USAO Question Forum

[kalvano]

I was looking at various internships available, and my school has a Criminal Law clinic and internships with the local DA's office. However, they also offer an internship with the local USAO offices (two of them actually). It is not the DOJ Honors program.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this. Is it better than a DA's internship? Worse? The same? What all do you do?

Any help would be much appreciated.

[Voyager]

I have done both: 2 stints at SDNY USAO and I did my pro bono work at the Queens DA office.

The USAO experience is more valuable for your career and probably more interesting. You will be assigned to 1-3 AUSAs and will do research, write briefs, interview witnesses/officers/defendants and go to court. The federal work is MUCH more interesting than state work for sure. The cases are high profile. I got to watch the Gotti trial last fall, for example. You are working on cases with genuinely BAD dudes who are almost assuredly guilty. The federal agents and the USAOs are not screwing around. If they arrest and charge you, it is because they have a damn good reason to. I was involved in Genovese crime family investigations/cases/trials, Russian Mafia frauds, international coke and heroine distribution cases, large scale investor frauds, etc...

You will also get writing samples out of it. I wrote an appellate brief for the 2nd Circuit that my AUSA allowed me to use as my writing sample going forward. ALSO, these guys are all top of their class dudes who often have connections to top firms. They also can help you get into a USAO down the road.

You will also be allowed to wander down to the court in your free time and watch whichever federal case you like. Ton of fun.

The DA internship can be very cool if they allow you to prosecute real cases. Otherwise I found the experience depressing. Low level criminals being crammed through the system at the rapid rate. Pleaing down bad dudes to violations. Only do this if you really really want to be a state prosecutor OR if you have the opportunity to actually take responsibility for the prosecution of your own cases... THAT is a cool experience. If you do this, you will likely have a much better shot at an ADA position.

More specific questions?

[ggocat]

+1 to voyager's post. DA internship is good if you can actually practice--check your state requirements / ask someone with knowledge at your school. Many states allow 3Ls to practice. Thus, if you're looking at 1L summer opportunities, the USAO will likely be more interesting and useful (slightly more time allowed for writing assignments, sometimes more complex, allowing you to get a better writing sample).

[LjakW]

The DA internship can be very cool if they allow you to prosecute real cases. Otherwise I found the experience depressing. Low level criminals being crammed through the system at the rapid rate. Pleaing down bad dudes to violations. Only do this if you really really want to be a state prosecutor OR if you have the opportunity to actually take responsibility for the prosecution of your own cases... THAT is a cool experience. If you do this, you will likely have a much better shot at an ADA position.

More specific questions?

Which bureaus at the DA (Queens specifically) would you recommend?

[kalvano]

I have done both: 2 stints at SDNY USAO and I did my pro bono work at the Queens DA office.

The USAO experience is more valuable for your career and probably more interesting. You will be assigned to 1-3 AUSAs and will do research, write briefs, interview witnesses/officers/defendants and go to court. The federal work is MUCH more interesting than state work for sure. The cases are high profile. I got to watch the Gotti trial last fall, for example. You are working on cases with genuinely BAD dudes who are almost assuredly guilty. The federal agents and the USAOs are not screwing around. If they arrest and charge you, it is because they have a damn good reason to. I was involved in Genovese crime family investigations/cases/trials, Russian Mafia frauds, international coke and heroine distribution cases, large scale investor frauds, etc...

You will also get writing samples out of it. I wrote an appellate brief for the 2nd Circuit that my AUSA allowed me to use as my writing sample going forward. ALSO, these guys are all top of their class dudes who often have connections to top firms. They also can help you get into a USAO down the road.

You will also be allowed to wander down to the court in your free time and watch whichever federal case you like. Ton of fun.

The DA internship can be very cool if they allow you to prosecute real cases. Otherwise I found the experience depressing. Low level criminals being crammed through the system at the rapid rate. Pleaing down bad dudes to violations. Only do this if you really really want to be a state prosecutor OR if you have the opportunity to actually take responsibility for the prosecution of your own cases... THAT is a cool experience. If you do this, you will likely have a much better shot at an ADA position.

More specific questions?

Thanks a lot, that's very helpful.


