UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
Assistant United States Attorney
Fresno, California
August 26, 2008
08-EDCA-14A
About the Office: The Fresno Branch Office of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California serves the counties of Calaveras, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, Mariposa, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, Inyo, and Kern.
Responsibilities and Opportunity Offered: The United States Attorney is seeking an experienced attorney to serve as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Fresno Branch Office, Civil Division, Defensive Litigation Unit.
The mission of the Defense Litigation Unit is to represent the United States and its agencies and employees in a wide variety of trial and appellate cases. The case load includes defense of employment discrimination cases; medical malpractice, premises liability and other tort litigation; statutory and constitutional challenges to government programs; land management decisions challenged under NEPA and other environmental statutes; Administrative Procedure Act cases; and Bivens civil rights suits.
Qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. degree from an accredited law school, be duly licensed and authorized to practice as an attorney under the laws of a State, territory, or the District of Columbia, and have at least one year of post-J.D. experience. Applicants must be active members in good standing of the bar (any jurisdiction). Ideal qualifications include at least 3-5 years of experience litigating cases in federal courts, with substantial responsibility for all aspects of discovery, trial, and appeals.
Applicants must have a demonstrated capacity to function with minimal supervision in a highly demanding environment, exceptional brief writing and oral advocacy skills, excellent analytical ability, and good judgment. In addition, applicants must exhibit the ability to work in a supportive and professional manner with other attorneys, paralegals, support staff and client agencies.
Applicants will be expected to do their own legal research and writing and will be substantially self-sufficient in preparing day-to-day correspondence and pleadings. Applicants must be computer literate and adept at learning new programs.
Travel: Occasional travel will be required.
Salary Information: Assistant United States Attorneys’ pay is administratively determined, based in part on the number of years of professional attorney experience. The current recruiting range of basic pay is $48,310 to $127,864 including locality pay.
Location: Fresno, California
Fresno is one of the fastest growing cities in California, due in part to its central location to major tourist areas in California. It is located in the middle of the fertile San Joaquin Valley, also known as the Central Valley, which is a major supplier of food and agricultural products for the United States and the world. This area also includes national treasures such as Yosemite National Park and Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Forest.
Relocation Expenses: Relocation expenses are not authorized.
Application Process and Deadline Date: Interested applicants should send a resume, cover letter, and writing sample to the United States Attorney’s Office, ATTN: Larry Brown, 501 I Street, Suite 10-100, Sacramento, CA 95814. This position will be open until filled. Please include the vacancy announcement number listed at the top of this announcement (08-EDCA-14A) on your resume.
Internet Sites: This and other attorney vacancy announcements can be found at: http://www.usdoj.gov/oarm/attvacancies.html and http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae/
Department Policies: Following appointment, 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. Not all veterans are eligible for veterans' preference. To find out whether you qualify, visit the Veterans' Preference Advisor, operated by the Department of Labor "elaws" at the following website: www.dol.gov/elaws/vets/vetpref/vetspref.htm. For additional information on eligibility, visit www.opm.gov/veterans/ and review the "Vets Info Guide" and the "Vets Guide." Please note that military retirees at the rank of major, lieutenant commander, or higher, are not eligible for veterans' preference unless they are disabled veterans.