ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
Middle District of Pennsylvania
10-MDPA-09
November 26, 2010
About the Office: The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania embraces 33 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, making it geographically the largest district in the state. The district, which runs from the New York border on the north, to the Maryland border on the south, encompasses approximately 21,907 square miles, or roughly 47% of the land mass of Pennsylvania, and houses over 3,000,000 people. While much of the district is rural in character, it contains the following major metropolitan centers: Harrisburg, the state capital, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Williamsport, York, Lebanon, and State College. The headquarters office is in Scranton, and there are two branch offices, one in Williamsport, and the other in Harrisburg. Within this large, and diverse, judicial district, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania represents the Department of Justice and other federal agencies in all litigation, civil and criminal, conducted within the District in which the United States, or a federal agency, is a party.
Responsibilities and Opportunity Offered: The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania is seeking applications from experienced attorneys for an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) position. This particular vacancy is a TERM position, not to exceed one year, and will specialize in a variety of complex criminal and civil litigation including, but not limited to, federal grand jury practice, federal criminal pre-trial litigation, trials, post-sentencing proceedings and appeals, bankruptcy, Affirmative Civil Enforcement, mortgage foreclosures, prisoner litigation, torts and employment discrimination, etc. AUSAs have the opportunity to represent the interests of the United States in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Moreover, in performing this important public service, Assistant U.S. Attorneys exercise responsibility that is unparalleled in any other job that a litigator might undertake.
Qualifications: Preferred experience would include at least three years experience in litigation, including trial and courtroom experience. The applicant must work well with client agencies, possess a J.D. degree, be an active member of the bar (any jurisdiction), possess superior oral and written communication skills, as well as strong character and interpersonal skills, and have demonstrated the capacity to function, with minimal guidance, in a highly demanding environment.
Travel: Travel throughout the district may be necessary, extending throughout the state of Pennsylvania less frequently. Training opportunities are provided at the National Advocacy Center, in Columbia, South Carolina; travel there and other sites throughout the nation may be required.
Salary Information: Assistant United States Attorneys’ pay is administratively determined based, in part, on the number years of professional attorney experience. The current recruiting range of basic pay for a line AUSA is $44,581.00 to $117,994.00 ( plus locality pay where authorized).
Location: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Relocation Expenses: Relocation expenses will not be authorized.
Application Process and Deadline Date: Please mail your resume to:
Ms. Gail Dvornicky
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Middle District of Pennsylvania
P.O. Box 309
Scranton, Pennsylvania 18501-0309No telephone calls please. Applications for this announcement will be accepted until December 6, 2010. Applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. EST on December 6, 2010.
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. ยง 545 for district-specific information.
All initial attorney appointments to the Department of Justice are made on a time-limited (temporary) basis. Temporary appointments may, or may not, be extended or made permanent without further competition.
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. Although the “point” system is not used, per se, applicants eligible to claim 10-point preference must submit Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, and submit the supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed (visit the OPM website, http://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf for a copy of the SF 15, which lists the types of 10 point preferences and the required supporting documents). Applicants should note that the SF 15 requires supporting documentation associated with service-connected disabilities or receipt of non service-connected disability pensions to be dated 1991 or later except in the case of service members submitting official statements or retirement orders from a branch of the Armed Forces showing that his or her retirement was due to a permanent service-connected disability or that he/she was transferred to the permanent disability retired list (the statement or retirement orders must indicate that the disability is 10% or more).
The Department of Justice cannot control further dissemination and/or posting of information contained in this vacancy announcement. Such posting and/or dissemination is not an endorsement by the Department of the organization or group disseminating and/or posting the information.
