Assistant United States Attorney
United States Attorney's Office
Southern District of Texas
Announcement Number 07-SDTX-12 (AUSA - Brownsville, TX)
About the Office: The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, with approximately 145 Assistant United States Attorneys, is among the largest in the country. The office prosecutes federal crimes and represents the interests of the United States in civil cases. The Southern District of Texas stretches from the Houston area southwest to the Mexican border. The United States Attorney’s Office operates staffed offices in Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Houston, Laredo, McAllen, and Victoria.
Responsibilities and Opportunity Offered: The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas seeks an experienced criminal prosecutor to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney in its Brownsville office. The incumbent will investigate and prosecute violations of federal laws, primarily involving immigration, drug, and firearms offenses.
About the Brownsville Division: The Brownsville Division is among the busiest offices in the United States: in 2006 alone, the Brownsville office indicted approximately 1000 felony cases. A total of 12 attorneys work in the office, six of whom prosecute the bulk of the division’s criminal cases. The successful applicant will thus have ample and immediate opportunity to try criminal cases.
Qualifications: Required qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. degree from an accredited law school, and must be duly licensed and authorized to practice as an attorney under the laws of any state or territory of the United States or of the District of Columbia. Active bar membership is required. Additionally, applicants must have at least one year of full-time experience as a licensed attorney.
Preferred qualifications: Hiring preferences include strong academics, significant first-chair criminal litigation experience, outstanding organizational skills, superior legal writing and research ability, and a demonstrated commitment to professionalism, ethics, civility, and public service. Spanish language skills are desirable, but not required.
Travel: Occasional travel may be required.
Salary Information: Pay for Assistant United States Attorneys is administratively determined, based in part on the number of years of professional attorney experience. The range of basic pay is $41,643 to $110,217, plus locality pay.
Location: The position is located in Brownsville, Texas. Boasting over 387,000 residents in the city and environs, Brownsville is located at the southernmost tip of Texas, near the Gulf of Mexico and directly on the border with Mexico. Immediately across the border is the city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas (est. pop. 422,000), which offers unique shopping, dining and entertainment opportunities. Just a few miles away is the resort playground of South Padre Island, with miles of unspoiled beaches and excellent fishing.
Relocation Expenses: Relocation expenses will not be authorized.
Application Process and Deadline Date: This position is open until filled, but the initial cutoff for receipt of applications is November 23, 2007. To apply, submit in hard copy only a resume, cover letter, and a brief writing sample (not more than 20 pages) to:
Mitch Neurock
Executive Assistant United States Attorney for Professional Development
United States Attorney’s Office
P.O. Box 61129
Houston, Texas 77208-1129
No email applications, fax applications or telephone calls, please.
Internet Sites: This and other attorney vacancy announcements can be found at: http://www.usdoj.gov/oarm/attvacancies.html
Department Policies: Assistant United States Attorneys generally must reside in the district to which he or she is appointed. See 28 U.S.C. § 545 for district-specific information.
The U.S. Department of Justice is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer. Except where otherwise provided by law, there will be no discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, color, race, religion, national origin, politics, marital status, disability, age, status as a parent, membership or nonmembership in an employee organization, or personal favoritism. The Department of Justice welcomes and encourages applications from persons with physical and mental disabilities. The Department is firmly committed to satisfying its affirmative obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advanced on the basis of merit within the Department of Justice. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
It is the policy of the Department to achieve a drug-free workplace and persons selected for employment will be required to pass a drug test which screens for illegal drug use prior to final appointment. Employment is also contingent upon the completion and satisfactory adjudication of a background investigation. Only U.S. citizens are eligible for employment with the Executive Office for Immigration Review and the United States Attorneys’ Offices. Unless otherwise indicated in a particular job advertisement, non-U.S. citizens may apply for employment with other organizations, but should be advised that appointments of non-U.S. citizens are extremely rare; such appointments would be possible only if necessary to accomplish the Department's mission and would be subject to strict security requirements. Applicants who hold dual citizenship in the U.S. and another country will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
There is no formal rating system for applying veterans’ preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Justice considers veterans’ preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans’ preference are encouraged to include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., the DD 214 or other substantiating documents) to their submissions.