ATTORNEY ADVISOR

About the role

The primary purpose of this position in this competitive program offers recent law school graduates an opportunity to serve the Air Force and Space Force as a civilian attorney.

Selectees will receive extensive training and work as an Attorney-Advisor (General), supporting the Staff Judge Advocate (SJA), providing legal advice and counsel, as needed, in administrative law, claims, environmental law, contract law, labor law and international law to wing and tenant units.

What you will do

• the assessment and evaluation of legal compliance, legal sufficiency, and/or advisability, local policies and practices, Proposed actions and decisions, official conduct and authority, commercial transactions, draft documents and publications, investigations, responses to inquiries, public statements, Plans, and initiatives; the evaluation of claims by and against the government, assessing legal risk, and recommending disposition.
• Performs recurring assignments.
• With or without assistance, performs work assignments which gradually increase in difficulty and complexity.
• Incumbent determines the practices and procedures to use in accomplishing conventional tasks, Interprets and adapts guidelines in order to resolve procedural or factual issues.
• With assistance from senior attorneys and/or the Judge Advocate, carries out special projects and participates in special initiatives and studies.
• Performs special assignments in support of the organization; e.g., researching policy/precedent - and comparing to new or modified guidelines to assess impact; analyzing and providing substantive evaluation of data affecting program operations.
• Preparing and coordinating reference papers and documentation to support project initiatives; presenting reports to a variety of audiences; and performing analysis and providing recommendations to resolve issues.
• Prepares written correspondence and other documentation.
• Drafts or prepares a variety of documents in support of the SJA using software such as word processing, spreadsheets, etc., to facilitate work.

Education

The PALACE Acquire Program offers you a permanent position upon completion of your formal training plan. As a Palace Acquire Intern you will experience both personal and professional growth while dealing effectively and ethically with change, complexity, and problem solving. The program offers a 2-year formal training plan with yearly salary increases.

Promotions and salary increases are based upon your successful performance and supervisory approval. This is your opportunity to begin a successful civilian career with the Department of the Air Force.

You must have completed a full course of study in a school of law accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) AND must have documented Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) in one of the following: a) Class Standing - upper third of the graduating class based on completed courses; b) Grade Point Average - 2.95 or higher out of a possible 4.0 as recorded on your official transcript or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of curriculum; c) Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society.

(If qualifying based on class standing or honor society membership, provide appropriate documentation).

PLEASE SUBMIT COPIES OF ALL TRANSCRIPTS TO INCLUDE TRANSFERRED HOURS - OFFICIAL COPIES ARE NOT REQUIRED AT TIME OF APPLICATION.

IF SELECTED, YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE OFFICIAL COPIES OF ALL TRANSCRIPTS. ***NOTE*** Degree Audits are not accepted.

IF YOU QUALIFY BASED ON UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION AND YOU HAVE NOT GRADUATED PRIOR TO APPLYING TO THIS POSITION, YOU MAY BE OFFERED A POSITION CONTINGENT UPON YOUR FINAL GRADE POINT AVERAGE OR CLASS RANKING.FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements.

You must show proof the education credentials have been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education program.

It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying.

How you will be evaluated

Your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine your eligibility, qualifications, and quality ranking for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

The resume/documents you submit must support your responses to the online questionnaire. If your application contradicts or does not support your questionnaire responses, you will receive a rating of "not qualified" or "insufficient information" and you will not receive further consideration for this job. Applications who disqualify themselves will not be evaluated further.