I'll be attending SMU starting this fall. They offer a criminal prosecution clinic which works with the Dallas DA's office, but they also offer the externships to the USAO.

We have two USAO offices around here, so hopefully I will be able to make it in to one. Sounds like I should focus on trying to get the USAO externship first, then also try for criminal prosecution clinic as well?

Since SMU is the only school in town, there are lots of opportunities for internships. I'm just guessing the USAO one would be the most prestigious / interesting.

[darkarmour]

Each AUSA office is different in how they allocate work amongst clerks/interns/externs (the label differs from office to office). Find out beforehand, ask around, set up an informational interview.

[ggocat]

Also, OP, each AUSA office is different in how they allocate work amongst clerks/interns/externs (the label differs from office to office). find out beforehand, ask around, set up an informational interview.

This is true for every employer, though. You have to do some research or just ask questions in the interview. FWIW, I knew a DA's office that gave a 3L intern very lame assignments over and over again (listening to tape recordings and interviews, summarizing, and noting potential evidence issues--that, plus sitting around during court, was almost all she did for a month).

[Voyager]

some of y'all need to stop hollerin' about AUSA offices.

Voyager, holy shit dude, you were in SDNY AUSA, of course your cases were high-profile. but outside of SDNY in most run-of-the-mill districts, AUSAs eat a diet of felons-in-possession and mail fraudsters and other dumb shit like possession w/intent to distribute.

Also, OP, each AUSA office is different in how they allocate work amongst clerks/interns/externs (the label differs from office to office). find out beforehand, ask around, set up an informational interview.

lol. dude. The DA office in any county is going to deal with way more low level cases with way fewer resources than the local USAO. Further, the offices don't stick their interns only with 1st year AUSAs doing felon in possession cases. They try to put you with people doing interesting stuff.

Of course going to a USAO is superior than going to the local DA's office. I don't understand why this is up for debate.

[kalvano]

Of course going to a USAO is superior than going to the local DA's office. I don't understand why this is up for debate.

I guess my question is more would it be better to try and work with the DA's office all the way through school for employment purposes, or would do the USAO program be as helpful for employment?

[vanwinkle]

Of course going to a USAO is superior than going to the local DA's office. I don't understand why this is up for debate.

I guess my question is more would it be better to try and work with the DA's office all the way through school for employment purposes, or would do the USAO program be as helpful for employment?

If you're talking about literally wanting to work for the local DA's office when you graduate, it might be worth it to go there and start impressing people now. Otherwise, if you're just talking about wanting to work at some DA's office when you graduate and what will help on your resume, do the USAO thing.

[kalvano]

Of course going to a USAO is superior than going to the local DA's office. I don't understand why this is up for debate.

I guess my question is more would it be better to try and work with the DA's office all the way through school for employment purposes, or would do the USAO program be as helpful for employment?

If you're talking about literally wanting to work for the local DA's office when you graduate, it might be worth it to go there and start impressing people now. Otherwise, if you're just talking about wanting to work at some DA's office when you graduate and what will help on your resume, do the USAO thing.

Groovy. Thanks.

[Voyager]

Dude. You don;t need to be there every semester. Why not do both? I did only 1 semester at a DA's office and got multiple ADA offers.

[darkarmour]

some of y'all need to stop hollerin' about AUSA offices.

Voyager, holy shit dude, you were in SDNY AUSA, of course your cases were high-profile. but outside of SDNY in most run-of-the-mill districts, AUSAs eat a diet of felons-in-possession and mail fraudsters and other dumb shit like possession w/intent to distribute.

Also, OP, each AUSA office is different in how they allocate work amongst clerks/interns/externs (the label differs from office to office). find out beforehand, ask around, set up an informational interview.

lol. dude. The DA office in any county is going to deal with way more low level cases with way fewer resources than the local USAO. Further, the offices don't stick their interns only with 1st year AUSAs doing felon in possession cases. They try to put you with people doing interesting stuff.

