Summary For more information on the Department of Justice and the United States Attorneys' Offices, visit here. This is an excepted service appointment under the Pathways Recent Graduates Program. This appointment is a one year career development program. At the successful completion of the program requirements, you may be eligible for non-competitive conversion to a Federal career or career-conditional appointment. For more information on the Pathways Program, please visit here. Responsibilities This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until 9/30/2026. Eligible applications will be referred at 30 day intervals. If selected for this position, you will join a well-respected team that is responsible for providing legal and litigative support to the Administrative Division for the District of Maine. Typical work assignments will include: Review and organize complex factual material and other documentary data for investigations and trials. Prepare a variety of substantive legal documents to include extradition requests, grand jury and trial subpoenas, interrogatory requests, and documentation relevant to acquiring evidence or testimony. Provide advice on the most efficient method for preparing legal documents. Use tables and citation checking with efficiency. Develop and enter various case material into a computer database. Prepare charts, graphs, and tables to illustrate results. Prepare, develop, compile, or maintain jury instructions in preparing for trial. Prepare exhibits for trial, which typically involve a wide range of visual materials. Provide litigation case management and organize cases for court presentation. Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress. Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications Note: To be considered "qualified" for this position, your specialized experience must be described in your resume. Please be sure that your resume clearly states any and all of the specialized experience that you may have. If your specialized experience is not clearly stated in your resume, you will not be considered for this position. To be eligible for a recent graduate appointment, ALL of the following requirements must be met: Recent Graduates must have obtained a qualifying associates, bachelors, master's, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying accredited educational institution within the previous 2 years unless military service interfered with a veteran's eligibility to apply during that two year time frame. Veterans meeting the above exclusion may apply within 2 years of discharge or 6 years from the date of receipt of the degree whichever comes first. (Go to http://www.ed.gov/accreditation?src=rn to verify accreditation status). Recent graduates must be United States citizens or owe permanent allegiance to the United States. (Currently, natives of American Samoa, Swains Island and certain inhabitants of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are the only groups that owe permanent allegiance to the United States.) You must successfully complete a background investigation to determine your suitability for Federal employment. All recent graduates are required to sign a Pathways Recent Graduate Participant Agreement. Recent Graduates serve a trial period for the entire duration of their excepted service appointment. Qualification requirements as outlined below To be eligible at the GS-7 level (RG), you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions, as defined below: Specialized Experience, Education, a Combination of Education and Experience, OR Superior Academic Achievement. GS-07 Specialized Experience: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level. Specialized experience is defined as experience performing routine litigation support assignments such as assisting with organizing case information, including creating production logs and organizing responses; preparing discovery, including scanning, coding documents and creating CDs; providing support for court proceedings including preparing exhibits, compiling trial notebooks, and compiling witness and exhibit lists; verifying citations; and preparing a variety of legal documents; assisting in the use of technology to organize digital evidence; and editing a variety of legal documents, such as information requests, subpoenas, correspondence and memos. OR Education: One (1) full year of progressively higher-level graduate education leading such to a degree in a related field (e.g., Legal Studies, Law, Criminal Justice). 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 Combination of Education and Experience: Combinations of successfully completed education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements, OR Superior Academic Achievement: Possess a Bachelor's Degree AND possess at least one of the following criteria: class standing in the upper third of the graduating class; an overall GPA of 3.0 OR at least a 3.0 based on courses completed during the final two years of my curriculum; a GPA of at least 3.5 based on the average of required courses completed in my major field OR based on the average of required courses completed during the final two years of my curriculum; OR election to membership in a national scholastic honor society. Education All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at an institution that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, see http://www.ed.gov Foreign Education Note: You may use foreign education to meet qualification requirements if you send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency in with your transcript. 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; telework; life insurance; health benefits; and participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System. Veterans' Preference: If you are entitled to Veterans' Preference, you must indicate the @type of preference you are claiming by checking the appropriate box in the assessment questionnaire to indicate your preference and submit the documentation as specified in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement. 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/Policy: 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. More information can be found here: https://www.justice.gov/jmd/media/1425556/dl?inline. 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.
