Paralegal Specialist

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.

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office. Major duties include, but are not limited to the following:

• Evaluates and makes final determinations or recommendations on the client requests, complaints, and claims, as authorized.
• Compiles and forwards the necessary correspondence advising of decision or recommendation and prepares documentation according to the program guidelines and other applicable authority.
• Anticipates program or case requirements, with guidance from Senior Specialists, develops
  legal arguments and supporting evidence, resolves conflicting statements, or searches for
  corroborating or contravening precedents.
• 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 to determine the specific data needed and best approach to
  obtain this data in order to determine the relevance or sufficiency of available legal, technical
  (i.e. financial, statistical), or other related data.
• Keeps supervisor or attorney informed of actions involving potentially controversial issues or
  issues with far-reaching implications.
• Participates in providing direct legal services to clients on case and/or program assignments.
• Determines the approach to be taken and methodology to be used, as directed.
• Adheres to the direction and authority levels set by attorneys and supervisors.
• Prioritizes and manages assigned cases and program duties, in accordance with established deadlines and guidance provided by attorneys and/or supervisors.
• Plans and carries out assignments and coordinates activities with professional legal staff of
  the agency and with staff of other Federal or non-Federal activities.
• Takes necessary actions to support and provide back up for other paraprofessional colleagues to ensure smooth operations within the organization.
• Obtains, analyzes, develops and applies relevant facts and law to assigned work.
• Researches legislative history, as well as precedent cases, decisions and opinions relevant to assigned work.
• Assists Senior Specialists in reviewing complaints, claims, requests for legal advice and
  supporting documentation submitted.
• Assists Senior Specialists in preparing memoranda, briefs, draft legal opinions, and/or
  written documents needed to deliver accurate, timely and effective legal services.
• Coordinates and manages the administrative portions of assigned programs and/or work
  units within the organization.
• Reviews workforce statistics and reporting data needed to support managerial oversight
  functions such as, workload balancing, work-sharing arrangements, client and incumbent
  satisfaction tasks, performance measurements, and presentation and briefing materials for
  attorneys and supervisors.
• Uses sound judgment in recommending improvements in administrative procedures.
• Maintains complete and accurate time and status entries in the organizations case
  management systems, scanning/embedding case information, establishing follow ups, and
  managing systems for sharing information and organizing program work.

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: Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: PD33072A and PD33071A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/19/2026.

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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7 level. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9 level. 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 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-9

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-7) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Compiling and forwarding the necessary correspondence advising of decision or recommendation and preparing documentation according to the program guidelines and other applicable authority; Investigating and becoming thoroughly familiar with subject matter details involved in a case or legal matter, including but not limited to, interviewing claimants and witnesses; Coordinating and managing the administrative portions of assigned programs and/or work units within the organization. OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a 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-9) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Participating in providing direct legal services to clients on case and/or program assignments; Researching legislative history, as well as precedent cases, decisions and opinions relevant to assigned work; Assisting 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 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 primarily sedentary and may involve some slight physical effort such as using a computer at a desk, sitting in conferences/meetings, standing, walking, bending, pushing a small cart, carrying light items, lifting moderate weighty items. Typing and data entry using a keyboard is required.

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:

• Investigating, analyzing, and resolving issues in assigned work.
• Supporting legal service delivery on assigned matters, including but not limited to, fact finding, problem analysis, problem solving, legal writing, and summarizing regulations and policies.
• Interpretating and implementing of existing policy and standards for the assigned areas.

. 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 Washington, DC. This includes all locations that fall within a 50 mile driving distance from 810 Vermont Ave NW, Washington, DC 20420