How to be a Prosecution/PD Gunner? Forum

[Tanicius]

I thought it could be anywhere from tomorrow through Oct?

September 19 - October 3: Employer application review and interviewee selection

Aw for the love of Christ. Conceivably I won't know if it's worth it to buy an October 23 plane ticket until October 3. Great.

[BlueLotus]

It is said on here often that past work with victims is a huge red flag for PDs, and often merits a ding at the screener stage (esp. for folks with DA experience)

BUT, what if you're applying for a non-criminal division of a PD's office?

For instance, the Child Advocacy Unit at Defender Association of Philadelphia, Child and Family Law Unit of CPCS, and Office of the Law Guardian at NJPD represent children in civil family court proceedings.

I've never had any prosecutorial experience, but before law school I did work on a hotline for DV survivors, and last summer I interned at an immigration legal aid org with undocumented clients seeking U visas and VAWA self-petitions (not exclusively, did other stuff too, like cancellation of removal, DACA, SIJ, etc.) . Will those experiences be "bad" even if I'm applying for a civil division of a PD's office like those I mentioned above?

I don't think working a hotline for DV survivors/working on immigration law is going to hurt you that much for PD positions, especially since these will be predictable interview questions that you can prepare awesome answers for ahead of time. I used to work on a rape crisis hotline, and every PD office I interviewed for pushed me on it, and it didn't prevent me from getting the summer positions I wanted (disclaimer: I have only successfully obtained summer/semester positions at PD's offices and have not yet interviewed for post-bar positions, so take what I say with a grain of salt.) I think your experience specifically can be spun positively. A lot of criminal defendants are themselves victims of abuse at some point in their lives, and being able to approach that issue sensitively will help you a lot. Additionally, familiarity with immigration law is crazy helpful, especially given how complicated immigration law is. You will get a lot of clients who are immigrants, and understanding the intricacies of U-visas and VAWA might help you strategize. Bottom line, I don't think it will hurt you very much if you have good explanations prepared.

Thanks! This is really helpful.

[BlueLotus]

I thought it could be anywhere from tomorrow through Oct?

September 19 - October 3: Employer application review and interviewee selection

Aw for the love of Christ. Conceivably I won't know if it's worth it to buy an October 23 plane ticket until October 3. Great.

Even if you don't get a formal interview, people have gotten gigs through making a great impression at table talks..

[gr8scOtt!]

I thought it could be anywhere from tomorrow through Oct?

September 19 - October 3: Employer application review and interviewee selection

Aw for the love of Christ. Conceivably I won't know if it's worth it to buy an October 23 plane ticket until October 3. Great.

Even if you don't get a formal interview, people have gotten gigs through making a great impression at table talks..

Also, couldn't you book a flight on Southwest into BWI and then if you don't come to EJW, use the airfare for something else?

[Tanicius]

Also, couldn't you book a flight on Southwest into BWI and then if you don't come to EJW, use the airfare for something else?

What's BWI?

[Anonymous User]

will absence of journal be a red flag, or do PD/legal aid not really care either way?

[A. Nony Mouse]

Pure anecdata, but none of the people I know who did PD did a journal.

[Anonymous User]

^ thanks! i guess the upside of not being a cite check slave is that i have more time to do pro bono work.

the downside is that i've pretty much locked myself outta clerkships, but w/e...

[spleenworship]

Pure anecdata, but none of the people I know who did PD did a journal.

Most of the PDs here haven't done a journal. A few have. I don't think it makes a difference unless you were applying to the appellate division.

[gr8scOtt!]

Also, couldn't you book a flight on Southwest into BWI and then if you don't come to EJW, use the airfare for something else?

What's BWI?

BWI = Baltimore/Washington airport. Usually cheaper than flying into DC/Dulles, and they have a large Southwest Terminal. Then you can take the MARC train into DC and catch the subway to whichever stop the hotel is at.