Documents you must provide

• The following documents are required and must be provided with your application.
• Applicants who do not submit required documentation to determine eligibility and qualifications will be eliminated from consideration.
• Other documents may be required based on the eligibility/eligibilities you are claiming.
• Click here to view the AF Civilian Employment Eligibility Guide and the required documents you must submit to substantiate the eligibilities you are claiming.
• Online Application: Questionnaire Resume: Your resume may NOT exceed two pages, and the font size should not be smaller than 10 pts.
• You will not be considered for this vacancy if your resume is illegible/unreadable.
• Additional information on resume requirements can be located under "How To Apply".
• License: At the time of application, you must provide proof, dated within four months of application, of "active" status with a bar of the highest court of a State, U.S. commonwealth, U.S. territory, or the District of Columbia.
• On-line information is allowed as long as it shows that you are in "active" status.
• ACTIVE DUTY SERVICE MEMBERS: The VOW Act requires federal agencies to treat an eligible active duty service member as a veteran, disabled veteran, and preference eligible (as applicable) when applying for civil service positions before the effective release or discharge date.
• Appointment of military members before the release or discharge date is permissible if the member is on terminal leave.
• At the time the active duty member applies for a civil position, he or she must submit a "certification" memo in lieu of a DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty.
• The certification memo must originate from the member's military service branch on official letterhead and contain the following: Name/Rank/Grade of Service Member Branch of Armed Forces Dates of Active Service (Start and End Date(s) Expected Date of Discharge/Release from Active Duty Terminal leave start date (if applicable) Expected character of service/discharge (honorable/general) and type of separation (i.e. separation or retirement) Must be certified within 120 days of anticipated discharge Signature by, or by direction of the adjutant, personnel office, unit commander, or higher headquarters commander NOTE: The VOW Act provides tentative preference.
• If appointed, a DD Form 214 must be submitted upon receipt.
• NOTICE OF VETERANS' PREFERENCE: There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Defense considers veterans' preference eligibility a positive factor for attorney hiring.
• Applicants eligible for veterans' preference must include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation to their submissions.
• Although the point-preference system is not used, applicants eligible to claim Veterans Preference must submit VOW certification memo or copy of the official DD Form 214, which must include the character of service, and a Standard Form (SF) 15, "Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference," and supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed.
• (SF 15, which lists the types of 10-point preference and the required supporting documents, is available from the Office of Personnel Management Website at ***) NOTE: Applicants for attorney appointments do not require veterans' preference in order to be eligible for consideration.

What to expect next

Once your application package is received an acknowledgement email will be sent. After a review of your complete application is made you will be notified of your rating and/or referral to the hiring official. If you provided an email address, you will receive an email message acknowledging receipt of your application.

Your application package will be used to determine your eligibility and qualifications for consideration. If you are determined to be ineligible or not qualified, your application will receive no further consideration.

To check the status of your application or return to a previous or incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account, select My Applications, and click on the more information link under the application status for this position. If you do not provide an email address, you are responsible for checking status updates and notifications in USAJOBS.

Hard copy notifications will not be sent to you.

Additional information

The PALACE Acquire Program offers you a permanent position upon completion of your formal training plan.

As a Palace Acquire Intern you will experience both personal and professional growth while dealing effectively and ethically with change, complexity, and problem solving.This program offers a 3-year formal training program plan for Bachelor degree holders and a 2-year formal training plan for Master's Degree holders; both with yearly salary increases.

This program offers a 3-year formal training plan for Bachelor degree holders and a 2-year formal training plan for Master degree holders with yearly salary increases. This is your opportunity to begin a successful civilian career with the United States Air Force.

You must have completed a 4 year course of study leading to a bachelor's from an accredited institution AND must have documented Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) at the undergraduate level in one of the following: a) Class Standing - upper third of the graduating class based on completed courses in the college, university, or major subdivision; b) Grade Point Average - 2.95 or higher out of a possible 4.0 as recorded on your official transcript or as computed based on 4 years of education or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of curriculum; OR 3.45 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on the average of the required courses completed in your major field or the required courses in your major field completed during the final 2 years of your curriculum.

If more than 10 percent of total undergraduate credit hours are non-graded, i.e. pass/fail, CLEP, CCAF, DANTES, military credit, etc, you cannot qualify based on GPA; c) Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society (note: freshman honor society cannot be used to meet the requirements of this position).

(If qualifying based on class standing or honor society membership, provide appropriate documentation).YOUR TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT COVERS: Participant Agreement Orientation program Mentorship throughout the Program Individual Training & Development Plan to assist with career planning, professional development, and training activities At least 40 hours of formal, interactive training each year of the Program Opportunity for career advancement AFTER PROGRAM COMPLETION: Recent Graduates who are selected for conversion must have completed all requirements of the program successfully Demonstrated successful job performance consistent with the applicable performance appraisal program Met the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) qualification standard for the position to which the Recent Graduate will be converted NOTE: It is important to remember that eligibility for conversion does not guarantee that the Department of the Air Force will offer conversion.

Selective Service: Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service. For additional information, click here.