General Attorney (Labor)

Summary

The Office of the Solicitor is seeking a talented advice attorney to join the Appropriations Law Counsel team. The person selected will be part of a team of attorneys providing written and oral advice to senior officials and leaders within the Department of Labor on issues involving intellectual property, the scope and application of agency appropriations and authority, agency operations, and financial management in support of Departmental mission priorities.

Duties

The selected attorney will provide legal advice to Departmental leaders and senior officials on a wide range of matters relating to agency appropriations and authority, including the proper obligation and expenditure of Federal funds, the application of appropriations riders and prohibitions to day-to-day agency operations, and the legal sufficiency of agency re-organizations, intellectual property law (trademark, copyright, and government Data Rights), delegations of authority, draft appropriations and other legislative language, and responses to Congressional and other oversight, among other things. The Appropriations Law Counsel team also advises on how the Department may implement new and exciting program and policy efforts, as well as a wide range of continuing operational matters such as the management of federal intellectual, real, and personal property, Secretarial protection operations, and agency financial reporting. Duties will include analyzing complex legal questions, often with limited precedent and on short deadlines, engaging with agency officials to obtain relevant facts, and providing formal and informal written legal opinions. The selected attorney will regularly review and evaluate interagency agreements, memoranda of understanding, departmental policy documents, and communications to Congress, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of Inspector General. The Office of the Solicitor's Management and Administrative Legal Services Division provides legal advice and litigation services critical to the execution of the Department's strategic vision of empowering all workers morning, noon and night, and the Department's mission to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights. This position is inside the bargaining unit.

Qualifications

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. To qualify for an attorney position, applicants must possess a professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.); be a member in good standing of the bar of a court of general jurisdiction of a state, territory or possession of the U.S.; and have acquired the amount of experience indicated below for each grade level. For GS-14 grade level, applicants must have three (3) years of post-law experience progressively responsible legal experience of a professional nature which demonstrates the ability to perform the work at this level. At least one year of qualifying experience, at this level, must be Specialized Experience as defined below. Specialized Experience: One year (52 weeks) of post-J.D. specialized experience at or equivalent to, the GS-14 Grade level, in or directly related to this position. One year (52 weeks) of specialized experience commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the position at a level close to the work of this job that has given you the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully perform. Specialized Experience that is qualifying grade for this position is described as the following: For GS 14 Grade Qualifying Specialized Experience: Experience researching and analyzing legal issues involving one or more of the following functional areas: Federal fiscal/appropriations law, government authority and operations, and intellectual property law; and Experience effectively communicating, both orally and in writing, accurate legal advice on one or more of the following functional areas: Federal fiscal/appropriations law, agency authority and operations, and intellectual property law. NOTE: A LL.M. may be substituted for a maximum of one year of experience. 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, you will be required to submit an official transcript for verification purposes before you are hired. However, unofficial transcripts may be submitted during the application phase of the process. Please note that your J.D. or LL. B degree must be conferred before you can begin working.

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 You Will Be Evaluated

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: Ability to perform sound legal research and analysis. Excellent oral and written communications skills, including the ability to draft well-written, organized and persuasive legal documents, and the ability to make effective oral presentations in a clear and concise manner, including presentations to clients. Ability to advise senior management officials, colleagues and clients, and to establish and maintain effective working relationships with personnel of all levels. Experience researching, interpreting, and applying statutes, regulations, and other law, particularly relating to Federal appropriations and authority, government operations, and/or intellectual property law. Experience effectively managing a multidisciplinary workload with short deadlines. Knowledge of specific contexts in which appropriations/fiscal law issues often arise - such as legislation, grants, contracts, budgeting, and financial management - is a plus. Knowledge of other legal disciplines within the MALS Division, such as intellectual property law, procurement, employment/labor law, information law, Constitutional law, real property and facilities management law, public health law, and legal aspects of federal criminal law enforcement, is considered a plus

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 Certification: Should you be selected for this position, you will be required to submit documentation verifying that you are an active member of the Bar in Good Standing of any State, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or any Territorial Court under the U.S. Constitution. This letter and/or certificate should be dated within the last six months of the closing date of this job announcement. Transcript(s): Should you be selected for this position; you will be required to submit documentation verifying that you have completed your first professional law degree. Applicants who claim substitution of education for experience with an LL.M. must submit a copy of their transcripts for verification. Writing Sample: Applicants must submit a writing sample. Some examples of documents demonstrating writing skills are briefs, legal memoranda, and opinion letters. These examples should total no more than 10 pages in length. Extracts of selected sections of larger documents are acceptable. This work must be your own, not edited by someone else. 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. Displaced Employee Placement Documents: These documents are only required if you are requesting priority consideration under ICTAP/CTAP Eligibility. Applicants with disabilities (SCHEDULE A) applying under the area of consideration must submit proof of certification by counselors, State vocational rehabilitation agencies, or the Veterans Administration. 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 period 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 trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

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 applicati...

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. To qualify for an attorney position, applicants must possess a professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.); be a member in good standing of the bar of a court of general jurisdiction of a state, territory or possession of the U.S.; and have acquired the amount of experience indicated below for each grade level. For GS-14 grade level, applicants must have three (3) years of post-law experience progressively responsible legal experience of a professional nature which demonstrates the ability to perform the work at this level. At least one year of qualifying experience, at this level, must be Specialized Experience as defined below. Specialized Experience: One year (52 weeks) of post-J.D. specialized experience at or equivalent to, the GS-14 Grade level, in or directly related to this position. One year (52 weeks) of specialized experience commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the position at a level close to the work of this job that has given you the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully perform. Specialized Experience that is qualifying grade for this position is described as the following: For GS 14 Grade Qualifying Specialized Experience: Experience researching and analyzing legal issues involving one or more of the following functional areas: Federal fiscal/appropriations law, government authority and operations, and intellectual property law; and Experience effectively communicating, both orally and in writing, accurate legal advice on one or more of the following functional areas: Federal fiscal/appropriations law, agency authority and operations, and intellectual property law. NOTE: A LL.M. may be substituted for a maximum of one year of experience. 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, you will be required to submit an official transcript for verification purposes before you are hired. However, unofficial transcripts may be submitted during the application phase of the process. Please note that your J.D. or LL. B degree must be conferred before you can begin working.