General Attorney (Information Law)

The USPTO Office of the General Counsel, Office of General Law (OGL) is seeking an experienced attorney to provide expert legal advice on information law matters, including the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act. The selected attorney will work with a team of professionals to manage the USPTO's FOIA and Privacy Act request programs, defend the USPTO in FOIA/Privacy Act litigation, provide training to clients, and provide as-needed legal support on other information law topics.

You must possess a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree or Master of Laws (L.L.M) degree from an American Bar Association accredited law school and an active bar membership of any State, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or any Territorial Court under the U.S. Constitution.

If this position requires proof of higher education, or you are substituting education for experience, you must submit an unofficial transcript or a list of courses that includes the following information: name of accredited institution, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements. Please refer to General Schedule Qualification Policies for more information. You are not required to submit official documents at this time; copies are sufficient.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Qualifying education from colleges and universities in foreign countries must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. A listing of these accredited organizations can be found on the Department of Education's website - US Department of Education. Another listing of services that can perform this evaluation is available at the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) website. You must provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation when requested will result in lost consideration.

NOTE: Only education and experience acquired before the filing deadline will be considered. Report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

The physical worksite for this position is located in Alexandria, Virginia. Presence at the Alexandria, VA campus is required for this role, as it includes on site functions that must be performed in person. Position may be eligible for situational telework in accordance with agency policy/business unit discretion. The agency currently allows for 52 hours of telework per calendar year.

The individual selected for this position will…

• Provide legal support and program management for USPTO's FOIA and Privacy Act request programs, working closely with other OGL attorneys and USPTO FOIA Officers; this will involve first-hand involvement with FOIA and Privacy Act requests, working with e-discovery software, and coordinating with records custodians.
• Lead USPTO's representation in FOIA and Privacy Act litigation in coordination with the Department of Justice.
• Provide expert advice to all levels of management and fellow support organizations on a wide array of information law topics, such as records management, applying privileges, responding to third-party subpoenas, evaluating social media issues, publishing data, and other disclosure issues.
• Thoughtfully analyze proposed and existing USPTO policies and procedures related to information law; develop and train on agency-wide programs related to FOIA, the Privacy Act, and other information law topics.
• Possess top-notch oral and written communication skills, excellent interpersonal skills, and a commitment to improvement.
• Demonstrate initiative and creativity; the ability to set, manage, and balance evolving and challenging projects and priorities; and outstanding legal research skills.
• Be a flexible teammate, willing to support OGL's other general law functions as needed by providing legal advice and litigation services in other disciplines.

You must meet the United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position. You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement. OPM Qualifications Standards are available at OPM Website.

Specialized Experienceis experience that has equipped applicants with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least one year at the next lower grade level in the federal service. For this position, the next lower grade level is a GS-14.

In order to qualify for this position at the GS-15 level, you must possess at least (1) one-year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-14 grade level in the federal service AND at least (4) four-years of professional legal/law experience post J.D. performing attorney duties as defined below:

Specialized experience for this position includes

• Experience working directly in a FOIA or Privacy Act request program (either at the initial request level, appeals level, or litigation level); or advising in a field of federal information law, which may include FOIA, privacy, records management, or other information disclosure area.

AND

In addition to the required one-year specialized experience, applicants must possess four (4) years of Professional Legal/Law experience post J.D. performing attorney duties as defined below:

• Experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies to perform successfully the duties of the position to be filled. This experience is characterized by breadth and depth of experience in rendering professional legal advice and services with respect to questions, regulations, practices, or other matters falling within the purview of a Federal government agency, private sector, law firm, or other organization; investigating matters, such as related to Congressional or Inspector General inquiries; preparing interpretative and administrative orders, rules, or regulations to give effect to the provisions of governing statutes or other requirements of law; drafting, negotiating, or examining contracts or other legal documents; drafting, preparing formal comments, or making substantive recommendations regarding proposed legislation; editing and preparing for publication statutes enacted by Congress and opinions or decisions of a court, commission, or board; drafting and reviewing decisions for consideration and adoption by an organization or official; determining answers to questions of law; and/or studying, analyzing and evaluating legal precedents to present findings. Qualifying legal work must be extremely complex and difficult and require a high order of original and creative legal endeavor in balancing conflicting interests; have broad or wide-scope impact on an economy, industry, private or public interests; and may involve directly or indirectly very large sums of money. Qualifying legal work may also involve acting as principal attorney in charge of the preparation and presentation of cases; recommending policies and developing procedures and regulations to implement new or amended legislation; and acting as legal, general or senior counsel to a major firm or organization.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.