Of course going to a USAO is superior than going to the local DA's office. I don't understand why this is up for debate.

tldr: voyager implying s/he didn't convey impression that OP's USAO offices would handle all high profile cases and OP would be assigned to 1-3 AUSAs. 180 180 it's this sort of backpedaling and lack of attn to detail that the rest of us hate.

edit: fyiw, if you want to get very well-acquainted with the criminal law of the state, you want a DA or state AG's office. remember, they're the prosecutors who handle the vast majority of criminal matters in the state.

[kalvano]

Yeah, I'm not thinking the Dallas / Plano USAO office handles quite the same high-profile stuff as the NY office.

[ggocat]

Why not do both?

This is credited. One of the nice things about working throughout law school is that you get to try on many different hats. It's like, some people get one baseball cap and wear it all the time. Yeah, it's nice that it gets all comfy to your head and starts bending from being old and used. It's good old reliable baseball cap. You can always come back to it. But haven't you ever wondered what it's like to wear a cowboy hat? Or a crown from Burger King? Mid-career, it's going to be difficult and awkward to put that baseball cap aside and don the Burger King crown. Now is the time for you to wear that crown for awhile. So when you look back, you can say "Yeah, I wore a Burger King crown. That was kinda fun. I liked this but didn't like that." If you don't try that crown on now, you're just gonna be that guy who has worn a baseball cap his whole life.

HTH

[Voyager]

some of y'all need to stop hollerin' about AUSA offices.

Voyager, holy shit dude, you were in SDNY AUSA, of course your cases were high-profile. but outside of SDNY in most run-of-the-mill districts, AUSAs eat a diet of felons-in-possession and mail fraudsters and other dumb shit like possession w/intent to distribute.

Also, OP, each AUSA office is different in how they allocate work amongst clerks/interns/externs (the label differs from office to office). find out beforehand, ask around, set up an informational interview.

lol. dude. The DA office in any county is going to deal with way more low level cases with way fewer resources than the local USAO. Further, the offices don't stick their interns only with 1st year AUSAs doing felon in possession cases. They try to put you with people doing interesting stuff.

Of course going to a USAO is superior than going to the local DA's office. I don't understand why this is up for debate.

tldr: voyager implying s/he didn't convey impression that OP's USAO offices would handle all high profile cases and OP would be assigned to 1-3 AUSAs. 180 180 it's this sort of backpedaling and lack of attn to detail that the rest of us hate.

edit: fyiw, if you want to get very well-acquainted with the criminal law of the state, you want a DA or state AG's office. remember, they're the prosecutors who handle the vast majority of criminal matters in the state.

lol. ok. whatever. I've done both. I stand by my comments. I am not backpedaling.

OP WILL be assigned to 1-3 AUSAs. He WILL work on higher profile cases than at the DA's office.

[ggocat]

OP WILL be assigned to 1-3 AUSAs.

Depends on office.

[Anonymous User]

I have done both: 2 stints at SDNY USAO and I did my pro bono work at the Queens DA office.

The USAO experience is more valuable for your career and probably more interesting. You will be assigned to 1-3 AUSAs and will do research, write briefs, interview witnesses/officers/defendants and go to court. The federal work is MUCH more interesting than state work for sure. The cases are high profile. I got to watch the Gotti trial last fall, for example. You are working on cases with genuinely BAD dudes who are almost assuredly guilty. The federal agents and the USAOs are not screwing around. If they arrest and charge you, it is because they have a damn good reason to. I was involved in Genovese crime family investigations/cases/trials, Russian Mafia frauds, international coke and heroine distribution cases, large scale investor frauds, etc... You will also be allowed to wander down to the court in your free time and watch whichever federal case you like. Ton of fun.

You will also get writing samples out of it. I wrote an appellate brief for the 2nd Circuit that my AUSA allowed me to use as my writing sample going forward. ALSO, these guys are all top of their class dudes who often have connections to top firms. They also can help you get into a USAO down the road.

The DA internship can be very cool if they allow you to prosecute real cases. Otherwise I found the experience depressing. Low level criminals being crammed through the system at the rapid rate. Pleaing down bad dudes to violations. Only do this if you really really want to be a state prosecutor OR if you have the opportunity to actually take responsibility for the prosecution of your own cases... THAT is a cool experience. If you do this, you will likely have a much better shot at an ADA position.

More specific questions?

This sounds so awesome, especially the mob cases.