Duties

Summary

The U.S. International Trade Commission is a great place to work, and we aren't the only ones who think so. We were rated #1 in the 2019 Partnership for Public Service's Best Places to Work Index for small agencies and received the highest employee satisfaction score across the Federal Government. Our Office of Operations was ranked the #3 Best Place to Work among 420 agency subcomponents of any size.
Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

This position is located in the Office of the General Counsel. The ideal candidate would possess experience in international trade with an emphasis on antidumping, countervailing duty, safeguard and/or federal administrative law and litigation, and demonstrated superior legal writing skills.

As a General Attorney, you will primarily provide legal advice and support in proceedings such as antidumping, countervailing duty and safeguard investigations under the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, and other authorities; develop litigation strategies for the protection of the USITC's interests and defend USITC decisions in the courts of the United States and other tribunals; and develop procedures and regulations to implement new or revised legislation and agency decisions. General Attorneys also may provide advice on administrative law issues.

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
15

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen or national.
• You are required to successfully complete a background investigation.
• You are required to serve a two-year trial period.
• You must provide proof of your Bar membership.
• You may be required to submit a Financial Disclosure Statement.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all of the qualification requirements, including education and any selective placement factors described below by the closing date of this announcement. Education may only be substituted in accordance with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook. Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order to be credited towards qualifications. Applicants must have the general and specialized experience outlined below which provided the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position.

To be hired as an Attorney with us, you must:

• possess at least a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) degree or a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association; AND
• currently be a member in good standing of the Bar of a state or territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

You will be required to submit proof of your Bar membership as part of your application package to show that you meet this requirement. Any offer is contingent on receipt of a letter or certificate of good standing for each bar of which the applicant is an active member dated within 30 days of any offer.

IN ADDITION to meeting the requirements above, you must meet the specific and/or specialized experience below:

To qualify at the GS-11 level, you must meet one of the criteria below:

Superior achievement in legal education as evidenced by: (a) academic standing in the upper-third of law school graduating class; (b) work or significant involvement on law review or international journal; (c) special recognition of honors for academic excellence; (d) significant involvement in advanced moot court competition; (e) judicial clerkship; (f) a graduate legal degree (LLM); or, (g) other equivalent evidence of clearly superior achievement.

At least one year of specialized experience which is defined as professional legal experience in areas such as: appellate litigation; antidumping, countervailing duty and/or safeguard law; judicial clerkship; federal administrative law; and/or experience interpreting statutes, regulations, Executive Orders, court decisions and agency determinations related to the United States International Trade Commission.

To qualify at the GS-12 level, you must have at least two years of experience which consists of the following: two years of specialized experience which is defined as professional legal experience in areas such as: appellate litigation; antidumping, countervailing duty and/or safeguard law; judicial clerkship; federal administrative law; and/or experience interpreting statutes, regulations, court decisions and agency determinations related to the United States International Trade Commission; OR one year of general experience which is defined as professional legal experience of a broad, general nature, not requiring specialization or expertise in a specific area or type of law AND one year of specialized experience which is defined as professional legal experience in areas such as: appellate litigation; antidumping, countervailing duty and/or safeguard law; judicial clerkship; federal administrative law; and/or experience interpreting statutes, regulations, Executive Orders, court decisions and agency determinations related to the United States International Trade Commission.

To qualify at the GS-13 level, you must have at least three years of experience which consists of the following: three years of specialized experience which is defined as professional legal experience in areas such as: appellate litigation; antidumping, countervailing duty and/or safeguard law; judicial clerkship; federal administrative law; and/or experience interpreting statutes, regulations, court decisions and agency determinations related to the United States International Trade Commission; OR one year of general experience which is defined as professional legal experience of a broad, general nature, not requiring specialization or expertise in a specific area or type of law AND two years of specialized experience which is defined as professional legal experience in areas such as: appellate litigation; antidumping, countervailing duty and/or safeguard law; judicial clerkship; federal administrative law; and/or experience interpreting statutes, regulations, , court decisions and agency determinations related to the United States International Trade Commission.

To qualify at the GS-14 level, you must have at least four years of experience which provided the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position. This experience must consist of the following: four years of specialized experience which is defined as professional legal experience in areas such as: appellate litigation; antidumping, countervailing duty and/or safeguard law; judicial clerkship; federal administrative law; and/or experience interpreting statutes, regulations, court decisions and agency determinations related to the United States International Trade Commission; OR one year of general experience which is defined as professional legal experience of a broad, general nature, not requiring specialization or expertise in a specific area or type of law AND three years of specialized experience which is defined as professional legal experience in areas such as: appellate litigation; antidumping, countervailing duty and/or safeguard law; judicial clerkship; federal administrative law; and/or experience interpreting statutes, regulations, , court decisions and agency determinations related to the USITC.

