Paralegal Specialist
What you'd do
This is an excepted service appointment under the Pathways Recent Graduates Program. This appointment is a one year career development program. At the successful completion of the program requirements, you may be eligible for non-competitive conversion to a Federal career or career-conditional appointment. For more information on the Pathways Program, please visit here. For more information on the Department of Justice and the United States Attorneys' Offices, visit here.
Major duties
If selected for this position, you will join a well-respected team that is responsible for providing legal and litigative support to the Criminal Division for the District of Maine. The Office has one opening for a Paralegal Specialist in our Bangor branch within the Criminal Division. First round consideration will be given to applications submitted by September 18, 2026, at 11:59 pm EST. Thereafter, the applicant list will be reviewed every 30 days. As needed, additional positions may be filled. Typical work assignments will include: Review and organize complex factual material and other documentary data for investigations and trials. Prepare a variety of substantive legal documents to include extradition requests, grand jury and trial subpoenas, interrogatory requests, and documentation relevant to acquiring evidence or testimony. Provide advice on the most efficient method for preparing legal documents. Use tables and citation checking with efficiency. Develop and enter various case material into a computer database. Prepare charts, graphs, and tables to illustrate results. Prepare, develop, compile, or maintain jury instructions in preparing for trial. Prepare exhibits for trial, which typically involve a wide range of visual materials. Provide litigation case management and organize cases for court presentation. Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress. Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.
What you need to qualify
Note: To be considered "qualified" for this position, your specialized experience must be described in your resume. Please be sure that your resume clearly states any and all of the specialized experience that you may have. If your specialized experience is not clearly stated in your resume, you will not be considered for this position. To be eligible for a recent graduate appointment, ALL of the following requirements must be met: Recent Graduates must have obtained a qualifying associates, bachelors, master's, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying accredited educational institution within the previous 2 years unless military service interfered with a veteran's eligibility to apply during that two year time frame. Veterans meeting the above exclusion may apply within 2 years of discharge or 6 years from the date of receipt of the degree whichever comes first. (Go to http://www.ed.gov/accreditation?src=rn to verify accreditation status). Recent graduates must be United States citizens or owe permanent allegiance to the United States. (Currently, natives of American Samoa, Swains Island and certain inhabitants of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are the only groups that owe permanent allegiance to the United States.) You must successfully complete a background investigation to determine your suitability for Federal employment. All recent graduates are required to sign a Pathways Recent Graduate Participant Agreement. Recent Graduates serve a trial period for the entire duration of their excepted service appointment. To be eligible at the GS-07 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions, as defined below: Specialized Experience, Education, OR a Combination of Education and Experience. Specialized Experience: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 level. Specialized experience is defined as work which demonstrates a basic knowledge of legal research and ability to interpret legal decisions to include drafting a variety of legal documents and correspondence; assisting in trial preparation by compiling, organizing, and indexing various evidentiary exhibits; reviewing legal documents to extract information related to specific issues; verifying citations and statutory references contained in legal documents; utilizing various computerized database programs to include automated legal research tools and public information to organize extensive documents; conducting research. Education: One of the following types of education in a related field (e.g., Criminal Justice Law): One full year of graduate level education leading to a Master's degree or higher; or a completed Bachelor's Degree or equivalent, with Superior Academic Achievement, as defined by the Office of Personnel Management's Qualification Standards. Superior Academic Achievement is the completion of a full four year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree and meets one of the following provisions: (1) a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher for all completed undergraduate course work or for all courses completed in the last two full years of undergraduate work; (2) a GPA of 3.5 or higher for all courses in the major field of study, or those courses in a major completed in the last two full years of undergraduate work; (3) ranking in the upper one-third of a college, university, or major subdivision or (4) membership in a national scholastic honor society. Combining Education and Experience: Combinations of successfully completed graduate education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. To qualify based on a combination, graduate education must be more than one full year.
Before you apply
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