How to be a Prosecution/PD Gunner? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Anyone knows how long do they have to give you to decide whether to accept an offer? Does it vary by office or are they all required to give you a certain amount of time?

Not sure if you're talking about somewhere specific, but my 2L summer and post-grad offers had accept periods of 2 and 3 weeks respectively.

Miami SAO gave 30 days post grad.

[BlueLotus]

How is doing civil indigent legal aid (DV, family law, immigration, etc.) for your 1L summer seen by DA/PD offices?

[adonai]

How is doing civil indigent legal aid (DV, family law, immigration, etc.) for your 1L summer seen by DA/PD offices?

It's good, but not as good as actually interning at a PD/DA office. I never really understood why legal aid was seen as a plus by DA offices, since it seems more reflective of PD type interaction and work. I guess its cause there's no such thing as a prosecution clinic, except at a few select schools (which I'm really, really jealous of).

[Anonymous User]

How is doing civil indigent legal aid (DV, family law, immigration, etc.) for your 1L summer seen by DA/PD offices?

I have a couple of these on my resume. On it's own, it's kind of a meh job. You'll need to spin a story about how that job supported or led to your interest in criminal law. Perhaps working in DV led you to pursue prosecution, or maybe you saw how vulnerable immigrants were in the judicial system and decided to become a public defender. At the very least, you can use the work to show your commitment to public service/interest.

I never really understood why legal aid was seen as a plus by DA offices, since it seems more reflective of PD type interaction and work. I guess its cause there's no such thing as a prosecution clinic, except at a few select schools.

Prosecutors like it because it shows an ability to work for the people who are more likely to be victims of crime. It helps to be able to connect with victims and witnesses.

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone know if Brooklyn Defender Services have extended any offers or if they have scheduled 3rd round interviews?

[Anonymous User]

I have a phone interview for a pd office for 1L summer, any tips?

[Lady Heather]

I have a phone interview for a pd office for 1L summer, any tips?

Usually 1L interviews are pretty low-key: why law school, why pd, why x law school, what is your favorite class and why, etc. Your interviewer might try to see how comfortable you would be assisting clients accused of particularly repulsive crimes, because you would be writing motions in defense of these clients. You should not get any hypos until your 2L summer job interviews. Phone interviews are not really any different than in-person interviews. Just make sure you are in a quiet place where you can speak loudly in case your interviewer has difficulty hearing you.

[Anonymous User]

How would working for the DOJ/EOIR during my 1L summer look to a PD office for my second summer and PD for employment? My whole reasoning for interest in the DOJ/EOIR internship this summer is to gain knowledge of the way that convictions can affect deportation proceedings. The idea is to be able to take that knowledge to public defense in an area with a lot of immigrants and be able to advise my clients on the deportation effects of certain pleadings..

[Anonymous User]

How would working for the DOJ/EOIR during my 1L summer look to a PD office for my second summer and PD for employment? My whole reasoning for interest in the DOJ/EOIR internship this summer is to gain knowledge of the way that convictions can affect deportation proceedings. The idea is to be able to take that knowledge to public defense in an area with a lot of immigrants and be able to advise my clients on the deportation effects of certain pleadings..

Get in a PD or immigrants' rights clinic for your 2L year so that when you're interviewing, that doesn't look like a lie because you got dinged by the DOJ and want a fall back.

[brassmonkey7]

How would working for the DOJ/EOIR during my 1L summer look to a PD office for my second summer and PD for employment? My whole reasoning for interest in the DOJ/EOIR internship this summer is to gain knowledge of the way that convictions can affect deportation proceedings. The idea is to be able to take that knowledge to public defense in an area with a lot of immigrants and be able to advise my clients on the deportation effects of certain pleadings..

Get in a PD or immigrants' rights clinic for your 2L year so that when you're interviewing, that doesn't look like a lie because you got dinged by the DOJ and want a fall back.

Definitely what the above poster says. Also bear in mind that some PDs may just ask you outright, "If you really wanted to learn about collateral consequences and deportation proceedings, why didn't you just work for an immigration unit in a PD office or an immigration services org?" A big issue for PD offices is that you can tie everything back to working with clients, e.g., learning about deportation proceedings is great, but are you committed to working with indigent clients facing these consequences? Also you might want to look into some PD offices with immigration units, for example, a lot of the NYC PD offices discussed in this thread have immigration specific internships.

[BlueLotus]

What kinds of grades do you need for Philly DA 2L gig? Is it paid? What are the interviews like? Do you get assigned to a particular unit or do you rotate.

[Anonymous User]

Anybody know the starting salary for CPCS up in Mass?

[Rocío]

Anybody know the starting salary for CPCS up in Mass?

$40K.

[the lantern]

How would working for the DOJ/EOIR during my 1L summer look to a PD office for my second summer and PD for employment? My whole reasoning for interest in the DOJ/EOIR internship this summer is to gain knowledge of the way that convictions can affect deportation proceedings. The idea is to be able to take that knowledge to public defense in an area with a lot of immigrants and be able to advise my clients on the deportation effects of certain pleadings..

Get in a PD or immigrants' rights clinic for your 2L year so that when you're interviewing, that doesn't look like a lie because you got dinged by the DOJ and want a fall back.

Definitely what the above poster says. Also bear in mind that some PDs may just ask you outright, "If you really wanted to learn about collateral consequences and deportation proceedings, why didn't you just work for an immigration unit in a PD office or an immigration services org?" A big issue for PD offices is that you can tie everything back to working with clients, e.g., learning about deportation proceedings is great, but are you committed to working with indigent clients facing these consequences? Also you might want to look into some PD offices with immigration units, for example, a lot of the NYC PD offices discussed in this thread have immigration specific internships.

