Paralegal Specialist

If selected for this position as a Paralegal Specialist in the Financial Litigation Program, you will join a well-respected team that is responsible for collecting restitution for victims of crime and returning funds to victimized federal programs. As part of the Financial Litigation Program enforcement team, you will work closely with AUSAs, law enforcement, and others as it pertains to the financial litigation program team. Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

Your duties will include (but are not limited to):

• Enforcing criminal judgment and commitment orders.
• Drafting a variety of substantive legal documents.
• Conducting interviews of debtors, employers, and agency officials.
• Preparing and maintaining a variety of case and trial-related documents.
• Processing debt collection claims referred from client agencies.
• Serving as the contact person for Financial Litigation cases.
• Monitoring the progress of pending cases.
• Independently plan and conduct asset investigations and prepare comprehensive reports on results of investigations.

• You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory pre-employment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. Continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation.
• You must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable.
• If selected, you may be required to complete a one year probationary period.
• Time-in-Grade: Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements within 30 days after the closing date of this announcement.
• You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements within 30 days after the closing date of this announcement and before placement in the position.

GS-09: To be qualified at the GS-9 level, you must have at least ONE year of full-time specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as performing paralegal or legal work which demonstrates a basic knowledge of legal research and ability to interpret legal decisions. Examples of qualifying experience include performing the following types of duties:

• examining and processing a variety of legal documents;
• conducting research, analysis and evaluation of data in response to complex or sensitive requests;
• drafting legal documents and correspondence;
• using a variety of electronic or manual filing systems to acquire and store information
• documenting findings and preparing recommendations;
• searching and reviewing legal references, case files, and other sources for information and data required by attorneys or court personnel.

Education: Master's or equivalent graduate degree; OR two (2) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree; OR LL.B or J.D., in a related field of study to the position (e.g., Paralegal Studies, Political Science, Law, Criminal Justice, Forensic Studies). Education at the graduate level must be in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position.
OR
Combining Education and Experience: A Combination of specialized experience as described above, and graduate-level education as described above in which when combined equal 100% of the requirements. Only graduate education in excess of 1 full year is creditable. To calculate your percentage of education, first determine the total number of hours that exceed 36 semester hours or your school's definition of two full years of study. Then divide the total number of your excess semester hours by 18 or your school's definition of one year of study. To calculate your percentage of qualifying experience, divide your total number of months of qualifying experience by 12. Now, add the two percentages together. The sum of the percentages must equal at least 100%. For example, if you had if you had 9 months of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09, then you would have 75% of the required experience. If you also had 45 semester hours of creditable graduate level education, then 45-36=9 semester hours. 9 divided by 18 is 50% of the required education, and therefore, 75% + 50% = 125%. You would qualify for this position).