of Station (PCS) costs is not authorized, based on a determination that a PCS move is not in the Government interest.

Position may be filled as a time-limited promotion, reassignment or change to lower grade not to exceed (NTE) 2 years by a current permanent Army employee. Time-limited promotions may be extended up to a maximum of five years. Time-limited reassignments and changes to lower grade may exceed five years, however return rights may be impacted. Position may be made permanent without further competition.

If applicable, returns rights may be negotiated upon selection. If return rights are approved, a return rights agreement/statement of understanding will be required to be completed prior to appointment. If you are an external status candidate (e.g. an applicant other than a current, permanent Army employee) that is eligible and would like to be considered for a term appointment not to exceed (NTE) 2 years will need to apply to Announcement # CERA245624789075.

Required Documents

The documents you are required to submit vary based on the authority you are using to apply (i.e., applying as a veteran, applying as a current permanent Federal employee, applying as a reinstatement, etc). Please review the following links to see which documents you need to provide to prove your eligibility to apply: Applicant Checklist for Internal/Merit Promotion Announcements.

As described above, your complete application includes your resume, your responses to the online questionnaire, and documents which prove your eligibility to apply. If you fail to provide these documents, you will be marked as having an incomplete application package and you will not be considered any further.

1. Your resume:

• Your resume may be submitted in any format and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement.
• If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you may not be considered for this vacancy.
• For qualifications determinations your resume must contain hours worked per week and the dates of employment (i.e., HRS per week and month/year to month/year or month/year to present). If your resume does not contain this information, your application will be marked as incomplete and you will not receive consideration for this position.
• For additional information see: What to include in your resume.

2. Other supporting documents:

• Cover Letter, optional
• Most recent Performance Appraisal, if applicable
• Proof of Eligibility to Apply: Your application must include the documents which prove you are eligible to apply for the vacancy. The Proof of Eligibility document describes authorities commonly used in merit promotion recruitment and what document(s) are required to prove you meet the requirements of the authority. You must meet the requirements of at least one of the authorities listed in the Who May Apply section above to receive further consideration.
• Time-in-grade documentation: If you are applying for a higher grade and your SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you meet the one year time-in-grade requirement so you will need to provide an SF-50 which clearly demonstrates you meet the time-in-grade requirements (examples of appropriate SF-50s include Promotions, Within-grade Grade/Range Increases, and SF-50s with an effective date more than one year old).
• This position has an individual occupational requirement and/or allows for substitution of education for experience. If you meet this requirement based on education you MUST submit a copy of your transcript with your application package or you will be rated ineligible. See: Transcripts and Licenses

NOTE: Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove another person's personal information before you submit your application. You may be asked to provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected to confirm your eligibility.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the online questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below.

The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 01/03/2025 to receive consideration.

• To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application (https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12640944).
• Follow the prompts to select your resume and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.

• After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the Include Personal Information section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process.
• You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
• It is your responsibility to verify that your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) is complete, accurate, and submitted by the closing date. Uploaded documents may take up to one hour to clear the virus scan.
• Additional information on how to complete the online application process and submit your online application may be found on the USA Staffing Applicant Resource Center.

To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login), all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/.

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.

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