[blindlaw] U.S. Attorney Posting, Billings Montana

[Ross Doerr]

ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE 
DISTRICT OF MONTANA
BILLINGS OFFICE
VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT #12-MT-006
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About the Office: The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Montana has
offices in Billings, Butte, Great Falls, Helena, and Missoula. This position
will be located in Billings, Montana
The Billings office handles various criminal cases including violent crime
(assaults, burglaries, homicides, sexual assaults), economic crime, public
corruption, immigration, drugs. The civil cases include employment
litigation, defensive torts, social security, bankruptcy and foreclosures. 
The Billings Office staff consists of 11 Assistant U.S. Attorneys, two
Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys, six Paralegal Specialists, a Victim
Witness Specialist, three Legal Assistants, a Secretary, and five
administrative staff.
Responsibilities and Opportunity Offered:

The Assistant U.S. Attorney will handle the prosecution of both general
narcotic cases and Indian Country cases for the District of Montana. The
narcotic prosecution duties include handling both Organized Crime Drug
Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and non-OCDETF narcotics cases. In addition
to trial work, other areas of responsibility include interaction with
multi-jurisdictional drug task forces and training of officers. The Indian
County duties include violent crime cases which occur on Indian Reservations
in Federal Court. Among other substantive areas, cases will include
assaults, burglaries, drugs, sexual assaults and homicides. The AUSA will
also act as a liaison between specific Indian reservation or reservations
and the U.S. Attorney. This particular position is also responsible for
appellate work.

Qualifications: Required qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D.
degree and licensed and authorized to practice as an attorney under the laws
of a State, territory, or District of Columbia, demonstrate excellent
computer literacy skills to include experience with automated research on
the Internet, and electronic e-mail and word processing systems. Applicants
must have at least one year of post J.D. professional experience. Applicants
must be active members in good standing of the bar (any jurisdiction).
Applicant must also be a member of the Montana Bar or sit for and pass the
Montana Bar exam shortly after joining the U.S. Attorney's Office. The
position has promotion potential to an AD-29.

Preferred qualifications: Applicants must demonstrate a quick analytical
ability and the facility to accurately and precisely articulate the critical
issues in a case. Applicants must demonstrate superior oral and writing
skills as well as strong research and interpersonal skills, and good
judgment. Applicants must possess excellent communication and courtroom
skills and exhibit the ability to work in a supportive and professional
manner with other attorneys, support staff and client agencies. Applicants
must have a demonstrated capacity to function, with minimal guidance, in a
highly demanding environment. Experience with automated electronic court
filing.

Travel: Travel will 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 pay is
$48,310 - $127,864. The District does not anticipate having the financial
resources to offer a salary at the top of the range. These rates include a
locality pay of 14.16%.

Location: Billings, MT is located in the south central part of our state.
You will find a rich history filled with names such as Lewis and Clark,
Custer, Sitting Bull, Calamity Jane and others. As the largest city in
Montana, with a population of approximately 100,000, Billings is a hub for
business including manufacturing and retail, medical and transportation.
You'll find a modern city that's a center for culture and commerce, yet
still surrounded by six mountain ranges. In short, you'll find more than a
few surprises in Montana's "Magic City." The city earned the nickname of
"magic" because its growth was immediate and remarkable. The elevation is
3,125 feet and the average daytime temperature in January (winter) is 28
degrees, while July (summer) is 85.8 degrees. The average annual
precipitation is 15 inches and snowfall is 57.2 inches. Billings is served
by an International Airport providing service from several major airlines.
Two modern and fully-equipped hospitals, over forty clinics, and hundreds of
physicians offer every major medical specialty and complete a range of
medical services, surgical services and emergency care. Three colleges,
Montana State University-Billings, Rocky Mountain College and Montant State
University College of Technology offer innovative and timely programs that
draw students from a wide radius. Elementary and secondary schools are a
real source of civic pride. Billings' high schools consistently rank in the
top percentile nationwide in score achievement for the American College Test
(ACT). Billings' students participate in the Montana Comprehensive
Assessment/Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS). These tests are nationally
recognized educational barometers. The recreational benefits of this area
are abundant with Yellowstone River adjacent to the city providing fishing,
rafting and camping. There are also abundant access to hiking and
backpacking trails, walking and biking trails. Yellowstone National Park in
the city's back yard, is one of the most scenic recreation wonders of
Montana.

Relocation Expenses: Relocation expenses are not authorized.

Application Process and Deadline Date: Interested applicants should send a
detailed resume and cover letter to the address below. The material should
include information regarding the education and professional background of
the candidate and a listing of all bar memberships.

United States Attorney's Office
Attn: Sheryl Nordahl
PO Box 8329
Missoula, MT 59807 

If Using Overnight Service:

105 E. Pine
Missoula, MT 59802

No telephone calls please. Applications must be received by 4:30 p.m.
Mountain Standard Time on the closing date, which is July 27, 2012. If you
prefer ,you may e-mail your resume and cover letter to
sheryl.nordahl at usdoj.gov. Applications sent via e-mail must be received by
4:30 p.m. Mountain Standard Time on 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 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).