Paralegal Specialist

Commodity Futures Trading Commission • Washington, DC

6d • Onsite

About The Position

The Paralegal Specialist is located in the Office of General Counsel (OGC), Litigation Branch, in Washington, DC. OGC advises the CFTC’s Commission, the Chair, the Executive Director, and the Agency on matters including litigation, statutory and regulatory interpretation, rulemaking, proposed legislation, and issues related to administering and enforcing the Commodity Exchange Act. The Litigation, Adjudication, and Enforcement Branch represents the Commission in federal courts and before administrative bodies. The incumbent primarily assists branch attorneys with litigation support, legal research, document preparation, and case-file management, and may assist other OGC units as needed. The position is not in the Bargaining Unit. Relocation expenses will not be paid. A one-year probationary period may be required.

Requirements

• U.S. citizenship.
• Background/security investigation.
• May be required to serve a probationary or trial period.
• Selective Service registration is required for males born after December 31, 1959.
• Meet time-in-grade requirements, if applicable.
• For CT-11 qualification, meet at least one of the following: one year of specialized experience equivalent to CT/GS-09 in the Federal service; a qualifying doctoral or equivalent graduate degree; three years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree; or a related LL.M. Equivalent combinations of education and experience may qualify.
• Qualifying specialized experience includes examining and processing varied documents, including legal documents, and using electronic or manual filing systems; conducting research under attorney supervision and analyzing and evaluating data in response to complex or sensitive requests; and assisting attorneys with motion filings, exhibits, attachments, document production in litigation, and legal cite-checking.
• Education used to qualify must be from an accredited college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Foreign education must be evaluated as equivalent to accredited U.S. education or receive full credit at an accredited U.S. college or university.

Responsibilities

• Assist attorneys with court filings by checking legal citations and references and preparing tables of contents and authorities.
• Proofread briefs, pleadings, memoranda, opinions, and other documents; draft certificates of service, transmittal letters, and cover memoranda.
• Arrange for outside vendors to copy and bind legal briefs and appendices.
• Arrange timely delivery of legal documents to courts and tribunals.
• Use data-management and litigation-support systems to locate, organize, and categorize exhibits, appendices, administrative records, and other filing materials.
• Use the OGC Elaw case-management system to review, store, index, and search electronic documents obtained during investigations and litigation.
• Maintain case files and correct deficiencies or discrepancies.
• Review hard-copy case files to determine eligibility for retirement to off-site document storage; prepare files and supervise their preparation for storage.
• Conduct legal research and retrieve legislative history, precedent cases, decisions, opinions, regulations, policies, procedures, case law, and other materials for staff attorneys.
• Ensure records are accurate and readily available for staff investigations and litigation.
• As needed, assist other OGC units with legal research and analysis and with ensuring accuracy and consistency in legal documents.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Federal employees and their families have access to a comprehensive benefits package; specific eligibility and benefits depend on position type and should be confirmed with the hiring agency.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed