Trial Attorney (Labor)

Summary

This position is located in the Atlanta, GA or Nashville, TN, regional office and serves under the Department of Labor Office of the Solicitor. The regional offices have responsibility for the trial in U.S. District Courts and before administrative law judges of all civil litigation under the acts, statutes, and authorities. This position is outside the bargaining unit.

Duties

The incumbent is responsible for the direction and conduct of litigation under states in the region's designated area of responsibility, under one or more of the following statutes and program areas: Under the direction of more senior attorneys the incumbent assists on cases related to the: Employee Retirement Income Security Act; Fair Labor Standards Act; Occupational Safety and Health Act; Mine Safety and Health Act; Davis-Bacon and Related Acts; McNamara- O'Hara Service Contract Act; Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act; Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act; Black Lung Benefits Act; Employment Retirement Income Security Act; Family and Medical Leave Act; Executive Order 11246; Handling internal labor and employment-related litigation involving Department of Labor employees within the Region, including: Appeals of personnel actions to the Merit Systems Protection Board Claims of discrimination filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Cases arising under Executive Order 11491 dealing with Federal union-management activities, and; Other statutes administered or enforced by the Department. The incumbent advises, counsels, and works with the various regional Department of Labor agencies in representing the Secretary of Labor. The incumbent is assigned important legal cases arising within the Region, often involving complex and difficult factual, procedural, substantive, and administrative issues that potentially have an effect on positions taken by the agency heads on programmatic enforcement both regionally and nationally and often have a substantial impact on one or more particular industries. The cases routinely involve extensive research, analysis, and the use of expert testimony in controversial and highly technical areas in the scientific, medical, financial, statistical, and engineering fields. The cases frequently involve large sums of money, multi-establishment employers with large numbers of employees, important enforcement policies, and novel issues. The incumbent is expected to litigate delicate matters in which the government has assumed a heavy burden of proof and/or cases where there has been media attention or interest from members of Congress.

Qualifications and evaluation

This is an Excepted Service position and is open as well to Non-Citizens as allowed by law. This position will be filled through an alternative hiring process and is not in the competitive civil service. Applicants meeting the minimum qualification requirements for this position will be further evaluated against the following evaluation factors. Current and/or past supervisors may be contacted unless specified otherwise. A panel and/or the selecting official or his/her designee may interview applicants. Evaluation Factors: Demonstrated skill in researching and preparing well-written, organized, and persuasive legal documents. Ability to make effective oral presentations in a clear and concise manner. Ability to establish and maintain effective liaison with high-level departmental officials, regional program officials, supervisors, agency staff, and the general public. Ability to multi-task in a complex and fast-paced inter-disciplinary legal environment, entailing timely collections of facts, identification and resolution of issues, enumeration of options, and formulation of recommendations. It is the responsibility of the applicant to supply sufficient information to provide a basis for rating each of the evaluation factors listed above.

Education

A LL.B or J.D. is a requirement for this position. If you do not submit sufficient academic documentation necessary to demonstrate that you meet the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements described in this announcement, your application will be deemed incomplete and you will be ineligible for further consideration for this vacancy. Any applicant falsely claiming an academic degree from an accredited school will be subject to actions ranging from disqualification from federal employment to removal from federal service. If your education was completed at a foreign college or university, you must show comparability to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States and comparability to applicable minimum course work requirements for this position. Click Evaluation of Foreign Education for more information.

