Legal Careers
Assistant United States Attorney - Criminal Appeals
The United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California (USAO) is responsible for representing the federal government in virtually all litigation involving the United States in the Central District of California. This includes criminal prosecutions for violations of federal law, civil lawsuits by and against the government, and actions to collect judgments and restitution on behalf of victims and taxpayers. With an authorized strength of approximately 280 Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs), the USAO is the second largest in the country. The USAO is divided into four litigating Divisions (Criminal, National Security, Civil, and Tax). The USAO's main offices are in Los Angeles. The USAO's Criminal Division has branch offices in Santa Ana and Riverside.
As the federal agency whose mission is to ensure the fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans, the Department of Justice is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. To build and retain a workforce that reflects the diverse experiences and perspectives of the American people, we welcome applicants from the many communities, identities, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, religions, and cultures of the United States who share our commitment to public service.
The office is interviewing for one (1) AUSA in the Criminal Appeals Section of the Criminal Division.
AUSAs in the Criminal Appeals Section supervise or handle all of the Office’s criminal matters before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals—including some 200 briefs and nearly 100 oral arguments each year. These cases involve some of the most challenging legal issues in criminal law, including constitutional challenges to criminal convictions, statutory issues of first impression, sentencing challenges, and appeals from substantial (and often high-profile) trials. AUSAs in the section also work closely with the Solicitor General’s Office to determine which cases raise significant legal issues that are worthy of government appeal, en banc rehearing, or Supreme Court review.
The position provides a unique opportunity to gain substantial experience before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Although AUSAs from other sections write and argue many of their own appeals, AUSAs from the Criminal Appeals Section have editorial control over all briefs, hold moot courts for all oral arguments, and write and handle their own appeals. In addition, they provide counsel to trial attorneys on difficult legal issues, developing significant expertise in criminal procedure and strategy.
Required qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. degree, be an active member of the bar (any jurisdiction), and have at least 3 years post-J.D. experience. If not already an active member of the California bar, any applicant hired will be required to take (prior to their entry on duty date) and subsequently pass the California bar exam. AUSAs must become active members of the California bar and maintain California bar membership.
Preferred qualifications: Hiring for AUSA positions within the USAO is highly competitive. The USAO seeks a diverse complement of lawyers with a wide range of exceptional skills and experience, unified by keen intelligence and sincere commitment to public interest. Litigation experience, superior academic record, excellent writing skills, impeccable character, demonstrated interest in public service, courtroom presence, and the ability to work with and relate to a wide variety of people are all taken into account. Most attorneys hired have several years of experience, although highly qualified recent graduates with some experience in practice or as a judicial clerk are also considered. Ties to the Central District of California will be considered.
All initial attorney appointments to the Department of Justice are made on a 14 month (temporary) basis pending favorable adjudication of a background investigation.
Attorneys seeking a position as an AUSA should complete TWO documents:
1. The application in native .pdf form (click here to reach application): APPLICATION FOR EMPLOYMENT AS AN ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA; and
2. A second .pdf containing, in the following order, a cover letter to the attention of United States Attorney E. Martin Estrada, resume, law school transcript, and brief writing sample which demonstrates an ability to write persuasively.
a. The writing sample should be the independent work product of the applicant or contain only minimal edits by others;
b. Applicants are encouraged to include a cover page identifying which portions of the writing sample reflects the applicant’s independent writing and/or explaining the amount of revising or editing that was done by others; and
c. Judicial opinions are disfavored as writing samples.
The two PDFs should be e-mailed to USACAC.AUSAHiring@usdoj.gov (link sends e-mail). Please be sure to indicate that you are applying for the Criminal Appeals Section and include all jurisdictions in which admitted to practice law.
NOTE: The application must be submitted in a particular way in order to be uploaded successfully into our system. Specifically, it must remain in native .pdf format with the form fields intact to upload. If it cannot be uploaded, we will ask you to submit again. To submit the application correctly:
- Use a full version of Adobe Acrobat to fill out the application. Do not use simply the Viewer software.
- After you open the application, first download or “save as” the blank application to your computer/ desktop. Then, open it fresh into Adobe. You can then enter the data and save the application as a .pdf
- You do not need to manually or digitally sign the application; your name will fill in
- Do not save any attachments to the application .pdf
- Do not print to .pdf, or print, sign and scan the document to .pdf
This position is open until filled, but applications will be considered on a rolling basis until December 31, 2023. No telephone calls please.
AUSA pay is administratively determined based, in part, on the number years of professional attorney experience. The range of pay is $102,419 to $183,400 per year.
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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 race, color, religion, national origin, sex - including gender identity, sexual orientation, or pregnancy status - or because of age (over 40), physical or mental disability, protected genetic information, parental status, marital status, political affiliation, or any other non-merit 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 their retirement was due to a permanent service-connected disability or that they were transferred to the permanent disability retired list (the statement or retirement orders must indicate that the disability is 10% or more).
USAO Residency Requirement: Assistant United States Attorneys must reside in the district to which appointed or within 25 miles thereof. See 28 U.S.C. 545 for district specific information.
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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.