Legal Administrative Specialist (Litigation Support)

Legal Administrative Specialist (Litigation Support)

Department: Department of Justice

Location(s): Houston, Texas

Salary Range: $86123 - $134195 Per Year

Job Summary: For more information on the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx. For more information on the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Office, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/. As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement. This position is located in the Houston office.

Major Duties:

• If selected for this position, you will serve as a Legal Administrative Specialist (Litigation Support) for the United States Attorney's Office (USAO) for the Southern District of Texas providing administrative support to Assistant U.S. Attorneys representing the United States in State and Federal courts throughout the Southern District of Texas. You will be responsible for providing analysis and advice regarding optimal utilization of technological tools in support of litigation. Typical work assignments will include: Consulting with case team members (e.g. attorneys, investigators, legal support staff) to understand case needs and technical requirements as it relates to discovery processing and review; Building and maintaining document review databases for case team use by loading image, native, and text files into databases and performing quality control on loaded files; Generating complex electronic discovery productions (e.g., Bates-numbered images with redactions and searchable text or industry standard load files) that comply with production specifications and deadlines, including productions from document review databases or productions from specified criteria; Advising and supporting case teams by acting as a subject matter expert in identifying and implementing appropriate technical solutions to manage commonly found and complex or non-standard electronically stored information in civil and/or criminal cases; Developing and providing training on litigation technology applications and e-Litigation protocols, including by preparing written training materials; Recommending a variety of software packages such as discovery processing platforms, discovery review software, and databases, trial presentation software, and spreadsheet and word processing applications; Providing technical advice to litigation teams on legal automation requirements and systems capabilities to facilitate litigation decisions, trial preparation and trial presentation; Evaluating the efficiency of litigation support technology to ensure that it is responsive to the attorney and case needs, and that it represents the best methodology available; Proposing recommendations that are based on which technology would be most effective for the organization, review, and presentation of complex and voluminous evidence or production of graphic demonstrative evidence as well as meeting individual user needs. Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

Qualifications: GS-11: To be eligible at the GS-11 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions, as defined below: Specialized Experience, Education, OR a combination of Education and Specialized Experience. Specialized Experience: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 level. Specialized experience is defined as experience: providing technical advice to litigation teams on legal automation requirements and systems capabilities to facilitate litigation decisions, trial preparation and trial presentation. In addition, serving as the subject matter expert in discovery processing platforms, discovery review software, and databases, trial presentation software, and spreadsheet and word processing applications to provide support to prepare, organize, index, develop, and manage exhibits, evidence, or other data relevant to cases presented before jurors at trial, grand jury or in other legal proceedings. Education: Possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in a related field (e.g., Criminal Justice, Law); or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree. Education must be related and demonstrate the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position. Combining Education and Experience: Combination of specialized experience and graduate level education can be used if, when combined, equivalent to 100% of the qualification requirement. Only graduate level education in excess of the first two years can be used in this calculation. To calculate your percentage of graduate education, first determine the total number of graduate level hours that exceed 36 semester hours (or your school's definition of two years of graduate study), then divide the total number of your excess graduate semester hours by 18 (or your school's definition of one year of graduate study). To calculate your percentage of specialized experience, divide the total number of months of qualifying experience by 12. Now, add the two percentages together. The sum of the percentages must equal at least 100%. (transcripts are required). GS-12: To be eligible at the GS-12 level, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level, as defined below. Specialized Experience involves performing the following types of duties: working in a legal environment providing technical advice and guidance to litigation teams on legal automation requirements, systems capabilities, and complex litigation support issues; actively participating in the investigation and litigation of criminal and/or civil cases; processing complex and voluminous electronically stored information and preparing it for review or production by a litigation team; diagnosing litigation support computer system problems to meet individual user needs and evaluating new developments in legal technology, including software courtroom presentation equipment and trial exhibit preparation; performing a wide range of information system analysis, development, and installation in support of litigation support activities for cases; and providing advice, customer support services, and project management services in connection with electronic discovery and evidence, litigation support projects, and litigation technology software applications. Career Transition Assistance Program: The CTAP provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility, 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement, and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and receive a score of 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

How to Apply: Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online assessment and submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 03/27/2026 the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows: 1. To begin the application process, click the Apply Online button. 2. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. 3. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59PM (ET) on 03/27/2026. 4. After submitting an online application, you will be notified whether or not you are required to take additional online assessments through the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment system. This message will be delivered to you both on screen and via email notification. 5. If you are asked to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be presented with a unique URL to access the USA Hire system. Access to USA Hire is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning your USA Hire Assessments. Click here for Computer System Requirements (https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=USA_Hire_System_Requirements) 6. Note, set aside at least 3 hours to take these assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue at a later time, you can re-use the URL sent to you via email and also found on the Additional Application Information page that can be located in the application record in your USAJOBS account. To preview the Assessment Questionnaire, please click the following link:https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12900740 To update your application, including supporting documentation, at any time during the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account (https://usajobs.gov). There you will find a record of your application, the application status, and an option to Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To verify the status of your application both during and after the announcement open period, log into your USAJOBS account: https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login. All of your applications will appear on the Welcome page. The application record in your USAJOBS account provides an Additional Application Information page that provides information regarding the documentation you submitted and any correspondence we have sent related to this application. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/ Reasonable Accommodation Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a reasonable accommodation in your online application. Requests for Reasonable Accommodations for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for Reasonable Accommodation must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for Reasonable Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a Reasonable Accommodation, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire

Application Deadline: 2026-03-27