I didn't intern with EOIR but I interviewed for EOIR and had to ask for a day off of my PD internship to fly there. Everyone pretty much assumed that it was a prosecution position and was baffled by the fact that I was interviewing even though I had told them 10+ times that EOIR is NOT prosecution. You should prepare for every single person that sees Justice on your resume to assume that it was a prosecution position. Having been through that experience, I would be wary of interning with EOIR unless (1) you want to do EOIR post grad and (2) you are actually competitive for Justice (NOTE: friends who interned with EOIR did not get hired post grad, nor did I). If you want to learn about the immigration consequences of convictions, work at a public interest organization or a criminal defense firm that specializes in noncitizens--I live in a small market and I've done both of these things.

[Anonymous User]

So I haven't heard from my number 1 pd office for 1l summer yet. Ive done everything I can think of, I got my grades in early January, sent them to the office then I called two weeks after that and now its been about a month since I updated my app with grades, I applied dec 1 and went ther earlier last semester to speak with an alum there. . I mean if they don't wanna hire me would they tell me that so I can stop thinking about it, what else can I do??

[Anonymous User]

I didn't intern with EOIR but I interviewed for EOIR and had to ask for a day off of my PD internship to fly there. Everyone pretty much assumed that it was a prosecution position and was baffled by the fact that I was interviewing even though I had told them 10+ times that EOIR is NOT prosecution. You should prepare for every single person that sees Justice on your resume to assume that it was a prosecution position. Having been through that experience, I would be wary of interning with EOIR unless (1) you want to do EOIR post grad and (2) you are actually competitive for Justice (NOTE: friends who interned with EOIR did not get hired post grad, nor did I). If you want to learn about the immigration consequences of convictions, work at a public interest organization or a criminal defense firm that specializes in noncitizens--I live in a small market and I've done both of these things.

Plus, EOIR post-grad doesn't make too much sense as a goal. They only hire from the honors program for two year clerkships, and most people go from that to either immigration law firms or, much more often, to prosecutor-type positions at USCIS. I can't see moving from that clerkship to PD very easily.

[Anonymous User]

So I haven't heard from my number 1 pd office for 1l summer yet. Ive done everything I can think of, I got my grades in early January, sent them to the office then I called two weeks after that and now its been about a month since I updated my app with grades, I applied dec 1 and went ther earlier last semester to speak with an alum there. . I mean if they don't wanna hire me would they tell me that so I can stop thinking about it, what else can I do??

Give them till the first week in march and send a follow up email or call. If it makes you feel better a PD position for 2Ls I applied for doesn't hire until April. California offices especially take a long time I've noticed. Plus many PD offices will wait to get as many 2Ls on board before selecting 1Ls.

[Borhas]

Whelp still haven't heard back from San Diego or Colorado so it looks like I'm either going to have to stick it out in my dead end (but paid) job as a research and writing guy at the small firm I'm at or risk it all and go clerk at one of the unpaid PD offices.

[Anonymous User]

Whelp still haven't heard back from San Diego or Colorado so it looks like I'm either going to have to stick it out in my dead end (but paid) job as a research and writing guy at the small firm I'm at or risk it all and go clerk at one of the unpaid PD offices.

When did you apply for San Diego? They are still accepting application until March, so there is still time.

[Borhas]

Whelp still haven't heard back from San Diego or Colorado so it looks like I'm either going to have to stick it out in my dead end (but paid) job as a research and writing guy at the small firm I'm at or risk it all and go clerk at one of the unpaid PD offices.

When did you apply for San Diego? They are still accepting application until March, so there is still time.

I had my 2nd round a couple weeks ago and since then nothing. I think that's almost always a ding. (Especially since some have already received offers)

[anon sequitur]

If you don't get a PD job you like your first job out of law school, is much harder to break in a couple years down the road? What if you had lots of PD internships/summers from law school?

[Anonymous User]

If you don't get a PD job you like your first job out of law school, is much harder to break in a couple years down the road? What if you had lots of PD internships/summers from law school?

If you continue to do defense work, especially indigent defense work, then you shouldn't be in bad shape. Try to get in with a small defense firm that takes a lot of public defender appointments so you can continue getting experience working with the indigent. That will keep you active in the courthouse and give you lots of opportunities to network with PDs.

[Anonymous User]

Whelp still haven't heard back from San Diego or Colorado so it looks like I'm either going to have to stick it out in my dead end (but paid) job as a research and writing guy at the small firm I'm at or risk it all and go clerk at one of the unpaid PD offices.

When did you apply for San Diego? They are still accepting application until March, so there is still time.

I had my 2nd round a couple weeks ago and since then nothing. I think that's almost always a ding. (Especially since some have already received offers)

I know that they have actually dinged people. They are hiring a few on a rolling basis, but if you haven't been dinged yet, you still have a shot.

Also I am sure they don't want to give out too many of the spots (or 3rd round interviews which I was told was just a formality) before the application deadline has approached.

Hope this helped. Good Luck!

[BlueLotus]

Will WE with DV victims pre-law school screw me over when applying Philly PD? It was in a non-legal capacity (hotline advocate)

[Void]

Will WE with DV victims pre-law school screw me over when applying Philly PD? It was in a non-legal capacity (hotline advocate)

No.