Legal Assistant

Summary

Corrections professionals who foster a humane and secure environment and ensure public safety by preparing individuals for successful reentry into our communities.

Duties

• Serves as a Legal Assistant with primary responsibility to include analysis of, response to, and monitoring of requests submitted under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts, Administrative Remedy Appeals, and claims submitted under the Federal Tort Claims Act, Civilian Employee Compensation and Bureau of Prisons Claims Acts (FTCA/CECA/BOPCA), and inmate property claims. Receives service of legal documents, reviews for correct form and timeliness; annotates case files and suspense files to reflect due dates and notifies appropriate legal staff to ensure timely responses are made. Performs a variety of administrative support duties, such as assembling information for various reports, briefings, conferences, designing and organizing filing systems, planning and arranging the maintenance and preparation of information needed for inter- or intra-office reports, making travel arrangements for legal staff, and completing Time and Attendance reports. Along with all other correctional institution employees, incumbent is charged with responsibility for maintaining security of the institution. The staffs correctional responsibilities precede all others required by this position and are performed on a regular and recurring basis.

Qualifications

To be considered for the position, you must meet the following qualification requirements: Education: As a general rule, education is not creditable above GL-05 for most positions covered by this standard; however, graduate education may be credited in those few instances where the graduate education is directly related to the work of the position. OR Experience: You must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade level. To be creditable, this experience must have equipped the applicant with the particular qualifications to perform successfully the duties of the position, and must typically be in or related to the position to be filled. Some examples of this qualifying experience are: Experience with specialized legal terminology on citations related to the policies and statutes regarding administrative remedies, tort claims, and release for information requests, including understanding and recognition of their significance. Experience distinguishing between a variety of legal instruments including petitions and complaints, Habeas, Bivens, Tort, Mandamus and various injunctive relief requests, requests for production, interrogatories, and requests for admissions. Experience reviewing and/or drafting responses to Freedom of Information and Privacy Act requests, Administrative Remedies, and Tort Claims, proofreading for content, accuracy, policy compliance, typographical and grammatical errors, etc. If applicable, credit will be given for paid and unpaid experience. To receive proper credit, you must show the actual time (such as the number of hours worked per week) spent in activities. **Your eligibility for consideration will be based on your responses to the questions in the application.**

Requirements

Career Transition Programs (CTAP or ICTAP): These programs apply to Federal and/or DOJ employees who meet the definition of surplus or displaced from a position in the competitive service. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: Meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; Be rated well-qualified for the position, scoring at least half of the total possible points for the vacancy KSAs or competencies; and Submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP eligibility: A copy of the agency notice (i.e., separation notice or agency RIF letter), Most recent performance appraisal, and Most recent SF-50 showing current/former position, grade, promotion potential, and duty location. See USAJOBS' Career Transition Programs for more information. EEO Statement/Policy: The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non-merit factor. More information can be found here: U.S Department of Justice - Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Key Requirements: U.S. Citizenship is Required. See Special Conditions of Employment Section. Selective Service Requirement

Education

ONLY if education is a requirement/substitution for specialized experience, applicant MUST upload legible transcripts as verification of educational requirement. Transcripts MUST be uploaded and electronically linked from USAJOBS at the time you apply and MUST include identifying information to include School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded (if applicable). All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, Click Here. Foreign Education: For information regarding foreign education requirements, please see Foreign Diploma and Credit Recognition at the U.S. Department of Education website: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows: Click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside about two (2) hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/application/status. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. USAJOBS Help Center - How to Add a Resume to Your Profile All required supporting documentation MUST be received by the Consolidated Staffing Unit by 11:59 p.m., Eastern Standard Time on09/10/2026. If applicable see Notice for Preference Eligible Veterans Applicants