Attorney Advisor (General)

• Interpreting and applying complex, overlapping, or conflicting federal statutes, regulations, executive orders, and case law to advise senior officials on legally consequential matters involving unsettled legal questions.
• Conducting comprehensive legal research and drafting authoritative legal memoranda that synthesize extensive factual records and multiple legal authorities into legally defensible conclusions.
• Evaluating proposed regulations, policy directives, internal guidance, or agency actions for legal sufficiency, identifying deficiencies, and formulating final written recommendations that shape agency policy, regulatory posture, or litigation risk.
• Knowledge of administrative and Federal litigation particularly related to the Marketing and Regulatory and Food Safety mission areas of the USDA.

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. Examples of such experience include: Providing legal advice, research, analysis and interpretation of federal, state, and local laws under supervisory direction; Assisting in writing opinions, memoranda, pleadings, briefs, and legal support of agency/organization programs and litigation; Performing other legal services as assigned; Preparing various kinds of legal documents, both for specific case use and for general use under guidance; Ability to conduct legal research to handle cases involving the Department's programs; Ability to apply legal analysis and make sound legal judgment to find appropriate precedent or distinguish applicable law or facts to support or justify legal positions with advice from senior attorneys.

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.