Trial Attorney - USDA (Washington, D.C.; 2 vacancies)

Job Title:Trial Attorney

Department:Department Of Agriculture

Agency:Office of the General Counsel

Job Announcement Number:AG-OGC-2014-0006A

SALARY RANGE:	$62,467.00 to $81,204.00 / Per Year
OPEN PERIOD:	Tuesday, November 19, 2013 to Tuesday, December 10, 2013
SERIES & GRADE:	GS-0905-11
POSITION INFORMATION:	Full Time - Permanent
PROMOTION POTENTIAL: 14
DUTY LOCATIONS:	2 vacancies - Washington DC, DC View Map
WHO MAY APPLY:	US Citizens and Nationals; no prior Federal experience is required.

JOB SUMMARY:

USDA provides leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition, and related issues based on sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient management.  Our vision is to expand economic opportunity through innovation, helping rural America to thrive; to promote agriculture production sustainability that better nourishes Americans while also helping feed others throughout the world; and to preserve and conserve our Nation's natural resources through restored forests, improved watersheds, and healthy private working lands.

The Office of the General Counsel provides legal advice and services to all agencies of the United States Department of Agriculture in administering USDA programs and activities within the defined geographic area.

The position is located in the Office of General Counsel, Associate General Counsel, Regulatory, Marketing and Food Safety Programs Division.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

• Must be a U.S Citizen
• Must clear a background investigation.

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DUTIES:

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As a Trial Attorney (General), you will be responsible for the following:

• Serving as a Trial Attorney in administrative proceedings for matters arising under applicable statues and agency regulations issued pursuant to them, to include at minimum: reviewing investigative reports, preparing complaints and other pleadings in administrative proceedings; preparing exhibits and interviewing witnesses in the preparation for trial or hearing of such matters; participating in prehearing or pretrial conferences; examining and cross-examining witnesses; arguing motions in the course of such proceedings; preparing briefs in support of the Government’s case; preparing and participating in the oral arguments of such matters.
• Preparing legal memoranda; drafting or reviewing for legal sufficiency proposed legislation and agency documents having legal import, and conducting thorough and complete legal research on all assigned matters.
• Serving as an advisor and consultant to departmental and agency officials and attorneys in other divisions of the Office on assigned matters, attending and giving oral advice and maintaining routine contact with administrative officials of the different client agencies; coordinating with opposing counsel and respondents involved in administrative proceedings and DOJ attorneys representing the Department in civil and criminal cases.

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QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:

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For consideration, applicants must meet the minimum qualifications for attorney positions:

•  Successful completion 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.

Foreign Education: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that 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.

  

Bar Membership:

Applicant must 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.

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HOW TO APPLY:

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Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin.
The following instructions outline our application process.

• You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. 
• We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Monday - Friday). Applying online is highly encouraged. If applying online poses a hardship, please contact our office during business hours well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages with supporting documents must be submitted no later than noon on the closing date of the announcement in order to be entered into the system prior to its closing.
• This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us if you require this for any part of the application and hiring process.

Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at www.usajobs.gov. It is recommended that as part of your profile you set up automatic email notification to be informed when the status of your application changes. If you choose not to set up this automatic notification, then you will have to log into your USAJOBS account to check on the status of your application.

Step 2: Create a Resume with USAJOBS or upload a Resume into your USAJOBS account. You may want to customize your resume to ensure it documents duties and accomplishments you have gained that are directly related to this position in order to verify that qualifications are met. In addition, your resume must support your responses to the online questionnaire (you may preview the online questionnaire by clicking on the link at the end of the How You Will Be Evaluated section of the job announcement).

Step 3: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the Occupational Questionnaire and attach any additional documents that may be required.

You can update your application or documents anytime while the announcement is open. Simply log into your USAJOBS account and click on "Application Status." Click on the position title, and then select "Update Application” to continue.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS:

You must submit a complete Application Package, prior to 11:59, ET, on the closing date of this announcement.  The following documents must be submitted for your application package to be considered complete. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents are received within the required timeframes. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, illegible fax transmissions, delays in the mail service, system failure or downtime, etc. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.

• Resume that includes the following information: 1) job information for which you are applying; 2) personal information; 3) education; 4) work experience including the work schedule and hours worked per week as well as dates of employment; and title, series and grade if applicable; 5) supervisors phone number and e-mail address for each work period listed and whether or not we may contact them for reference checks; and, 6) other qualifications.
• College Transcripts if education is required for meeting basic qualifications and/or you are substituting education for specialized experience and/or if you are using education to meet the criteria for the quality category. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application; however, if selected, an official college transcript will be required prior to entering on duty.
• DD-214 (Member 4 Copy) if claiming Veterans’ Preference. Veterans claiming 10 point preference must also submit an SF-15 Application for 10-point Veteran Preference. Current Active Duty members must submit a certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions dated within the last 120 days.
• Other required documents may include:
• Bar Membership certification/license
• Legal writing sample no longer than 10 pages that was written by you.

NOTE: If a document is resubmitted, it replaces the previous submission, which means the previous document is no longer available to the Human Resources Office. If you are adding to, rather than replacing a previous submission, you must upload both the old document and the new document. Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded resumes must be less than 3MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, or Word (DOC or DOCX).

AGENCY CONTACT INFO:

Tabitha White
Phone: 301-504-1567
Fax: 301-504-3674
Email: tabitha.white@dm.usda.gov

Agency Information:
OCFO/DM-Human Resources Office
5601 Sunnyside Avenue
Beltsville, MD,
20705
USA
Fax: 301-504-3674

WHAT TO EXPECT NEXT:

If you set up your USAJOBS account to send automatic email notifications, you will receive an email acknowledging: 1) the submission of your online Occupational Questionnaire and resume was successful,  2) if you were referred to the selecting official for consideration, and  3) if you were selected or not selected. If you choose not to set up automatic email notifications, you must check your USAJOBS account for the latest status of your application. Your application may be reviewed to verify that you meet the qualifications and eligibility requirements for the position prior to issuing lists to a selecting official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted. Normally, a final job offer to the selected candidate is made within 30-60 days after the issuance of the certificate.