Experienced Trust and Settlement Attorney
EXPERIENCED TRUST AND SETTLEMENT ATTORNEY
The Torts Branch’s Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) Section handles a wide variety of complex suits filed under the FTCA, including suits arising from the provision of medical care at federal facilities or community health centers. These are often birth injury cases with complex medical causation issues in which high damages awards are sought. Many of these medical malpractice cases, as well as other catastrophic injury cases, are resolved with structured settlements that include a reversionary medical care trust component. The FTCA Section frequently provides guidance to United States Attorney’s Offices (USAOs) and federal agencies regarding the use of reversionary medical care trusts in settlements. Moreover, the FTCA Section is responsible for overseeing reversionary medical care trusts entered into as part of settlements of FTCA suits from the time the trusts are funded, until termination of the trust and exhaustion of any reversion. This oversight involves a wide range of tasks, including fielding inquiries from trustees, trust administrators, annuity companies, beneficiaries and their counsel, USAOs, and agency counsel related to the trusts.
This vacancy presents an opportunity for an experienced attorney to work on matters related to structured settlements, including those with reversionary medical care trusts. The attorney selected for this position will be tasked with working on all aspects of these settlements, including providing guidance on settlements proposed by federal agencies and USAOs, reviewing and maintaining trust and related settlement documents, and addressing a wide-range of issues related to existing settlement trusts overseen by the FTCA Section.
Due to COVID-19, if selected, you may be expected to telework for an undefined period under the Department’s evacuation authority, even if your home is located outside the local commuting area. Employees in this status may be notified of a requirement to report in person to the component workplace with an advance notice of not less than 30 days. Prior to a requirement to report to the workplace, employees may be eligible to request to continue to telework one or more days a pay period depending upon the terms of the component’s telework policy.
Applicants must possess a J.D. degree, be duly licensed and authorized to practice as an attorney under the laws of any state, territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia, and be an active member of the bar in good standing. Applicants should have excellent writing, negotiation, and interpersonal skills, exhibit good judgment, and have an interest in litigation.
Ideal candidates will have:
- Excellent research and writing skills.
- Substantial firsthand experience handling settlement trusts, preferably reversionary medical trusts.
- Substantial firsthand experience handling structured settlements.
- Excellent analytical ability and the capacity to articulate critical issues in a wide variety of cases.
- The ability to work well on individual projects and on team projects.
- A demonstrated record of being able to balance a diverse and constantly changing workload and the ability to set priorities appropriately.
Applicants must submit a resume, a cover letter (highlighting relevant background), and a writing sample (no more than 15 pages in length). Please submit applications via email to FTCA.Section@usdoj.gov. On the subject line, please put “FTCA Section Trust Attorney Application.” While email is the preferred method of submission, applications may also be submitted via USPS to:
U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Division, Torts Branch (FTCA Section)
P. O. Box 888
Benjamin Franklin Station
Washington, D.C. 20044
Attn: James G. Touhey, Jr.
Applications must be postmarked by no later than February 3, 2022 (applications submitted by email must be received by that date). No telephone calls please.
Applicants should familiarize themselves and comply with the relevant rules of professional conduct regarding any possible conflicts of interest in connection with their applications. In particular, please notify this Office if you currently represent clients or adjudicate matters in which this Office is involved and/or you have a family member who is representing clients or adjudicating matters in which this Office is involved so that we can evaluate any potential conflict of interest or disqualification issue that may need to be addressed under those circumstances.
Updated January 3, 2022
Department Policies
COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement: As required by Executive Order 14043, Federal employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 regardless of the employee’s duty location or work arrangement (e.g., telework, remote work, etc.), subject to such exceptions as required by law. If selected, you will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination by November 22, 2021, or before appointment or onboarding with the agency, if after November 22. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request of the agency a legally required exception from this requirement.
Equal Employment Opportunity: The U.S. Department of Justice is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer. Except where otherwise provided by law, there will be no discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex - including gender identity, sexual orientation, or pregnancy status - or because of age (over 40), physical or mental disability, protected genetic information, parental status, marital status, political affiliation, or any other non-merit based factor. 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.
Reasonable Accommodations: 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.
Outreach and Recruitment for Qualified Applicants with Disabilities: The Department encourages qualified applicants with disabilities, including individuals with targeted/severe disabilities to apply in response to posted vacancy announcements. Qualified applicants with targeted/severe disabilities may be eligible for direct hire, non-competitive appointment under Schedule A (5 C.F.R. § 213.3102(u)) hiring authority. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to contact one of the Department’s Disability Points of Contact (DPOC) to express an interest in being considered for a position.
Suitability and Citizenship: 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. Congress generally prohibits agencies from employing non-citizens within the United States, except for a few narrow exceptions as set forth in the annual Appropriations Act Pursuant to DOJ component policies, only U.S. citizens are eligible for employment with the Executive Office for Immigration Review, U.S. Trustee’s Offices, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unless otherwise indicated in a particular job advertisement, qualifying non-U.S. citizens meeting immigration and appropriations law criteria may apply for employment with other DOJ organizations. However, please be advised that the appointment of non-U.S. citizens is 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. All DOJ employees are subject to a residency requirement. Candidates must have lived in the United States for at least three of the past five years. The three-year period is cumulative, not necessarily consecutive. Federal or military employees, or dependents of federal or military employees serving overseas, are excepted from this requirement. This is a Department security requirement which is waived only for extreme circumstances and handled on a case-by-case basis.
Veterans: 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 must include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., the DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty and other supporting documentation) to their submissions. Although the "point" system is not used, per se, applicants eligible to claim 10-point preference must submit Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, and submit the supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed for a copy of SF 15, which lists the types of 10-point preferences and the required supporting document(s). Applicants should note that SF 15 requires supporting documentation associated with service- connected disabilities or receipt of nonservice-connected disability pensions to be dated 1991 or later except in the case of service members submitting official statements or retirement orders from a branch of the Armed Forces showing that his or her retirement was due to a permanent service-connected disability or that he/she was transferred to the permanent disability retired list (the statement or retirement orders must indicate that the disability is 10% or more).
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