Trial Attorney (Office of Immigration Litigation)

Trial Attorney (Office of Immigration 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 Office of Immigration Litigation is seeking attorneys to work on the Department's most significant immigration cases, handling litigation in federal circuit courts of appeals and leading nearly all immigration matters in district courts nationwide. Well-qualified candidates may be eligible for 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:

• 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.

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. Preferred qualifications: Applicants should have excellent writing, negotiation, and interpersonal skills; exhibit good judgment, and have experience in trial work. Judicial clerkship experience is 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.

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