Legal Assistant (Office Automation)

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

12h

About The Position

The Legal Assistant (Office Automation) supports Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) by providing legal assistance and office support. The work requires knowledge of legal support processes, procedures, and practices, clerical skills, and the ability to apply these skills to increase the effectiveness of the assigned AUSA. The role uses office software and legal case management tools to assist with litigation, document preparation and review, case tracking, and discovery. Responsibilities increase in complexity as training and experience progress.

Requirements

U.S. citizenship or nationality.
Meet the qualifications for the GS-5, GS-6, or GS-7 grade level. GS-5 qualification requires at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-4, four years of post-high-school education, or an eligible combination of experience and education.
For GS-5 specialized experience: review documents with legal implications for accuracy and completeness; type and format correspondence and forms; maintain file systems; and obtain information from files or general reference sources.
For GS-6: 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; and using automated software to produce legal-related materials.
For GS-7: at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-6, including preparing hearing or trial documents; verifying citations and statutory references; assisting with discovery, hearing, or trial preparation; and using software and databases for legal documents, research, indices, and courtroom presentations.
GS-7 applicants must type at least 40 words per minute on a five-minute sample with no more than three errors; a typing test may be required later.
Meet applicable federal time-in-grade requirements and qualification and eligibility requirements by the stated deadlines.
Complete a satisfactory pre-employment adjudication, including fingerprint, credit, and tax checks and drug testing; continued employment depends on a favorable background investigation.
Register for Selective Service if applicable.
Complete a one-year probationary period if required.
Education used to meet qualifications must be from an appropriately accredited institution, or foreign education must be shown to be comparable to U.S. education. Documentation must be in English or accompanied by an English translation.

Responsibilities

Provide automated litigation assistance to attorneys, including preparing charts and other materials for trial preparation and presentations.
Produce written documents using office automation software.
Review incoming material and determine, according to established policies and procedures, whether legal documents need to be assembled or prepared.
Request and monitor fund obligations for litigation expenses; review bills and invoices and submit them to the budget office for payment.
Maintain calendars for assigned active cases and track filing, hearing, trial, conference, and interview dates.
Develop and maintain a suspense system for ongoing cases and inform the AUSA of pending dates and deadlines.
Contribute to case-status reports, including summaries of legal issues, factual issues, case developments, complaint bases, and relevant case law.
Code and index discovery documents using legal case management software; conduct document searches, organize documents, perform first-level document review, and coordinate document production.