To qualify at the GS-15 level, you must have at least five years of experience which provided the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position. This experience must consist of the following: five years of specialized experience which is defined as professional legal experience in areas such as: appellate litigation; antidumping, countervailing duty and/or safeguard law; judicial clerkship; federal administrative law; and/or experience interpreting statutes, regulations, court decisions and agency determinations related to the United States International Trade Commission; OR one year of general experience which is defined as professional legal experience of a broad, general nature, not requiring specialization or expertise in a specific area or type of law AND four years of specialized experience which is defined as professional legal experience in areas such as: appellate litigation; antidumping, countervailing duty and/or safeguard law; judicial clerkship; federal administrative law; and/or experience interpreting statutes, regulations, court decisions and agency determinations related to the USITC.

Education

Education Requirement:
All applicants must possess a first professional law degree: J.D. or LL.B from an American Bar Association Law School, or equivalent training. Equivalent training is training permitted in some states in lieu of attendance at a law school. To be acceptable, this training must be of the kind and nature required by the state in which the bar exam is taken. A copy of your transcript(s) is required to show proof that you meet this requirement. Please see the Required Documents section of the announcement for more specific information.

Submit a copy of your transcript(s) or list of courses with credit hours, major(s) and grade-point average or class ranking. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. Click on the link for a list of accredited organizations recognized as specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials: http://www.naces.org/members.htm.

Additional information

1. If you are a male applicant who was born after December 31, 1959, you are required to certify that you are registered with the Selective Service or are exempt under Selective Service regulations. For additional information concerning Selective Service requirements, please visit www.sss.gov.

2. Time period to meet qualifications: All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

3. Verification of information: Any information claimed on your resume and in application materials, such as education, credentials and employment history will be verified as part of the security clearance process.

4. Excepted service appointments: This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer rights to permanent Civil Service status.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:

LEGAL ANALYSIS

INVESTIGATION AND LEGAL REVIEW

ORAL AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

We will evaluate your relevant education and/or work experience as they relate to the competencies, knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) mentioned above. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. Based on the results of this evaluation, you will be placed in one of the following categories:

Best: Placement in this category indicates that you have the type and quality of experience and/or education that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position, including any selective placement factors and/or appropriate quality ranking factor(s).

Better: Placement in this category indicates that you have the type and quality of experience and/or education that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position.

Good: Placement in this category indicates that you meet the minimum qualifications and/or education and are proficient in some, but not all, of the requirements of the position. You may require extensive training and/or orientation in order to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position.

Candidates in the Best category will be the first ones sent to the hiring manager for interview consideration.

Your resume, and supporting documentation for education, should contain sufficient information for us to make a valid determination that you fully meet the qualification requirements for this vacancy. We do not make inferences and can only consider the information you provide to us. Insufficient resumes and application packages will result in loss of consideration.

Your experience and education is also evaluated using an assessment questionnaire, which is available at the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/10926723

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Secret

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

1. Resume: Your resume may be in any written format you choose, and to be sufficient, should contain the required information as specified in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. Insufficient resumes, or resumes that contain inappropriate information, such as privacy information or photographs, will result in an ineligible rating.

2. Occupational questionnaire: A completed job-specific occupational questionnaire should be submitted through your Application Manager account.

3. Proof of Bar Membership: Documentation must show that you are a member of the Bar of a state, territory or commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia. If you are made an offer, you must submit a Certificate of Good Standing dated within 30 days of the offer.

4. Transcripts: You MUST submit a copy of your transcript(s), as specified under the Education section of this announcement. Unofficial transcripts are sufficient for application purposes, provided they show your classes, grades, dates of attendance and award of any degree. If selected, an official/sealed college transcript(s) will be required to verify education prior to employment.

5. Veterans' Preference: There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney positions, which are in the excepted service; however, the Commission considers veterans' preference eligibility a positive factor in the hiring of all positions. Applicants eligible for veterans' preference must include such information in their cover letter, or resume, and submit supporting documents (e.g. DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active duty) as part of their application package. Although the point preference system is not used as in the competitive service, applicants eligible to claim a 10-point preference must submit a Standard Form 15 (SF-15), and documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed, as listed on the SF-15. Specific information is available on the Office of Personnel Management website at: http://www.opm.gov.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.