Legal Careers
Assistant United States Trustee
Portland, OR 97205-3026 - United States
The USTP is a litigating component of the Department of Justice with responsibility for overseeing nearly all bankruptcy cases filed in the United States - from chapters 7, 12, and 13 cases to major chapter 11 business reorganizations. The Program's mission is to promote the integrity and efficiency of the bankruptcy system for the benefit of all stakeholders - debtors, creditors, and the public. USTP employees headquartered in Washington, DC, and in 92 field office locations across the country handle a wide range of administrative, regulatory, and enforcement matters. Of particular importance are the Program's efforts to address fraud and abuse by debtors, creditors, and others in the bankruptcy system by taking both formal and informal civil enforcement actions and making criminal referrals to U.S. Attorneys as appropriate.
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.
As an Assistant United States Trustee, you will be responsible for the administrative and legal management of the United States Trustee's Portland, OR office, including the supervision of personnel assigned to the office.
As an Assistant United States Trustee, your typical work assignments may include the following:
- Coordinate and oversee the administration of a field office.
- Supervise a staff of trial attorneys, auditors, bankruptcy analysts, paralegals, and support personnel.
- Assign and monitor workload and assign work as necessary to accommodate workload surges and other unexpected increases or decreases to workload.
- Maintain a limited caseload, performing all duties involved in case administration including the preparation and presentation of cases before the bankruptcy court.
- Serve as a liaison to the bankruptcy court, the bar, other federal agencies, and any parties involved in the bankruptcy system.
- Assist the United States Trustee (UST) in establishing, maintaining, training, and supervising a panel of private trustees.
- Performs special projects at the request of the UST and the Executive Office.
- Responsible for the furtherance of equal opportunity in the employment, career development, advancement, and treatment of employees within the office.
Required Qualifications:
Internal candidates who wish to be considered must demonstrate in their resume that they have at least five (5) years post J.D. professional legal experience in interpreting, applying and advocating on behalf of clients the provisions of the United States Bankruptcy Code, the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and related laws, rules, and regulations that arise in bankruptcy cases.
External candidates who wish to be considered must demonstrate in their resume that they have at least seven (7) years post J.D. professional legal experience in interpreting, applying and advocating on behalf of clients the provisions of the United States Bankruptcy Code, the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and related laws, rules, and regulations that arise in bankruptcy cases.
Preferred Qualifications: In addition to the required qualifications listed above, it is desired that applicants have three or more years' experience in managing or supervising and providing legal skills training to attorneys.
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Candidates must have a Juris Doctorate Degree from a law school. It must be annotated in your resume.
BAR MEMBERSHIP: Candidates must be an active member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico with a valid license to practice law. It must be annotated in your resume.
You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this vacancy announcement.
You must apply through the USA Staffing on-line job application system at https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/498777100, complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section.
The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (Eastern) on the closing date on the closing date of the announcement to be considered.
To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click the Submit My Answers button to submit your application package. It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation are submitted prior to the closing date.
To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the More Information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
To apply for this position, you must submit:
- Resume showing relevant experience. Your resume showing relevant experience and dates the experience was obtained. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. (cover letter optional)
- Veteran documentation, (if applicable)
- SF-50 (optional)
- CTAP/ICTAP documentation, (if applicable)
- Schedule (A) Documentation (if applicable)
- An unofficial law school transcript
- Your Responses to the Occupational Questionnaire
If selected for this position, you will be required to provide proof of Juris Doctorate degree and bar membership (including certification of good standing) before a firm job offer is extended.
Failure to provide all required documentation will deem your application incomplete and you will not be considered further.
The appropriate salary range, including locality pay adjustments is: AD-00 $105,123.00 - $161,600.00
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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.