Senior Litigation Counsel (Enforcement and Affirmative Litigation)

Senior Litigation Counsel (Enforcement and Affirmative Litigation)

Department: Department of Justice

Location(s): Salt Lake City, Utah, Seattle, Washington, Phoenix, Arizona, Los Angeles, California, San Francisco, California, Denver, Colorado, Washington, District of Columbia, Miami, Florida, Atlanta, Georgia, Chicago, Illinois, Indianapolis, Indiana, New Orleans, Louisiana, Boston, Massachusetts, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kansas City, Missouri, Albuquerque, New Mexico, New York, New York, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Portland, Oregon, Austin, Texas

Salary Range: $147945 - $197200 Per Year

Job Summary: The Enforcement and Affirmative Litigation Branch seeks Trial Attorneys to oversee high-impact affirmative litigation that ensures nationwide compliance with federal law. The Branch offers a frontline role in the Department's major civil enforcement initiatives. Well-qualified candidates may be eligible for a signing bonus of up to $25,000, with priority given to applicants in D.C., Raleigh, San Francisco, Dallas, and N.Y.C. However, strong applicants from any location are encouraged to apply.

Major Duties:

• The Enforcement and Affirmative Litigation Branch safeguards Americans' health, safety, economic security, and data privacy through proactive enforcement and high-impact affirmative litigation. The Branch's mission is to bring affirmative litigation to enforce federal laws and regulations, enjoin actions that conflict with or violate federal law, obtain declaratory judgments regarding the laws of the United States, and seek monetary penalties where appropriate. The Enforcement and Affirmative Litigation Branch is seeking Lead Trial Attorneys to supervise a broad range of affirmative civil litigation. The Branch is structured into two sections: an Enforcement Section that pursues cases under key consumer protection and public-safety statutes, and an Affirmative Litigation Section that files lawsuits against state, local, or private actors to ensure nationwide compliance with federal law. The incumbent serves as a Lead Trial Attorney, with an organizational title of Senior Litigation Counsel, Enforcement and Affirmative Litigation Branch, Civil Division, Department of Justice. The incumbent reports to the Assistant Director, supervises Trial Attorneys, and Paralegal Specialists, and serves as lead attorney on more complex or difficult cases. If selected you may, at the discretion of the Director or designee, be assigned work in both the Affirmative and Enforcement Sections, or other areas of the Branch, that involves supervising the work of attorneys in those areas. The incumbent provides expertise, leadership, and mentoring of Trial Attorneys in accomplishing work involving preparation for and carrying out litigation; assists Trial Attorneys through sharing of knowledge and experience; assigns and reviews work; and apprises the Assistant Director and Deputy Director, Affirmative Litigation Section, of attorneys' progress, performance, training needs, and other issues. The incumbent is accountable for results of the work performed by the assigned attorneys. The incumbent prepares for and conducts hearings, settlement negotiations, and trials of complex cases; prepares memoranda such as pleadings, motions, briefs, and other documents on the basis of factual and legal research; participates in pretrial and prehearing conferences; conducts trials and presents oral arguments in federal courts, state courts, and administrative proceedings, as appropriate; provides advice to Trial Attorneys; handles appellate litigation, as necessary; reviews and analyzes facts and develops evidence during the preparation of assigned cases. This involves handling difficult and complex cases in which legal principles are not clearly established or where they are novel. The incumbent also confers with the Assistant Director and Deputy Director of the Section to identify the policy of the Department in related litigation; applies the theory of the government's cases, determines applicable legal principles to a given statement of facts, selects and examines witnesses, and plans trial strategy and appropriate techniques; works closely with U.S. Attorneys' Offices on enforcement and litigation matters; participates in discussions with opposing counsel and in the formulation of settlements often having far-reaching legal consequences; makes recommendations with respect to proposed changes in legislation relating to provisions of law; provides advice concerning legal and policy questions related to statutes administered by the office; advises and consults with the Assistant Director and Deputy Director of the Section to report on the status of cases and matters related to legal issues within the assigned area of litigation; maintains personal contacts and works closely with officials and employees of the Section, Branch, Division, officials and employees of the Department, other government agencies, and the public on litigation and policy-related matters; responds to inquiries from the White House, Congress, federal departments and agencies, state and local authorities, and private individuals on matters within the scope of assigned statutory responsibilities; as requested, performs special legal and administrative projects requiring broad experience and sound judgement; and performs other job-related duties, as assigned.

