Legal Assistant – Specialized Prosecutions Support

Job Description

Paralegal Specialist | United States Attorneys’ Offices

The Tone:
This is a full-time role at United States Attorneys’ Offices, an organization within the Department of Justice dedicated to upholding the rule of law. The United States Attorneys’ Offices play a critical role in the federal justice system, investigating and prosecuting a wide range of crimes. This position is vital for providing substantive legal support to Assistant United States Attorneys, enabling effective prosecution of specialized and complex cases.

The TL;DR
• Role: Mid-level
• Type: Full-time
• Mission: To provide substantive legal support to Assistant United States Attorneys in specialized litigative activities, ensuring efficient investigation and prosecution of complex cases.
• Tech Stack: Multiple online legal systems, various software applications, graphics hardware, scanners, plotters

What You’ll Actually Do
• Provide Technical Assistance: Utilize an in-depth understanding of various laws, court, and administrative decisions to offer technical assistance to attorneys in prosecutorial litigation.
• Conduct Legal Research: Perform extensive and thorough legal research into legislative history, precedent cases, decisions, and opinions using multiple online legal systems.
• Draft Legal Documents: Prepare initial legal and administrative briefs, USAO motions, oppositions to defense motions, and correspondence for attorney review.
• Organize Evidence: Prepare and organize voluminous documentation and evidence for discovery production and for use in trials.
• Support Trial Preparation: Participate in pre-trial witness conferences, identify case material deficiencies, and provide automated litigation assistance for courtroom presentations.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Career level: Mid-level. Must meet one of the following conditions: a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; OR 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education in a related field (e.g., Criminal Justice, Law); OR a combination of successfully completed graduate education and experience where graduate education is in excess of 2 full years. All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at an accredited college or university.
• Experience: At least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service, which includes analyzing and evaluating legal decisions and case files to identify relevant issues and potential evidence; conducting legal research concerning precedents and past court decisions; composing legal briefs, summaries of analyses and decisions, and pre-trial documents; interviewing witnesses and various individuals; and preparing evidence and documents to support recommendations.
• Skills: Extensive legal research, legal writing and drafting, organization of voluminous documentation and evidence, identification of deficiencies in case materials, and automated litigation support using various software and hardware.