Criminal Division
United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the Western District of Washington is responsible for representing the federal government in virtually all litigation in the Western District of Washington (WDWA) that involves the United States in some way. A large portion of the work involves criminal prosecutions for violations of federal law. The office also handles civil lawsuits by or against a Department or agency of the United States, and actions to collect judgments and restitution on behalf of victims and taxpayers. The USAO is divided into two litigating Divisions (Criminal and Civil). The main office is located in Seattle, Washington and a branch office is located in Tacoma, Washington. The office has an authorized strength of approximately 74 Assistant United States Attorneys.
The Assistant United States Attorneys in the Criminal Division pursue prosecutions for violations of federal law that occur within the District. Criminal Division Assistant United States Attorneys advise federal law enforcement agents on criminal investigations, present criminal cases to the grand jury, try criminal cases before the United States District Court, and at times represent the United States in criminal appeals before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The attorneys hired for these positions will be assigned to criminal matters involving various areas of federal criminal law. These positions may be located in either the Seattle or Tacoma Offices. Applicants should state their preference of office location in the cover letter. Further, any applicant hired for a position to be located in the Tacoma Office should anticipate spending the first several months in the position working at the Seattle office for training. Work in the Tacoma office also requires periodic travel to Seattle as needed for casework and additional training.
The applicants must possess a J.D. Degree, be an active member of the bar (any jurisdiction), and have at least three years post-J.D. experience. Ideal qualifications include at least five years of post-J.D. litigation experience, with some experience in criminal law.
Applicants must demonstrate a quick analytical ability and an ability to synthesize a wide range of data, help direct an investigation and have the ability accurately and precisely to articulate the critical issues in a case. Applicants must demonstrate superior oral and writing skills, strong research and interpersonal skills, and good judgment. Applicants must possess excellent communication and courtroom skills, and exhibit the ability to work in a supportive and professional manner with other attorneys, support staff and client agencies. Applicants must have a demonstrated capacity to function, with minimal guidance, in a highly demanding environment and in the highest ethical manner.
Applicants will be expected to do their own legal research and writing, and will be substantially self-sufficient in preparing day-to-day correspondence and pleadings. Applicants also must demonstrate excellent computer literacy skills to include experience with Internet research, electronic court filing, electronic mail, data management, word processing, and video-conferencing systems.
Interested persons must email the following items in pdf format to the email address listed below:
1. A cover letter referencing Vacancy Announcement: 21-WDWA-AUSA-04 (Criminal- Seattle/Tacoma);
2. A detailed resume that includes the month/year start and end dates for each position held;
3. A law school transcript for any applicant with less than five years of experience as an attorney;
4. A writing sample meeting the criteria set forth below; and
5. Current Department of Justice employees are encouraged to include a copy of their most recent annual performance evaluation (optional).
Writing Sample: Include a sample of your legal writing, such as a portion or all of an appellate brief, motion and memorandum of points and authorities, or opinion letter. The writing sample should be a recent example of your work and demonstrate your ability to analyze legal issues and present that analysis in written form.
The sample should be predominantly your own work. If the document was edited by others, include a cover memo that briefly describes the level of editing that occurred.
Tessa M. Gorman
Acting United States Attorney
700 Stewart Street, Suite 5220
Seattle, Washington 98101
Applicants should familiarize themselves and comply with the relevant rules of professional conduct regarding any possible conflicts of interest in connection with their applications. In particular, please notify this Office if you currently represent clients or adjudicate matters in which this Office is involved and/or you have a family member who is representing clients or adjudicating matters in which this Office is involved so that we can evaluate any potential conflict of interest or disqualification issue that may need to be addressed under those circumstances.
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Department Policies
Equal Employment Opportunity: The U.S. Department of Justice is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer. Except where otherwise provided by law, there will be no discrimination because of color, race, religion, national origin, political affiliation, marital status, disability (physical or mental), age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected genetic information, pregnancy, status as a parent, or any other nonmerit-based factor. The Department of Justice welcomes and encourages applications from persons with physical and mental disabilities. The Department is firmly committed to satisfying its affirmative obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advanced on the basis of merit within the Department of Justice. For more information, please review our full EEO Statement.
Reasonable Accommodations: This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Outreach and Recruitment for Qualified Applicants with Disabilities: The Department encourages qualified applicants with disabilities, including individuals with targeted/severe disabilities to apply in response to posted vacancy announcements. Qualified applicants with targeted/severe disabilities may be eligible for direct hire, non-competitive appointment under Schedule A (5 C.F.R. § 213.3102(u)) hiring authority. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to contact one of the Department’s Disability Points of Contact (DPOC) to express an interest in being considered for a position. See list of DPOCs.
Suitability and Citizenship: It is the policy of the Department to achieve a drug-free workplace and persons selected for employment will be required to pass a drug test which screens for illegal drug use prior to final appointment. Employment is also contingent upon the completion and satisfactory adjudication of a background investigation. Congress generally prohibits agencies from employing non-citizens within the United States, except for a few narrow exceptions as set forth in the annual Appropriations Act (see, https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/non-citizens/). Pursuant to DOJ component policies, only U.S. citizens are eligible for employment with the Executive Office for Immigration Review, U.S. Trustee’s Offices, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unless otherwise indicated in a particular job advertisement, qualifying non-U.S. citizens meeting immigration and appropriations law criteria may apply for employment with other DOJ organizations. However, please be advised that the appointment of non-U.S. citizens is extremely rare; such appointments would be possible only if necessary to accomplish the Department's mission and would be subject to strict security requirements. Applicants who hold dual citizenship in the U.S. and another country will be considered on a case-by-case basis. All DOJ employees are subject to a residency requirement. Candidates must have lived in the United States for at least three of the past five years. The three-year period is cumulative, not necessarily consecutive. Federal or military employees, or dependents of federal or military employees serving overseas, are excepted from this requirement. This is a Department security requirement which is waived only for extreme circumstances and handled on a case-by-case basis.
Veterans: There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Justice considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans' preference must include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., the DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty and other supporting documentation) to their submissions. Although the "point" system is not used, per se, applicants eligible to claim 10-point preference must submit Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, and submit the supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed (visit the OPM website, www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf for a copy of SF 15, which lists the types of 10-point preferences and the required supporting document(s). Applicants should note that SF 15 requires supporting documentation associated with service- connected disabilities or receipt of nonservice-connected disability pensions to be dated 1991 or later except in the case of service members submitting official statements or retirement orders from a branch of the Armed Forces showing that his or her retirement was due to a permanent service-connected disability or that he/she was transferred to the permanent disability retired list (the statement or retirement orders must indicate that the disability is 10% or more).
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This and other vacancy announcements can be found under Attorney Vacancies and Volunteer Legal Internships. The Department of Justice cannot control further dissemination and/or posting of information contained in this vacancy announcement. Such posting and/or dissemination is not an endorsement by the Department of the organization or group disseminating and/or posting the information.
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