Legal Assistant (Office Automation) - Appeals

For more information on the Department of Justice and the United States Attorneys' Offices, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/.

For more information on the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx.

This position is also being announced to applicants eligible to apply through Merit Staffing procedures under 26-SDTX-13002853-MS.

As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement. No substitution of education for experience is permitted. If selected for this position, you will join a well-respected team in the United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas (SDTX) - Appellate Division. At the full performance level, you will support Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSA) by providing a variety of legal assistance and office support services. If selected, you will receive formal and/or on-the-job training as needed.

The duties and responsibilities for a GS-0986-Legal Assistant (Office Automation)-GS-06/07 generally include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Using knowledge of a variety of legal regulations, precedents, and practices, examines, prepares and processes technical legal correspondence and documents which are characteristically voluminous and complex in format.
• Contributes to reports summarizing the case status, including legal issues, factual issues, and case developments.
• May perform general clerical/administrative functions e.g., ordering supplies and equipment, processing time and attendance records, and maintaining administrative files.
• Conducts non-complex research of legislation, statutes, regulations and court cases.

Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

If selected for the position, you will be assigned to the Appellate Division. To qualify for the position of Legal Assistant (Office Automation) - Appeals, at GS-0986-6/7, you must meet the qualification requirements listed below.

GS-6: To be eligible at the GS-6 level, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level.

Specialized Experience: Specialized experience is defined as experience reviewing legal documents such as complaints, motions, orders, answers, pleadings, subpoenas, and libels for completeness of information; retrieving and assembling information for hearing and/or trial use; researching a variety of legal sources to obtain and/or verify information; and using automated software to produce legal related reports, documents, correspondence and related materials. This experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-5 level in the Federal service and could have been gained in the federal, public, or private sector.

GS-7: To be eligible at the GS-7 level, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-6 level.

Specialized Experience: Specialized experience is defined as experience providing trial support to attorneys by preparing complaints, motions, subpoenas, orders, or other hearing and/or trial documents accurately and in proper format; verifying citations and statutory references contained in legal documents; assisting with discovery, hearing or trial preparation by performing duties such as compiling trial notebooks, assembling jury instructions, and compiling witness and exhibit lists; and using software applications and legal and non-legal databases to produce legal related reports and documents, conduct factual research, develop tables of contents and indices to briefs, and prepare courtroom presentations.

To be qualified, you must type at least 40 words per minute based on a 5-minute sample with three or fewer errors. (A typing test may later be required.)

You MUST meet all qualification requirements by the 07/31/2026 of this announcement.

Your resume must support your responses to the online questionnaire and the qualification requirements. Failure to do so may result in an ineligible rating.See the Required Documents section for important notes about what must be included in your resume.

After you submit your application, you will receive notification indicated whether or not the USA Hire assessment is required. You will have 48 hours from the closing date of this announcement 07/31/2026 to complete the assessment which is part of your application.

This position is excluded from the bargaining unit.

If you are a displaced Federal employee claiming eligibility under CTAP or ICTAP:

1. You must submit your separation notice or agency RIF letter from your agency OR if you have not yet been separated, you can provide the letter of intent to separate you from the agency because of reduction-in-force.
2. Submit a copy of your most recent performance appraisal and SF-50 showing current/former position, grade, promotion potential, and duty location OR Certification of Expected Separation, Reduction-In-Force Separation Notice, or Notice of Proposed Removal; SF-50 that documents the RIF separation action; and most recent performance appraisal.