General Attorney
What you'd do
About the Position: This is a permanent position with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mission Support Battalion, Office of Counsel. This is an excepted service position without time limitation and will not be filled by a competitive appointment. Service in this position may be fully creditable toward civil service retirement. Any selected applicant who is in the competitive service will be taken out of the competitive service.
Major duties
Identify, research, and address extremely complex and difficult legal questions affecting United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) missions. Represent the agency in administrative litigation, including matters before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and Office of Special Counsel (OSC). Counsel management on workplace issues, including harassment, misconduct, whistleblower protections, and professional standards of conduct. Perform discovery, draft motions, prepare witnesses, and conduct hearings and appeals.
What you need to qualify
Who May Apply: US Citizens In order to qualify, you must meet the education and experience requirements described below. 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; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document. The minimum qualification requirements must be met before applicants are eligible for further consideration: Education Requirement: An applicant must have successfully completed a full course of study in a school of law accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and have the first professional law degree (LL.B. or JD.). In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below: Specialized Experience: Applicant must have three or more years of professional legal experience, acquired after being admitted to the bar, commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the position. Graduation from an ABA-Accredited Law School in the top 25% of the class or an advanced law degree such as an LLM may substitute for one year of the required professional legal experience. Professional legal experience includes: 1. Research complex legal issues involving federal and state laws, regulations, and policies to provide authoritative legal guidance supporting organizational missions; 2. Prepare legal opinions, memoranda, contracts, and other legal instruments addressing complex or novel legal questions with significant programmatic impact; 3. Represent the organization in negotiations, hearings, conferences, administrative litigation, and other legal proceedings with federal, state, local agencies, and private stakeholders; 4. Provide legal advice and interpret federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies to support management decisions, policy development, and daily operations; and 5. Conduct comprehensive legal research and develop legally sound recommendations to resolve high-impact matters involving significant financial, regulatory, or public interest considerations. Bar membership: Applicant must currently be a member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Fitness to Practice Law: An applicant must currently be fit to practice law. If your fitness to practice law, or your conduct has ever been challenged you must submit a sworn statement giving the facts and circumstances, together with any explanations you consider appropriate. The sworn statement should be notarized and dated within 3 months of the date of your application. (If you are currently employed as an attorney with The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, this requirement does not apply to you). Time In Grade Requirement: If currently employed as an attorney by the Federal Government you must have completed 1 year at the next lower level within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement, or previously served at the same or higher grade as the position being filled.
Before you apply
Federal applications are different: your resume should be 3–5 pages and mirror the language of this announcement. Read our federal resume guide first — it's the #1 reason qualified people get screened out.
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