ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
District of Montana
Missoula Branch Office
Vacancy Announcement # 08-MT-06

About the Office: The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana is a smaller office with the main office in Billings and staffed branch offices in Butte, Great Falls, Helena, and Missoula. The Missoula Branch Office handles various criminal cases which include, extortion, threats, environmental crime, child pornography, on-line predators, economic crime, public corruption, immigration, and drugs. The Missoula Branch Office staff consists of the Deputy Criminal Chief, two Assistant U.S. Attorneys, a Paralegal Specialist, and a Legal Assistant.

Responsibilities and Opportunity Offered: This Assistant U.S. Attorney will be the fourth AUSA in the office and will serve as one of the narcotics prosecutors for the District of Montana. This particular position will handle Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and non-OCDETF narcotics cases. In addition to trial work, other areas of responsibility include interaction with multi-jurisdictional drug task forces and training of officers. The AUSA will also be responsible for appellate work.

Qualifications:
Required qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. degree and be licensed and authorized to practice as an attorney under the laws of a State, territory, or District of Columbia, and have at least one year post-J.D. experience, and demonstrate excellent computer literacy skills to include experience with automated research on the Internet, and electronic e-mail and word processing systems. Applicants must be active members in good standing of the bar (any jurisdiction). An applicant must either be a member of the Montana Bar or be willing to sit for the Montana Bar exam and take steps to become a member of the Montana Bar shortly after joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The position has promotion potential to an AD-29.
Preferred qualifications: Applicants must demonstrate a quick analytical ability and the facility to accurately and precisely articulate the critical issues in a case. Applicants must demonstrate superior oral and writing skills as well as strong research and interpersonal skills, and good judgment. Applicants must possess excellent communication and courtroom skills and exhibit the ability to work in a supportive and professional manner with other attorneys, support staff and client agencies. Applicants must have a demonstrated capacity to function, with minimal guidance, in a highly demanding environment. Experience with automated electronic court filing.

Travel: Travel will be required.

Salary Information: Assistant United States Attorneys’ pay is administratively determined based in part, on the number of years of professional attorney experience. The current recruiting range of pay is $48,310 – $127,864. The District does not anticipate having the financial resources to offer a salary at the top of the range. These rates include locality pay of 13.18%.
Location: Missoula, Montana is a vibrant community with great diversity providing many opportunities for new businesses, families and individuals seeking to experience the Montana quality of life. Nestled in the Rocky Mountains of western Montana, Missoula is one of the west’s most sophisticated smaller cities. Population is about 60,000 in the city and 90,000 in the county. Industries that support Missoula include: wood products, government, medical, education, small business and tourism. The University of Montana is in Missoula and has in excess of 14,000 students.

Recreational opportunities in Missoula are abundant and compliment the Montana life style. Missoula is rich in cultural attractions ranging from symphony, arts, live theater, historical museums, shops, galleries and numerous sporting activities and events. Within a couple miles of Missoula, outdoor enthusiasts can experience several recreational opportunities complimented by four seasons in the millions of acres of wilderness and recreation area. There are many lakes, rivers and ski areas for outside recreation.

Relocation Expenses: Relocation expenses are not authorized.

Application Process and Deadline Date: Interested applicants should send a detailed resume and cover letter to the address below. The material should include information regarding the education and professional background of the candidate and a listing of all bar memberships.

United States Attorney’s Office
Attn: Kora Connolly
2929 3rd Avenue North, Suite 400,
Billings, MT 59101.

No telephone calls please. Applications must be received by 4:30 p.m. Mountain Standard Time on the closing date, which is August 15, 2008. Please note Vacancy Announcement # 08-MT-06 on your application. If you prefer, you can email your resume and cover letter to kora.connolly@usdoj.gov. Applications sent via email must be received by 4:30 p.m. Mountain Standard Time on August 15, 2008.

Internet Sites: This and other attorney vacancy announcements can be found at: http://www.usdoj.gov/oarm/attvacancies.htmlhttp://www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae/home
Department Policies: Assistant United States Attorneys generally must reside in the district to which he or she is appointed. See 28 U.S.C. § 545 for district-specific information.
The U.S. Department of Justice is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer. Except where otherwise provided by law, there will be no discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, color, race, religion, national origin, politics, marital status, disability, age, status as a parent, membership or nonmembership in an employee organization, or personal favoritism. The Department of Justice welcomes and encourages applications from persons with physical and mental disabilities. The Department is firmly committed to satisfying its affirmative obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advanced on the basis of merit within the Department of Justice. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.

It is the policy of the Department to achieve a drug-free workplace and persons selected for employment will be required to pass a drug test which screens for illegal drug use prior to final appointment. Employment is also contingent upon the completion and satisfactory adjudication of a background investigation. Only U.S. citizens are eligible for employment with the Executive Office for Immigration Review and the United States Attorneys’ Offices. Unless otherwise indicated in a particular job advertisement, non-U.S. citizens may apply for employment with other organizations, but should be advised that appointments of non-U.S. citizens are extremely rare; such appointments would be possible only if necessary to accomplish the Department’s mission and would be subject to strict security requirements. Applicants who hold dual citizenship in the U.S. and another country will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
There is no formal rating system for applying veterans’ preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Justice considers veterans’ preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans’ preference are encouraged to include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., the DD 214 or other substantiating documents) to their submissions.