; examination Administrative law judges shall be appointed by the head of an Executive agency from a list of eligible candidates provided by the Office of Personnel Management based upon successful examination and approval of the qualifications of the individual by the Office. (b) Minimum qualifications and conditions of employment (1) Licensure At the time of application for a position, the individual must possess a professional license to practice law under the laws of a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territorial court. (2) Qualifying experience To be eligible to serve as an administrative law judge, an individual shall have not less than 7 years of experience as a licensed attorney preparing for, litigating, adjudicating, participating in, or reviewing formal hearings or trials involving civil, criminal, or administrative law at the Federal, State, or local level. (c) Competitive service Administrative law judge positions shall be positions in the competitive service. (d) Assignment Administrative law judges shall be assigned to cases in rotation as far as practicable, and may not perform duties inconsistent with their duties and responsibilities as administrative law judges. (e) Authority and role of administrative law judges in relation to Executive agency heads (1) Chief ALJ A chief administrative law judge shall report directly to the head of the Executive agency at which the chief is appointed. (2) ALJ An administrative law judge (in this paragraph referred to as an ALJ ) shall report directly to the chief administrative law judge (if any) of the Executive agency at which the ALJ is appointed. If there is no chief administrative law judge, the ALJ shall report directly to the head of such Executive agency. (3) Clarification Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to limit or otherwise mitigate the ability or independence of an administrative law judge in carrying out his or her duties and responsibilities as an administrative law judge. . (b) Exemption from