Legal Assistant

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/03/2024. 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. Candidates may be advanced without time restriction to positions up to GS-5 if the position to be filled is no more than two grades above the highest grade the employee held within the preceding 52 weeks under his or her latest non-temporary competitive appointment. For a GS-05 position you must have held at least a GS-03. For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05 level. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06 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-05 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-4 level) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Acting as an organizational unit’s first point of contact, appropriately directing visitors; serving as timekeeper; reviewing outgoing correspondence for procedural and grammatical accuracy. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have four (4) years of education above high school level obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. 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 the first 60 semester hours (i.e., beyond the second year). GS-06 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-5 level) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Responding to administrative inquiries, obtaining clarification when needed; performing program management tasks with minimal oversight; maintaining accurate case files and retiring files in accordance with policy. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute graduate level education for the required experience only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position. GS-07 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-6 level) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: obtaining information from files, or other sources; conducting factual and legal research in legal and non-legal databases and providing requested information to attorneys; aiding in the preparation and organization of evidence for production as discovery and for use in trial; managing paper and electronic discovery and evidence; independently compiling trial notebooks, assembling jury instructions, and compiling witness and exhibit lists; and coding and indexing discovery documents using legal case management software. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute graduate level education for the required experience only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service Technical Competence Writing Analytical Thinking 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: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 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 is predominantly sedentary, requiring some walking, standing, bending, lifting and carrying light to moderate weight and size items such as books, files and paper. 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/.
Located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in various offices throughout the Office of General Counsel (OGC), the Legal Assistant performs administrative and legal support to colleagues and supervisors on assigned work, and routinely provides direct legal services on case and/or program assignments. OGC provides legal advice and services to the Secretary of VA (SECVA) and all organizational components of VA. The General Counsel is, by statute, the Departments Chief Legal Officer.