How to apply

Persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, or have speech disabilities, please dial 711 to access telecommunications relay services. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, including submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section. Your application and ALL required supplemental documents MUST be received by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on the vacancy closing date to receive consideration. Paper applications and supplemental documents submitted in any other manner without prior approval from the vacancy contact will not be considered. Click here for information on Reasonable Accommodations. Important - Save your information before the 30 minute system timeout! For help, go to USAJOBS Help Center. STEP 1 - Create USAJOBS Account on www.usajobs.gov, including Resume and Saved Documents. Your resume must provide sufficient information to substantiate your responses to the self-assessment vacancy questions. If not, HR may amend your responses to more accurately reflect the competency indicated by resume content. For each employment period, include start/end month & year and note full-time or part-time (if part-time, include # of hours worked per week) otherwise, your application may be considered incomplete. NOTE: In alignment with the Presidential Memorandum titled Merit Hiring Plan, dated May 29, 2025, applicants may only submit a resume limited to two (2) pages. Only the résumé uploaded under the 'Resume" document type in USAJOBS will be reviewed. If the resume submitted exceeds two (2) pages, the application will be deemed ineligible for further consideration. STEP 2 - Complete the 1st part of the application process (USAJOBS). Once you have identified a job on USAJOBS that you wish to apply for, click on the job title and then click the Apply button. For questions about the vacancy, contact the Agency Contact at the bottom of the announcement. Proceed through the steps noted at the top of the USAJOBS page. You will be able to select a resume and documents from your USAJOBS Account that you can submit as a package as part of your DOL application. In the final step, once you have certified your application, click the Continue to agency site button. STEP 3 - Complete the 2nd part of the application process (DOL). On the Department of Labor (DOL) page, create a DOL Account if you have not already and click Apply to this vacancy. Continue through the progress steps at the top of the DOL page. The 2nd progress step is where you answer the vacancy-specific questions. The 3rd progress step Documents is where you submit the required documents (only if applicable to you) specified in the Required Documents section of this vacancy. STEP 4 - On the Review and Submit step, verify each section of your application is complete and correct. In order to submit your application, you must have a check mark next to each section listed. If there is an X, return to the appropriate section and follow the prompts. When it is ready for submission, certify your application and click the Submit Application button. STEP 5 - Edit Application as needed by 11:59 pm Eastern Time of Closing Date by returning to USAJOBS, clicking the vacancy, then Update Application. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. For more detailed information on applying for positions with DOL click here to view the U.S. Department of Labor, How to Apply website.

Required documents

The following documents must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on the vacancy closing date. You are not required to submit a document if it does not apply to you. Resumes: Required and applicants must provide a resume either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one from your profile. To receive full consideration for relevant and specialized experience, please list the month, year, and number of work hours worked for the experience listed on your resume. We also suggest that you preview the vacancy questions, and confirm that your resume supports your question responses. Bar Certificate: You MUST provide proof that you are a member in good standing of the bar of a court of general jurisdiction of a state, territory or possession of the U.S. This letter and/or certificate should be dated within the last six months of the closing date of this job announcement. Transcripts: You MUST provide a copy of your law school transcript to be considered for this position. Verification of your academic degree(s) is necessary to determine your qualifications or eligibility for this position. Unofficial transcripts may be submitted during the application phase of the process, although you will be required to submit official transcripts for verification purposes before you are hired. Please note that you must earn a J.D. or L.L.B degree before you can begin working. Writing Sample: In addition to your transcripts applicants MUST also provide an unedited legal writing sample that is no more than ten (10) pages long with your application in order to receive further consideration. The writing sample can a portion of a brief or memorandum. Veterans Documents (if applicable): Attorney appointments within the Department of Labor are positions in the excepted service, not the competitive service. There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference in attorney appointments; however, the Department of Labor considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. In order to receive positive consideration, you must indicate your eligibility, in response to the appropriate item on the vacancy questionnaire. Additionally, you must submit a copy of your Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, DD214 showing the type of discharge and dates of active duty and, if applicable, a VA letter certifying the present existence of the service-connected disability which indicates the percentage of your disability. (For active-duty service members expecting to be honorably discharged or released within 120 days, click Active Duty) Without this documentation, you will not receive the veteran's consideration. Additional information is available at Feds Hire Vets - Veterans Preference You may also find more information on positive considerations for attorney hiring. Cover Letter(s) are not mandatory and will not be used to verify experience but may be submitted. Applicants selected for employment who are not current DOL employees will be required to provide proof of citizenship, or non-citizenship as allowable in Excepted Service hiring through P.L. 112-10, and the E-Verify system will be used to confirm the employment eligibility of all new hires. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1 year trial 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 your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. 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.

Additional information

Applicants must meet all legal and regulatory requirements. Reference the Required Documents section for additional requirements. Click for Career Ladder Promotion Information The mission of the Department of Labor (DOL) is to protect the welfare of workers and job seekers, improve working conditions, expand high-quality employment opportunities, and assure work-related benefits and rights for all workers. Refer to these links for more information: GENERAL INFORMATION, REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION, ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION, FORMER FEDERAL EMPLOYEES As a condition of employment, all personnel must undergo a background investigation for access to DOL facilities, systems, information and/or classified materials before they can enter on duty: BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION Click for Telework Eligibility Information Based on agency needs, additional positions may be filled using this vacancy. The Fair Chance Act (FCA) prohibits Federal agencies from requesting an applicant's criminal history information before the agency makes a conditional offer of employment. If you believe a DOL employee has violated your rights under the FCA, you may file a complaint of the alleged violation following our agency's complaint process Guidelines for Reporting Violations of the Fair Chance Act. Note: The FCA does not apply to some positions specified under the Act, such as law enforcement or national security positions. All Department of Labor employees are subject to the provisions of the Drug-Free Workplace Program under Executive Order 12564 and Public Law 100-71.