[blindlaw] U.S. Attorney posting Alabama, Northern District

[Ross Doerr]

ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Honorable Joyce White Vance
Northern District of Alabama 
Vacancy Announcement Number 12-NDAL-02


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About the Office: The United States Attorney's Office prosecutes federal criminal offenses, and defends the U.S. Government's interest in civil cases. The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Alabama covers 31 of the state's 67 counties, and has a branch office located in Huntsville, Alabama.

Responsibilities and Opportunity Offered: The Northern District of Alabama is currently seeking attorneys for anticipated Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) openings in our Civil and Criminal Divisions. Applicants must indicate whether they are applying for a civil or criminal position, or both. Selected AUSAs may be assigned to any of the divisions/sections below:

CIVIL DIVISION

Civil Defensive Division - This division represents the United States, its agencies and employees at the trial and appellate levels in a wide variety of civil actions in federal and state courts. These AUSAs frequently defend employment discrimination cases, personal injury actions, medical malpractice claims arising out of treatment at a Veterans' Hospital or other federally-supported health facilities, challenges to agency determinations such as the denial of social security disability benefits, and decisions by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to deport or detain aliens. The division is also responsible for a broad range of other matters, including requests to amend records under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act, appeals and/or challenges under the Administrative Procedure Act, and defense of government officials sued in their individual capacities.

Affirmative Civil Enforcement Unit - This unit prosecutes civil actions to recover damages for fraud and other offenses against the United States and its agencies; imposes civil penalties for violations of the nation's health, safety and economic welfare laws; and uses the Fraud Injunction Statute to enjoin ongoing mail, wire or bank frauds and to freeze ill-gotten gains derived from those frauds. Typical cases involve claims for payment submitted to Medicare by health care providers, claims for payment submitted by contractors for government contracts, and claims by individuals for certain federal benefits. The employees in this unit work closely with Criminal Division AUSAs and other federal, state, and local agencies.

CRIMINAL DIVISION

General Crimes and Narcotics Unit - This section prosecutes crimes such as bank robbery, car jacking, kidnapping, and hate crimes violations, immigration offenses; and a large number of cases and matters involving federal firearms violations. This section includes the Narcotics and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force which prosecutes the highest level drug-trafficking organizations operating within the United States, importing drugs into the United States, or laundering the proceeds of drug trafficking. 

Public Corruption Unit - This section is responsible for prosecuting a wide range of complex public corruption cases to include local and high profile politicians, civil rights violations, and environmental crimes. This section contributes to the district's stability by rigorously prosecuting public corruption so that public confidence in government is maintained and justified.

Terrorism, Asset Forfeiture, Economic/Cyber Crimes & Financial Fraud Unit - This section is responsible for prosecuting a wide range of cases including terrorism, health care fraud, bankruptcy fraud, and mail and wire fraud. In the area of terrorism, the district works to prevent injuries, death and destruction first and to prosecute second. The primary function of the AUSAs handling asset forfeiture is to use federal forfeiture laws to disrupt and deter criminal activity, dismantle criminal enterprises and to separate criminals and their associates from their ill-gotten gains. This section is also charged with the expanding prosecution of computer crimes, particularly those involving child pornography.

Qualifications: Required qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. degree, be an active member of the bar (any jurisdiction), and have a minimum of 1 year of post-J.D. experience. Applicants are required to be a member of the Alabama Bar or willing to become a member within the first 24 months of employment. The person selected for this position must be fully and exclusively invested in the Northern District of Alabama.

Preferred qualifications (Civil): Applicants for this position should possess experience in managing and organizing voluminous documentary evidence and synthesizing the information in these materials to present effective cases. Applicants must also possess superior research and writing abilities, must be able to prepare high quality and persuasive pleadings; and must demonstrate analytical ability, good judgment, and excellent communication skills.

Preferred qualifications (Criminal): Applicants for this position should possess federal or state criminal trial experience, although applicants with a variety of litigation backgrounds that demonstrate analytical ability, judgment, and advocacy skills will also be considered. Applicants must possess a strong academic background, superior legal writing and research ability, and a commitment to professionalism, ethics, civility, and public service. Finally, applicants must possess the ability to manage large, complex investigations and prosecutions.

Travel: Occasional travel, both within and outside the District, may 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 range of basic pay is $44,581 to $131,534, plus locality pay where authorized. 

Location: This position is located in the Birmingham office. The Northern District is an area of rolling hills, beautiful lakes, downtown lofts, evening concerts in the park, nationally ranked restaurants, and an amusement and theme park.

Relocation Expenses: Relocation expenses will not be authorized.

Application Process and Deadline Date: All resumes/applications should be mailed to :

Human Resources
United States Attorney's Office 
1801 Fourth Avenue North
Birmingham, Alabama 35203

No telephone calls please.

This announcement is open until filled. Applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible, as the window for considering applications is short and the positions will be filled on an ongoing basis.

Internet Sites: Other information about the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Alabama may be found at: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/aln

This and other attorney vacancy announcements can be found at: http://www.justice.gov/careers/legal/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. 

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 because of color, race, religion, national origin, political affiliation, marital status, disability (physical or mental), age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, status as a parent, membership or non-membership in an employee organization, on the basis of personal favoritism, or any non merit factor. 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 must include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., the DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty and other supporting documentation) 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, www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf for a copy of SF 15, which lists the types of 10-point preferences and the required supporting document(s). Applicants should note that SF 15 requires supporting documentation associated with service-connected disabilities or receipt of nonservice-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).