Summary For more information on the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx. For more information on the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Office, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/. As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement. This position is located in the Houston office. Responsibilities If selected for this position, you will serve as a Legal Administrative Specialist (Litigation Support) for the United States Attorney's Office (USAO) for the Southern District of Texas providing administrative support to Assistant U.S. Attorneys representing the United States in State and Federal courts throughout the Southern District of Texas. You will be responsible for providing analysis and advice regarding optimal utilization of technological tools in support of litigation. Typical work assignments will include: Consulting with case team members (e.g. attorneys, investigators, legal support staff) to understand case needs and technical requirements as it relates to discovery processing and review; Building and maintaining document review databases for case team use by loading image, native, and text files into databases and performing quality control on loaded files; Generating complex electronic discovery productions (e.g., Bates-numbered images with redactions and searchable text or industry standard load files) that comply with production specifications and deadlines, including productions from document review databases or productions from specified criteria; Advising and supporting case teams by acting as a subject matter expert in identifying and implementing appropriate technical solutions to manage commonly found and complex or non-standard electronically stored information in civil and/or criminal cases; Developing and providing training on litigation technology applications and e-Litigation protocols, including by preparing written training materials; Recommending a variety of software packages such as discovery processing platforms, discovery review software, and databases, trial presentation software, and spreadsheet and word processing applications; Providing technical advice to litigation teams on legal automation requirements and systems capabilities to facilitate litigation decisions, trial preparation and trial presentation; Evaluating the efficiency of litigation support technology to ensure that it is responsive to the attorney and case needs, and that it represents the best methodology available; Proposing recommendations that are based on which technology would be most effective for the organization, review, and presentation of complex and voluminous evidence or production of graphic demonstrative evidence as well as meeting individual user needs. Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications GS-11: To be eligible at the GS-11 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions, as defined below: Specialized Experience, Education, OR a combination of Education and Specialized Experience. Specialized Experience: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 level. Specialized experience is defined as experience: providing technical advice to litigation teams on legal automation requirements and systems capabilities to facilitate litigation decisions, trial preparation and trial presentation. In addition, serving as the subject matter expert in discovery processing platforms, discovery review software, and databases, trial presentation software, and spreadsheet and word processing applications to provide support to prepare, organize, index, develop, and manage exhibits, evidence, or other data relevant to cases presented before jurors at trial, grand jury or in other legal proceedings. Education: Possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in a related field (e.g., Criminal Justice, Law); or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree. Education must be related and demonstrate the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position. Combining Education and Experience: Combination of specialized experience and graduate level education can be used if, when combined, equivalent to 100% of the qualification requirement. Only graduate level education in excess of the first two years can be used in this calculation. To calculate your percentage of graduate education, first determine the total number of graduate level hours that exceed 36 semester hours (or your school's definition of two years of graduate study), then divide the total number of your excess graduate semester hours by 18 (or your school's definition of one year of graduate study). To calculate your percentage of specialized experience, divide the 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%. (transcripts are required). GS-12: To be eligible at the GS-12 level, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level, as defined below. Specialized Experience involves performing the following @types of duties: working in a legal environment providing technical advice and guidance to litigation teams on legal automation requirements, systems capabilities, and complex litigation support issues; actively participating in the investigation and litigation of criminal and/or civil cases; processing complex and voluminous electronically stored information and preparing it for review or production by a litigation team; diagnosing litigation support computer system problems to meet individual user needs and evaluating new developments in legal technology, including software courtroom presentation equipment and trial exhibit preparation; performing a wide range of information system analysis, development, and installation in support of litigation support activities for cases; and providing advice, customer support services, and project management services in connection with electronic discovery and evidence, litigation support projects, and litigation technology software applications. Career Transition Assistance Program: The CTAP provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility, 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement, and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and receive a score of 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. Education All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, see http://www.ed.gov OR Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the above education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to timely provide such evidence by submitting proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency with your application materials. More information may be found at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html. All documentation must be in English or include an English translation. Additional Information Payment of relocation expenses will not be authorized. The Department of Justice offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, paid vacation; sick leave; holidays; life insurance; health benefits; and participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System. Selective Service: If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. See http://www.sss.gov/. Reasonable Accommodation Statement: Federal Agencies must provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities, where appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the hiring agency directly. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. EEO Statement: The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non-merit factor. Political Appointees (Current or Former): The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the HR Office. Failure to disclose this information could result in disciplinary action including removal from Federal Service.
