Legal Careers
Assistant U.S. Attorney, Criminal Division Attorney
487 Federal Building, 100 Centennial Mall North, Lincoln NE 68508
Lincoln, NE 68508 - United States
The United States Attorney's Office prosecutes federal offenses and defends the U.S. Government's interest in civil cases. The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Nebraska covers all counties in the State of Nebraska. The headquarters office is located in Omaha, Nebraska with a branch office located in Lincoln, Nebraska. This office places a high value on the diversity of experience and cultural perspectives and encourages applications from attorneys from all ethnic groups, women, veterans, and individuals with disabilities.
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 incumbent(s) will be working in the Criminal Division of the Lincoln, Nebraska office. The criminal caseload for the selected applicant will primarily consist of the investigation and prosecution of major drug cases. However, over time, the successful applicant’s case work may include the full variety of crimes investigated and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office, to include prosecution of gang-related violent crimes, other crimes of violence, immigration, Indian Country offenses, computer crimes including child pornography and sophisticated white collar offenses. The applicant selected will represent the U.S. Government as an Assistant United States Attorney on a wide range of unique and complex cases.
This is a permanent position; however, all initial attorney appointments to the Department of Justice are made on a 14-month (temporary) basis pending favorable adjudication of a background investigation.
Assistant United States Attorneys generally must reside in the district to which he or she is appointed or within 25 miles thereof. See 28 U.S.C. § 545 for district-specific information.
United States citizen is required.
Required Qualifications: Applicants for an AUSA position must possess a J.D. degree and be an active member in good standing of at least one bar (any jurisdiction), and have at least three-five years post-J.D. legal experience.
Preferred Qualifications: Applicants must demonstrate a quick analytical ability, the facility to accurately and precisely articulate the critical issues in a case, demonstrate exceptional brief writing and oral advocacy skills and exercise 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 office and courtroom environment.
Applicants will be expected to conduct their own legal research and writing and must be substantially self-sufficient in preparing day-to-day correspondence and pleadings. Applicants must also possess computer literacy skills to include experience with automated research, email and word processing systems.
Interested applicants should send a resume, cover letter and writing sample. Resumes should include detailed description of employment history, to include dates of employment.
Applications should be submitted via email to denise.smith@usdoj.gov.
The application documents should be contained within one file (with one file name) in PDF format.
Assistant United States Attorneys' pay is administratively determined based, in part, on the number of years of professional attorney experience. The range of pay is $59,319 - $139,183, plus locality pay.
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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.