Qualifications: Interested applicants must possess a J.D., or equivalent, degree, be duly licensed and authorized to practice as an attorney under the laws of any State, territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia, and be an active member of the bar in good standing. To qualify at the GS-15 grade level, applicants must possess at least four (4) years of post-J.D. legal experience. Qualifications must be met by the closing date of the vacancy announcement. Preferred qualifications: Applicants must have excellent academic credentials and outstanding advocacy and legal writing skills. Experience supervising teams and leading investigations and litigation, drafting and revising dispositive motions, and overseeing discovery are highly desirable. Successful applicants will be highly motived, exhibit sound judgment and creativity, and have several years of active litigation and supervisory experience. Judicial clerkship experience and familiarity with constitutional challenges and the enforcement of federal laws is strongly preferred. Trial Period Statement As a condition of employment for accepting this position in accordance with section 11.5 of Executive Order 14284, you will be required to serve a 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

How to Apply: This position is location negotiable; however, spaces are limited and priority is being given to Washington, D.C., Raleigh, San Francisco, Dallas, and New York City locations. You will be prompted to select your preferred location, and if it is not listed, you will have the opportunity to enter your preferred work location's city and state in a text box. To apply for this position, you must complete the online application questionnaire and submit your supporting documentation. Your complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 07/10/2026 to receive consideration. 1. Click "Apply Online" to get started. 2. If you're not logged in to your USAJOBS account, you will need to login. If you don't have an account, please create one. 3. You will be prompted to select one of your stored (or uploaded) resumes, and any supporting documents you have uploaded to USAJOBS. If you have not uploaded these documents, you can do so later before submitting your application. 4. After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, you will be asked to submit your demographic information (if you have provided this in your profile). Submission is optional and anonymous. 5. You'll be asked to confirm your choices and certify the accuracy of your information before you're able to continue to the Application Manager system. Until you see the blue border and DOJ logo, you are still on USAJOBS. You'll see a folder animation just before you leave USAJOBS. 6. Once you reach DOJ's Application Manager system, you'll be asked to verify the information you transmitted from USAJOBS. You will then respond to the application assessment questionnaires and indicate your eligibility options. 7. After responding to the questionnaires, you will have the opportunity to attach the documents you brought over from USAJOBS *OR* upload documents directly from your computer or device. 8. If you opt to upload a document directly, click the "Upload" button and select the document on your device, then wait for the upload to finish. Repeat as needed. Documents must be less than 3 MB each and should be in a compatible file format. 9. Once all your documents are uploaded, you must assign the uploads to the appropriate document category. You may attach more than one document to each category. Click the drop-down menu for a document category, and select one of the available options in the menu. The document will be listed under this category. You can click the drop-down again to add other documents, as needed. You can have up to 15 document assignments. 10. Once you've uploaded and assigned all your documents to an appropriate document type, you can proceed to the final verification step, and click Submit. 11. If you have correctly submitted your application, you will receive an automated e-mail notification within 30-60 minutes. Be sure to review the announcement fully to make sure that your application contains everything that is required. If you need help with the application process, please see the USAJOBS Help Site (for everything on the USAJOBS-side), or the Application Manager Help Site (for everything on the DOJ-side). Regrettably, the Department of Justice cannot assist you with USAJOBS account issues. If you contact us for assistance and the problem is related to your USAJOBS account, we will have to direct you to USAJOBS to remedy the issue.

Application Deadline: 2026-07-10