Assistant United States Attorney (Civil)

The mission of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia (“USAO-WDVA”) is to enforce our Nation’s laws to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans, to provide federal leadership in preventing and reducing crime, and to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior. We strive to build a stronger office through in-depth recruitment efforts and maintain our high standards by promoting professional development.

The Western District of Virginia covers approximately 60 percent of Virginia’s land area and serves a population of 2.2 million. It comprises 52 counties and 18 independent cities. Currently, over thirty (30) Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) assigned to the Western District prosecute cases and represent the United States in a wide variety of complex civil matters in Roanoke, Charlottesville, Abingdon, Harrisonburg, and Lynchburg.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia is soliciting applications to be an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) within the Civil Division in the Roanoke or Charlottesville, Virginia office. The successful candidate will join our team of civil AUSAs who handle a wide variety of affirmative and defensive litigation on behalf of the United States of America.

An appointment as a Civil AUSA offers a unique and challenging experience for a highly motivated attorney: the opportunity to handle their own caseload in which they represent the United States as either Plaintiff or Defendant depending on the circumstances. On the affirmative side, the AUSA will lead investigations and prosecutions of a wide variety of federal civil offenses, including but not limited to violations of the False Claims Act. On the defensive side, the AUSAs will lead a wide variety of challenging litigation that includes, among other things, representing government agencies and employees under the Federal Tort Claims Act (including primarily medical malpractice, automobile accident, premises liability, and other torts), Title VII, the ADEA, the Rehabilitation Act (employment discrimination), the Administrative Procedures Act (agency actions and decisions), and other statutes. The AUSA will also represent federal employees sued in their individual capacities under Bivens or other federal statutes, and will represent the Bureau of Prisons and its employees in a wide variety of prisoner-related litigation.
An AUSA engaged in this challenging work spends substantial time on legal research and writing dispositive motions and drafting findings of fact and conclusions of law, as well as substantial time in discovery (interviewing witnesses, taking and defending depositions, working with expert witnesses, propounding and responding to written discovery requests), and representing the United States in mediations and settlement conferences. Although many cases are resolved through dispositive motion or settlement, the AUSA will also represent the United States at bench and jury trials in federal court.

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

All initial attorney appointments in the Department of Justice are pending favorable adjudication of a background investigation.

Required Qualifications:
Applicants must possess a J.D. Degree and be an active member of the bar (any U.S. Jurisdiction).

Preferred Qualifications:
Hiring preferences include strong academics, outstanding organizational skills, superior legal writing and research ability, demonstrated analytical ability, good judgment and courtroomskills, and a commitment to professionalism, ethics, civility, and public service.

This is an open-continuous announcement for Civil Division Assistant United States Attorney positions. Priority consideration will be given to applications submitted by September 6, 2026 11:59 pm EDT. Thereafter, review of applications will be conducted weekly until positions have been filled.

Applicants must provide the following with their application materials: cover letter, resume, writing sample, reference list, proof of good standing with the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction), and copy of law-school transcripts. Please do not mail or submit any application materials to our physical address – only applications using the USAJOBS platform will be considered. Please ensure you reference Announcement 26-VAW-AUSA-05 in your cover letter and resume submission as well as your preference for which office (Roanoke, Charlottesville).

Interested applicants should apply using the USAJOBS announcement found at the following link: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/882658700

Assistant United States Attorney's pay is administratively determined based, in part, on the number of years of professional attorney experience. The range of basic pay for AD-21 through AD-29 is as follows:

• $76,748 to $197,100 which includes 17.06% locality adjustment.