Attorney Adviser

The employee serves as an Attorney-Adviser (Veterans) for the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board). The jurisdiction of the Board extends to all questions of law and fact under the laws that affect the provision of benefits by the Secretary to Veterans or their dependents or survivors. The employee must be able to handle all types of appeals, including those of exceptional difficulty, complexity, or controversy.

This position requires expert knowledge of the laws and regulations pertaining to Veterans' benefits, as set forth primarily in Title 38 of the United States Code and Code of Federal Regulations; the decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC), the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit), the United States Supreme Court; and the precedent opinions of the Department of Veterans' Affairs General Counsel.Major Duties include, but not limited to:

• The employee prepares decisions on extremely difficult, complex, or original appeals, including those involving formal personal hearings held before Members of the Board (Veterans Law Judges/VLJs).
• Under the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7101(c), serves as Acting Veterans Law Judge (AVLJ) as designated by the Chairman, to assist in the continued improvement of appellate services.
• Adjudicates appeals for a wide variety of benefits and provides the final agency decision on behalf of the Secretary of the VA. A decision by the Board, including by an AVLJ, binds the agency in that appeal.
• Reviews the work products (i.e., draft decisions) of other Attorney-Advisers and Law Clerks and serves as the signatory on those decisions.
• Evaluates the timeliness, quality, and complexity of each individual decision and provides feedback to the drafting Attorney-Advisers regarding their work product.
• Provides subject matter expertise on Veterans' benefits claims and serves as a resource for answering procedural and substantive questions from junior members of the employee's VLJ team of attorneys.
• Attends formal personal hearings with VLJs and conducts formal personal hearings as AVLJ.
• Ensures all interactions with Veterans and their representatives are handled with a high degree of tact, diplomacy, and professionalism.
• Displays appropriate judicial temperament and demeanor.
• Conducts pre-hearing meetings and discussions with attorneys, appellants, and Veterans service organizations to assure due process of law and to expedite the hearing process.
• By direction of a Deputy Vice Chairman (DVC), formulates legal guidelines for use by other Attorney-Advisers to achieve uniformity throughout all decision-writing teams in the disposition of issues on appeal.
• In consultation with the VLJ, formulates written training materials, sample decisions, decision language, and other relevant documents to assist the VLJ or other members of the VLJ team. Ensures the VLJ and VLJ team members remain informed of changes in the statutes, regulations, and caselaw governing the administration of Veterans' benefits.
• Serves as a mentor to lower-graded Attorney-Advisers on the VLJ team and assists with training designed to develop strong interpersonal skills, time management/organizational skills, knowledge of the law, efficient claims file/evidence review, and Veteran-centric decision writing.
• Assists with career mentoring of lower-graded Attorney-Advisers on the VLJ team.
• Prepares decisions on cases before the Board through petitions for reconsideration when briefs or hearings show an error in a prior appellate decision that has been presented and where the decision requires three VLJ signatories for a de novo appellate decision.
• Independently performs special assignments from the Chairman, Vice Chairman, DVC, or VLJ to assist in the continued improvement of appellate service. Assists the VLJ with case management and the operation of the team under the supervision of the VLJ.
• Maintains a strong commitment to meet customer needs.
• Analyzes problems/issues taking into consideration the customer's needs.
• Develops appropriate solutions and/or provides services that contribute to the customers' ability to accomplish their objectives. Also recognizes Board supervisors and employees as customers and provides services to them that contribute to the accomplishment of the Board's mission and objectives.
• Works as a member of a VLJ team or other organizational component and may serve as member of one or more ad-hoc teams/components.
• Attends team meetings and other activities and contributes constructively to help advance the overall mission and objectives of the Board and the efficiency of its operations.
• Works cooperatively with others on the VLJ Team or other organizational components to ensure that individual effort is integrated into and overall product or major component thereof.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00am - 4:30pm
Remote: This position is remote
Position Description/PD#: Attorney Adviser(Veterans)/PD19376A
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Physical Demands: The work is primarily sedentary. There are no special physical demands for this position.


A transcript must be submitted with your application to verify your qualifications on required education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/26/2024.

Basic Requirements:

Citizenship: Be a citizen of, or owe allegiance to, the United States.

Selective Placement Factor: This position requires a skill, knowledge, ability or other worker characteristic essential for satisfactory performance of the job. Selective Placement Factors are a prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirements for a position.
Applicants who do not meet this requirement are ineligible for further consideration.
Evidence of the Selective Placement Factor must be explicitly reflected in your resume, failure to clearly demonstrate this in your resume will result in not being considered, your application will be removed from consideration.

• The Selective Placement Factor for this position is: Knowledge and experience in the laws and regulations pertaining to Veterans' Benefits and Laws sets forth primarily in Title 38 of the United States Code and Code of Federal Regulations, the precedent decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims(CAVC), and the United Staes Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit(Federal Circuit),the United States Supreme Court, and the precedent decisions of the Deparment of Veterans' Affairs(VA) General Counsel.

Bar Membership Requirements: All attorneys in the GS-0905 series must be active members in good standing of the bar of a state or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia and must hold a current, unrestricted license to practice law. Employees must maintain their compliance with this requirement. The duties of the position call for appearance in court. The applicant must be a member in good standing of the bar or be eligible for admission to the bar, of the state or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia.
Loss of Good Standing/Bar Membership: Employees must maintain good standing in a bar of a state or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia while employed as an attorney with VA. Failure to maintain good standing in a bar of a state or territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia provides grounds for removal and possible termination from employment with the VA. Applicants may qualify based on education and/or experience as described below.

Reference: VA Handbook 5005/148, Part II, Appendix F36, Qualification Standard, General Attorney, GS-0905-11/15.

The applicant's experience and training must demonstrate the applicant can successfully perform the position's duties. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Position Classification Standard for General Attorney Series, GS-0905, provides examples of duties performed at each grade level.

Quality of Experience: Applicants must have one or a combination of the following types of Quality of Experience in the amount indicated for the
Grade Determination.

1. Practice of law includes private, state, or Federal practice in any field of law.
2. Other legal experience of a responsible nature is experience in any one or a combination of the following performed in a law office, government office, or in the legal department of a business establishment, in the armed forces, or other Federal service:
   • Conducting legal research, analyzing statutes, writing legal opinions;
   • Writing authoritative or advisory legal opinions involving interpretation of state or Federal laws, regulations, and orders, or the drafting of such regulations or orders; or
   • Drafting, analyzing, and other legal activities with respect to bills, regulations, Executive Orders, proclamations, or statutory provisions.

Grade Determinations.

For the GS-14 level: applicants must possess four years of progressively responsible experience as described in the Quality of Experience, of which a maximum of one year of the required experience may be acquired prior to admission to the bar, and that demonstrates experience performing similar work and responsibilities as described in Nature of Cases or Legal Problems, Type III and Level of Responsibility D, in the OPM Position Classification Standard for General Attorney Series, GS-0905.

Education: Applicants must:

• (a) Possess a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree; or
• (b) Possess a Juris Doctor (JD) degree.

Note: For the GS-14 grade level, copies of official transcripts are required that include the degree awarded and the date conferred.

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