Series 0950

Paralegal Specialist

Paralegals who do legal research, prepare case files and documents, and help attorneys with cases. A law degree is not required. Most jobs are with the Department of Justice.

Plain-language description based on the OPM series definition.

0900 Legal and Kindred Group · General Schedule

See open 0950 jobs on USAJOBS Compare with another series Back to Series Directory

At a glance

Job postings, last 12 months: 890
Open now: 29
Trend (last 3 months vs. 3 before): Falling (-13%)
Demand score: 89/100
Remote opportunity score: 52/100
Veteran opportunity score: 76/100

What these scores mean

Grades and pay

Typical grades

GS-7 to GS-12

Most common promotion potential: GS-11

GS pay plan, used by 95% of this series' postings.

Typical posted salary range

$70,507 to $105,547 per year

Median of the yearly salary ranges in posted announcements.

Who can apply

Share of job postings in the last 12 months, by who the announcement was open to.

Open to the public: 36%
Federal employees and other special groups only: 64%
Listed a veterans hiring path: 42%
Telework eligible (open now): 52%
Fully remote (open now): 0%

Who is hiring and where

Top hiring departments

Department of Justice (520)
Department of Homeland Security (83)
Other Agencies and Independent Organizations (67)
Department of the Air Force (40)
Department of the Navy (34)

Top states

District of Columbia (166)
California (87)
Texas (80)
Virginia (68)
Illinois (50)

Hiring patterns

Based on job announcements since Mar 2017. How patterns are calculated

When this series usually posts jobs

Postings usually peak in August, July, and March and are lowest in November and February.

Typical postings for series 0950 by calendar month, compared with an average month
Month	Compared with an average month
January	6% below average
February	12% below average
March	13% above average
April	10% below average
May	6% below average
June	About average
July	18% above average
August	18% above average
September	About average
October	6% above average
November	13% below average
December	12% below average

Postings by fiscal year

The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. Fiscal years 2025 and 2026 include the government-wide hiring freeze that began in January 2025.

Job announcements for series 0950 by fiscal year
Fiscal year	Postings
FY 2018	845
FY 2019	1,024
FY 2020	966
FY 2021	899
FY 2022	1,124
FY 2023	1,286
FY 2024	948
FY 2025	388
FY 2026	813

Postings by month, last 12 months

Job announcements for series 0950 opened each month
Month	Postings
Dec 2025	43
Jan 2026	52
Feb 2026	51
Mar 2026	97
Apr 2026	105
May 2026	68
Jun 2026	94
Jul 2026	112
Aug 2026	65
Sep 2026	92
Oct 2026	81
Nov 2026 (month to date)	30

0905 General Attorney 3,177 postings in 12 months
0901 General Legal and Kindred Administration 714 postings in 12 months
0986 Legal Assistance 493 postings in 12 months
0996 Veterans Claims Examining 308 postings in 12 months
0962 Contact Representative 261 postings in 12 months

About this data

Job numbers come from the USAJOBS API: 244,223 job announcements opened from December 1, 2025 to November 15, 2026, plus 12,260 announcements open on November 15, 2026. Canceled announcements are not counted. Series descriptions summarize the OPM Handbook of Occupational Groups and Families.

These figures describe posted job announcements, not hiring outcomes. Always read the official announcement and its qualification requirements before applying. How the scores are calculated.