Paralegal Specialist

Summary

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.

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.

Qualifications

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.

Education

All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at an institution that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, see http://www.ed.gov Foreign Education Note: You may use foreign education to meet qualification requirements if you send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency in with your transcript. It is your responsibility to timely provide such evidence by submitting proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency with your application materials. More information may be found at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html. All documentation must be in English or include an English translation.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include initial online assessment and submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 09/18/2026 the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows: 1. To begin the application process, click the Apply Online button. 2. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. 3. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59PM (ET) on 09/18/2026. 4. After submitting an online application, you will be notified whether or not you are required to take additional online assessments through the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment system. This message will be delivered to you both on screen and via email notification. 5. If you are asked to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be presented with a unique URL to access the USA Hire system. Access to USA Hire is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning your USA Hire Assessments. Click here for Computer System Requirements (https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=USA_Hire_System_Requirements) 6. Note, set aside at least 3 hours to take these assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue at a later time, you can re-use the URL sent to you via email and also found on the Additional Application Information page that can be located in the application record in your USAJOBS account. To preview the Assessment Questionnaire, please click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13006427 To update your application, including supporting documentation, at any time during the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account (https://usajobs.gov). There you will find a record of your application, the application status, and an option to Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To verify the status of your application both during and after the announcement open period, log into your USAJOBS account: https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login. All of your applications will appear on the Welcome page. The application record in your USAJOBS account provides an Additional Application Information page that provides information regarding the documentation you submitted and any correspondence we have sent related to this application. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/. Reasonable Accommodation Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a reasonable accommodation in your online application. Requests for Reasonable Accommodations for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for Reasonable Accommodation must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for Reasonable Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a Reasonable Accommodation, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire.