Assistant United States Attorney (Civil)

Closing Date: 30th September, 2026

Description:

Job Description:
The Northern District of Illinois, Chicago Office is accepting applications for an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) opening in its Civil Division in Chicago, Illinois. The applicant selected will represent the United States, its agencies, and its officials as an AUSA in a wide range of defensive and affirmative civil litigation.

Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

Qualifications:
Required Qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. Degree (or equivalent), be an active member in good standing of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction) and have at least 1-year post-J.D. (or equivalent) legal or other relevant experience. A minimum of 2-years of post J.D. (or equivalent) legal or other relevant experience is required.

Preferred Qualifications: Excellent academics, significant litigation experience, civil law experience, strong legal writing skills, and a demonstrated commitment to public service

You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of the announcement.

United States citizenship is required.

Political Appointees (Current or Former): The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the HR Office. Failure to disclose this information could result in disciplinary action including removal from Federal Service.

Application Process:
Application information for AUSA-NDIL-26-7 is available at the following site: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/job-listing.

To apply, please provide a complete application package, which consists of the following 5 items:
Item 1 must be submitted through the USAJobs portal AND sent via email, in PDF format, to USAILN.hiring@usdoj.gov.

Resume and cover letter. Your resume cannot exceed two pages - you will be deemed ineligible and receive no further consideration if your resume exceeds two pages.
Items 2-5 should ONLY be submitted via email, in PDF format, to USAILN.hiring@usdoj.gov. PLEASE DO NOT submit items 2-5 through the USAJobs portal.

Law school transcript

• Writing sample written by you within the last three years
• Three letters of professional recommendation from people who are in a position to assess your legal skills
• AUSA Questionnaire and Personal Statement indicating why you think you would be a good trial lawyer and why you want to work in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois

Your application package will not be considered complete, and will not be reviewed for consideration, until all 5 items have been received. Once completed application packages will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

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 conflicts of interest or disqualification issues that may need to be addressed under those circumstances.

Salary:
Assistant United States Attorneys' pay is administratively determined based, in part, on the number years of professional attorney experience. The range of basic pay is $85,796 to $197,100 which includes 30.86% locality pay.

Number of Positions
This announcement is to fill many position; however, depending on the needs of the office, additional positions may be filled using this announcement.

Travel:

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