Attorney Advisor

Summary

This position is located in the Department of Program Services, Court Services Office, Court Programs Division, National Programs Branch, Electronic Public Access (EPA) Section. The federal judiciary's EPA program facilitates and improves electronic public access to court information in accordance with legislation, judiciary policies, security requirements and user demands. The Attorney Advisor executes various assignments in support of the EPA program and the program's senior leadership team.

Duties

The Attorney Advisor provides high-level legal and program analysis regarding the EPA program to various stakeholders within the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO), and expert legal and operational advice regarding the program to federal judges, court executives, court staff, and AO management. The work involves the production of a wide array of professionally written products and briefing materials. The incumbent also coordinates and collaborates with other AO and court staff on a wide range of issues that implicate the EPA program, building cross-functional teams and managing solutions. The duties of this position include, but are not limited to: Providing policy guidance on how statutes and Judicial Conference of the United States (JCUS) policies relating to privacy and public access impact the appropriate availability and accessibility of dockets and documents on the judiciary's Case Management/Electronic Case Files system and its Public Access to Court Electronic Records service. Serving as staff to the AO's EPA Working Group, including researching, writing, and editing meeting materials, presenting issues to the Working Group, preparing meeting minutes, and taking the lead on executing group recommendations where appropriate. Serving as staff to the AO's EPA Public User Group, developing materials for the group's consideration, and helping EPA program staff ensure that group recommendations are vetted through appropriate judiciary decision-making channels and adopted recommendations are implemented Helping to build and maintaining an intra-agency team of subject-matter experts that can advise the program on proposed initiatives related to electronic public access for consideration by the JCUS and judiciary leaders and develop creative solutions for enhancing public access to electronic court records. Assisting in analyzing and communicating about the impact of proposed legislation on judiciary public access policies and EPA services. Working with AO staff, including the AO's Office of Public Affairs, to produce EPA program communication materials such as reports for the judiciary and Congress, responses to congressional and media inquiries, and articles for judiciary publications. Collaborating with the AO's JCUS Committee staff to develop and present in writing EPA policy and pilot recommendations to Committee members. Implementing and maintaining the operations of various public access programs approved by the JCUS, including the program to provide all designated judicial opinions to the Government Publishing Office for posting online and the judiciary's centralized service for academic researchers to request fee-exempt access to dockets and documents from multiple courts. Producing recurring and ad hoc analyses and reports on various issues for both internal and external customers, including preparing materials for periodic financial reviews and annual reports to Congress. Coordinating logistical activities for EPA advisory group meetings, including agenda development, the timeline for materials development, and members' travel Providing legal advice in coordination with the AO's Office of General Counsel to other Programs Division areas, i.e., records management and library services.

Requirements

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT All information is subject to verification. Applicants are advised that false answers or omissions of information on application materials or inability to meet the following conditions may be grounds for non-selection, withdrawal of an offer of employment, or dismissal after being employed. Selection for this position is contingent upon completion of OF-306, Declaration of Federal Employment during the pre-employment process and proof of U.S. citizenship for competitive status positions or conversion to a competitive status position with the AO. If non-citizens are considered for hire into a temporary or any other position with non-competitive status or when it is confirmed by the AO Human Resources Office there are no qualified U.S. citizens for a competitive status position (unless prohibited by a law or statue), non-citizens must provide proof of authorization to work in the U.S. and proof of entitlement to receive compensation. Additional information on the employment of non-citizens can be found at USAJOBS Help Center | Employment of non-citizens/. For a list of documents that may be used to provide proof of citizenship or authorization to work in the United States, please refer to Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. All new AO employees will be required to complete an FBI fingerprint-based national criminal database and records check and pass a public trust suitability check. New employees to the AO will be required to successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights/responsibilities, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/. All new AO employees are required to identify a financial institution for direct deposit of pay before appointment. You will be required to serve a trial period if selected for a first-time appointment to the Federal government, transferring from another Federal agency, or serving as a first-time supervisor. Failure to successfully complete the trial period may result in termination of employment. If appointed to a temporary position, management may have the discretion of converting the position to permanent depending upon funding and staffing allocation.

Qualifications and evaluation

We will review your resume and supporting documentation and compare this information to your responses on the occupational questionnaire to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for this job. If you meet the minimum qualifications for this job, we will evaluate your application package, to assess the quality, depth, and complexity of your accomplishments, experience, and education as they relate to the requirements listed in this vacancy announcement. You should be aware that your ratings are subject to evaluation and verification. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume and/or narrative responses, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Failure to submit the mandatory narrative responses will result in not receiving full consideration and/or rating credit. Deliberate attempts to falsify information may be grounds for not selecting you, withdrawing an offer of employment, or dismissal after being employed.

Education

Applicants must possess a law degree (J.D.) from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA). Qualifying education must have been obtained from an accredited college or university recognized by the Department of Education. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on OPM's website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/.

How to apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the online application and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 10/29/2026 to receive consideration. To begin, click Apply Online to access an online application. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account or you may need to create a new account. You will be taken to an online application. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation, and submit the application. You will receive an email notification when your application has been received for the announcement. To verify the status of your application, 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 Application Status page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and your responses submitted to the online application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. Click the following link to view and print the occupational questionnaire https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13069780

Required documents

For this job announcement the following documents and/or information are required: Resume - Any written format you choose to describe your job-related qualifications. Citizenship - Include country of citizenship on resume. Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) - All applicants outside of the AO must submit a copy of your latest SF-50 to verify current or former Federal employment status. Veterans Preference documentation - Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (DD Form 214), if applicable Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (SF-15) and an official statement, dated 1991 or later, from the Department of Veterans Affairs or from a branch of the Armed Forces, certifying to the veteran's present receipt of compensation.

Additional information

The AO is an Equal Opportunity Employer.