Trial Attorney - Office of Immigration Litigation

Trial Attorney - Office of Immigration Litigation

Department: Department of Justice

Location(s): Washington, District of Columbia

Salary Range: $85447 - $197200 Per Year

Job Summary: The Office of Immigration Litigation seeks attorneys eager to work at the forefront of the Department's most significant immigration cases, handling high-impact litigation in federal circuit courts of appeals and many immigration matters in district courts nationwide. Well-qualified candidates may be eligible for a signing bonus of $10,000 or more. All recipients are required to fulfill a service obligation; the length of this obligation will vary based on the bonus amount and other factors.

Major Duties:

• The office is led by a Director, three Deputy Directors, and one Associate Director, along with a dynamic group of attorney managers, all who collectively reflect an abiding dedication to public service. Trial Attorney responsibilities primarily involve: coordinating with the agency clients; crafting litigation strategy; conducting necessary pre-trial work; drafting all complaints, motions, answers, and briefs; participating in hearings, oral arguments, and court-ordered discussions; engaging in settlement talks to advance the government's interests; making determinations about whether to seek panel, en bane, or Supreme Court/cert. review of adverse decisions and substantially participating in further review briefing and argument; and handling attorney's fees litigation. OIL's Trial Attorneys likewise contribute significantly as expert consultants on immigration-related inquiries from Congress and the Department. OIL's district court litigation often involves high-profile matters, frequently entails short-fuse/emergency, fast-paced temporary restraining order litigation, and ordinarily requires analyzing substantially complex immigration, administrative, statutory interpretation, and constitutional law issues and principles. In contrast, OIL's appellate court litigation entails responding to motions for stays of removal, filing motions for summary affirmance or dismissal, drafting complex appellate briefs, and appearing for oral arguments throughout the nation. Some examples of the Office's current and anticipated litigation include: defense of challenges to the expansion of streamlined expedited removal procedures implicating border security; increased defense of review petitions in the federal courts of appeals stemming from a substantial backlog of immigration court cases and expansion of interior enforcement efforts and that raise novel, difficult issues about criminal and other removal grounds, asylum and protection law, and the availability of relief under the immigration statute; defense of the Administration's immigration initiatives reflected in recent Executive Orders such as efforts designed to secure the border, in partnership with other Division components; defense of habeas petitions challenging immigration custody and immigration detainers, particularly under the recently-enacted Laken Riley Act; litigation involving the administration of temporary employment authorization, foreign worker and investor programs; investigation and litigation of civil actions to revoke naturalization; and defense of mandamus litigation involving alleged delay of agency action and that has increased dramatically over the last several years. Given the Administration's prioritization and focus on immigration enforcement (reflected in part by several immigration-related Executive Orders signed by the President since January 20), OIL's workload is expected to increase dramatically across most of these categories. The organization works closely with United States Attorney's Offices on immigration related matters, and OIL provides support and counsel to all federal agencies involved in the admission, regulation, and removal of noncitizens under our immigration and nationality statutes, as well as related areas of border enforcement and national security. This is not a remote location position. You will be required to work in person five days a week.

Qualifications: To qualify for the position of Trial Attorney - Office of Immigration Litigation, at GS-0905-11/12/13/14/15, you must meet the basic qualification requirements listed below. Possessing the minimum post law degree legal experience does not guarantee the applicant will be selected at that grade level. GS-11 - minimum up to 1 year post-JD legal experience GS-12 - minimum 1 or more years post-JD legal experience GS-13 - minimum 1.5 or more years post-JD legal experience GS-14 - minimum 2.5 years post-JD legal experience GS-15 - minimum 4 years post-JD legal experience Examples of the experience described above include: independently performing legal analysis; composing pleadings, briefs and other court documents involving unique and/or difficult legal issues in civil or criminal litigation; conducting highly complex civil or criminal litigation; and leading paralegals and support staff. Qualifications must be met by the closing date of the vacancy announcement. Preferred qualifications: Applicants should also have excellent academic credentials and outstanding advocacy and legal writing skills. Experience arguing motions, handling discovery, developing expert witness testimony, trying cases, and a federal judicial clerkship are highly desirable. 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. You MUST meet all qualification requirements by the 07/10/2026 of this announcement.

How to Apply: 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. 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. NEED HELP? If you need help with USAJOBs or the application process, please see the USAJOBS Help or Application Manager Online Help websites which includes information on managing your account, creating an application, uploading documents, etc.

Application Deadline: 2026-07-10