[blindlaw] U.S. attorney posting, Texas, southern district

[Ross Doerr]

Assistant United States Attorney
United States Attorney's Office
Southern District of Texas
Announcement Number 12-SDTX-17 (MCALLEN-CIVIL)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
About the Office: The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern
District of Texas, with approximately 190 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. 
Who May Apply: Due to the Attorney General's hiring freeze, only current
permanent employees of a U.S. Attorney's Office and EOUSA may be considered
and selected.
Responsibilities and Opportunity Offered: The United States Attorney's
Office for the Southern District of Texas seeks one experienced attorney to
serve in the Civil Division of its McAllen, Texas office. The incumbent(s)
will be responsible for a wide range of both affirmative and defensive
litigation on behalf of the United States.
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 (any jurisdiction) is required. Additionally, applicants must
have at least three years of full-time experience as a licensed attorney. 
Preferred Qualifications: Hiring preferences include at least five (5) years
of civil litigation experience, including the handling of one or more of the
following types of cases: bankruptcy, employment litigation, torts, and
immigration. Other desirable qualifications include first-chair federal
trial experience, strong academics, outstanding organizational skills,
superior legal writing and research ability, and a demonstrated commitment
to professionalism, ethics, civility, and public service. 
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 2012 range of basic pay is $44,581 to
$131,534, plus locality pay. 

Location: Position is located in McAllen, Texas. 

Relocation Expenses: Relocation expenses will not be authorized.

How to apply: Submit required application materials (described below) via
E-mail to: attorneys.usatxs at usdoj.gov. PDF format is preferred. 

Kenneth Magidson
United States Attorney
United States Attorney's Office
Southern District of Texas 
1000 Louisiana, Suite 2300
Houston, Texas 77002

No telephone calls or faxes, please. 

What to send: Required materials include: (1) a cover letter; (2) a resume;
and (3) a writing sample of not more than 10 pages. Incomplete applications
will not be considered.

When to apply: The position is open until filled. The initial cutoff date
for receipt of applications is July 27, 2012. 

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 they are 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 United States 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,
politics, marital status, disability, age, sex, sexual orientation, status
as a parent, membership or non-membership in an employee organization, or on
the basis of 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 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,
http://www.opm.gov/forms/pdfimage/sf0015.pdf for a copy of SF 15, which
lists the types of 10-point preferences and the required supporting
documents). Applicants should note that 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 ten percent or more).