Paralegal Specialist
What you'd do
The Paralegal Specialist position is located in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in various offices throughout the Office of General Counsel (OGC). The mission is to provide legal advice and services to the SECVA and all organizational components of the Department. The General Counsel is, by statute, the Department's Chief Legal Officer.
Major duties
Major duties include, but are not limited to the following: Provides direct administrative and legal services to clients, colleagues and supervisors on case and/or program assignments. Maintains complete and accurate time and status entries in case management systems. Establishes follow ups required to complete work product (e.g., citations, references, additional research or tasks needed). Manages systems for sharing information and organizing program work. Coordinates discovery responses and drafts responses to same. Drafts legal decisions and case communications. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM Compressed/Flexible: Available Telework: Position is eligible for Ad Hoc telework (situational telework) as determined by the agency policy. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: PD33057A, PD33055A, and PD33056A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
What you need to qualify
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/23/2026. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09.The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to some former Federal employees applying for reinstatement, as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. See the Required Document section below for more information regarding the SF-50s needed to verify time-in-grade. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-07 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Investigates and becomes thoroughly familiar with subject matter details involved in a case or legal matter, including but not limited to, interviewing claimants and witnesses. Assists Senior Specialists in preparing memoranda, briefs, draft legal opinions, and/or written documents needed to deliver accurate, timely and effective legal services. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have bachelor or equivalent degree. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond bachelor or equivalent degree. GS-09 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Keeps supervisor or attorney informed of actions involving potentially controversial issues or issues with far-reaching implications. Obtains, analyzes, develops and applies relevant facts and laws to assigned work. Assists Senior Specialists in reviewing complaints, claims, requests for legal advice and supporting documentation submitted. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have master's or equivalent graduate degree OR 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.B. OR J.D., if related. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and graduate education beyond the first full year. GS-11 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Assists Senior Specialists to determine the specific data needed and best approach to obtaining this data to determine the relevance or sufficiency of available legal, technical (i.e. financial, statistical), or other related data. Prioritizes and manages assigned cases and program duties, in accordance with established deadlines and guidance provided by attorneys and/or supervisors. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or LL.M., if related OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond 2 full years of graduate education. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: Resume must include job title and employer name, number of hours worked per week, start and end dates (including month and year), list of duties and responsibilities for each position held. In addition, if the experience was a federal position, you must list series and grade for each position held. Failure to include this information may result in an ineligible rating. A full year of work is considered to be 40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work is predominantly sedentary, requiring some walking, standing, bending, lifting and carrying light to moderate weight and size items such as laptops, books, files and paper. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be found well qualified, applicants must meet the following qualifications: Providing direct legal services to clients by handling cases from start to finish Independently establishing milestones and deadlines from completion of tasks and assessing projects against this timeline/plan Serving as a point person for incoming assignments, delegating tasks to others, monitoring team's progress on group projects or goals. . Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. Local Commuting Area: The local commuting area for this position is defined as a radius of 50 miles from Bedford, Massachusetts, Brooklyn, New York, Buffalo, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Huntington, West Virginia. This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from the local VA offices in these locations.
Before you apply
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