Criminal Legal Assistant (Office Automation)

Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys and the Office of the U.S. Attorneys•Chicago, IL

About The Position

The Criminal Legal Assistant supports Criminal Division Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) handling investigations and prosecutions, including cases involving public corruption, anti-terrorism, violent crime associated with narcotics and street gangs, health care fraud, and cybercrime. Support may span cases from investigation through trial, appeal, and post-conviction litigation. At the full performance level, the role provides legal assistance and office support services. Formal and/or on-the-job training may be provided as needed. Responsibilities increase in complexity as training and experience progress.

Requirements

U.S. citizenship or national status.
Satisfactory pre-employment adjudication, including fingerprint, credit, and tax checks, and drug testing; continued employment is subject to a favorable background investigation adjudication.
Selective Service registration, if applicable.
May be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
Meet the qualifications by the announcement closing date.
GS-5 eligibility: one year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-4, four years of education above high school, or a qualifying combination of experience and education. Specialized experience includes reviewing documents with legal implications for accuracy and completeness; typing and formatting correspondence and forms; maintaining file systems; and retrieving information from files or general reference sources.
GS-6 eligibility: at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-5, including reviewing legal documents for completeness of factual information; retrieving and assembling information for hearings or trials; researching legal sources to obtain or verify information; and using automated software to produce legal-related reports, documents, correspondence, and related materials.
GS-7 eligibility: at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-6, including preparing properly formatted hearing or trial documents; verifying citations and statutory references; assisting with discovery, hearing, or trial preparation, including compiling trial notebooks, jury instructions, witness lists, and exhibit lists; and using software and legal and non-legal databases for reports, documents, factual research, brief contents and indices, and courtroom presentations.
Type at least 40 words per minute on a five-minute sample with no more than three errors; a typing test may be required.
Education used to qualify must be from an institution accredited or pre-accredited by a U.S. Department of Education-recognized accrediting body, or foreign education must be shown to be comparable to U.S. accredited education. Documentation must be in English or accompanied by an English translation.

Responsibilities

Examine, prepare, and process technical legal documents, including complaints, motions, orders, answers, pleadings, subpoenas, and libels.
Proofread and cite-check legal briefs, memoranda, and other legal documents.
Assist attorneys with trial preparation by conducting non-complex research on litigation, statutes, regulations, and court cases.
Assemble exhibits, affidavits, and other legal documents.
Assemble and organize files and records for disposition or transfer to a records depository.
Maintain calendars for assigned active cases.
Track filing, hearing, and trial dates, and schedule conferences and interviews.
Arrange travel by preparing itineraries and securing transportation and hotel reservations.
Produce written documents and materials using office software applications.