[anon sequitur]

I personally know someone who got a job with the Colorado PD through EJW table talk. She got turned down for a 2L summer interview, did table talk, got a 2L internship, got an offer to return after she takes bar.

[DayTripper1967]

Do any 3L's go to EJW?

[BlueLotus]

^Yeah, there are a bunch of post-grad positions posted. largely PDs offices.

[DayTripper1967]

^Yeah, there are a bunch of post-grad positions posted. largely PDs offices.

That's cool. I'm a 2L right now, but I'm thinking of going to this next year.

[BlueLotus]

Pure anecdata, but none of the people I know who did PD did a journal.

Most of the PDs here haven't done a journal. A few have. I don't think it makes a difference unless you were applying to the appellate division.

how important is moot court? i'm assuming that racking up pro bono hours serving real indigent clients is a better use of my time than competitions involving artificial scenarios, but just making sure.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Pure anecdata, but none of the people I know who did PD did a journal.

Most of the PDs here haven't done a journal. A few have. I don't think it makes a difference unless you were applying to the appellate division.

how important is moot court? i'm assuming that racking up pro bono hours serving real indigent clients is a better use of my time than competitions involving artificial scenarios, but just making sure.

That's my understanding. I do know some people who went on to PD/DA who did mock trial, and I think if you wanted to do something extracurricular that would be more useful than moot court (unless you were aiming for appellate, of course), in part because my school seemed to do a decent job getting local attorneys to coach the mock trial teams (profs usually coached the moot court teams).

[BlueLotus]

leadership in student orgs doesn't mean shit, i hope? i'm not really a huge presence on campus (other than attending events for food, lol) and spend most of my free time volunteering.

[Anonymous User]

PDs I know have said they think journal is a waste of time and you almost have to explain why you wasted your time doing that rather than getting PD experience. Also there are many judges who don't care or require that you do a journal in order to consider you for a clerkship, if you are interested in that.

[FlanAl]

Please tell me more about these clerkships where journal doesn't matter. I'd actually be interested in clerking at criminal court but kinda don't know if that is even a thing. I'd assume that it would be a pretty good thing to do before being a pd?

[spleenworship]

Please tell me more about these clerkships where journal doesn't matter. I'd actually be interested in clerking at criminal court but kinda don't know if that is even a thing. I'd assume that it would be a pretty good thing to do before being a pd?

Yeah, I mean my understanding is you absolutely needed a journal to be considered for clerkship barring some kind of nepotism/political scenario.

Oh, and a state COA clerk just got hired at the local PDs office at a higher rate of pay and whatnot, so I'm guessing it doesn't hurt.

[Void]

Please tell me more about these clerkships where journal doesn't matter. I'd actually be interested in clerking at criminal court but kinda don't know if that is even a thing. I'd assume that it would be a pretty good thing to do before being a pd?

In my state the criminal courthouse is an entirely different building from civil (in some but not all towns) so it's definitely possible here to be a criminal court clerk. The problem is that the clerking application process is the same for all courts, and they only determine your placement once you've actually accepted an offer, so actually scoring a criminal-only clerkship on purpose would be quite a long shot.

That said, I know a couple of PDs who clerked for the state appellate court after law school, and apparently it helped with their PD applications- not exactly sure why it would help much though.

[FlanAl]

Anyone have any ideas about county level clerkships in criminal court? Or is that just a state clerkship? I probably should know more about how the court system is organized in different states...

[kapital98]

Please tell me more about these clerkships where journal doesn't matter. I'd actually be interested in clerking at criminal court but kinda don't know if that is even a thing. I'd assume that it would be a pretty good thing to do before being a pd?

In my state the criminal courthouse is an entirely different building from civil (in some but not all towns) so it's definitely possible here to be a criminal court clerk. The problem is that the clerking application process is the same for all courts, and they only determine your placement once you've actually accepted an offer, so actually scoring a criminal-only clerkship on purpose would be quite a long shot.

That said, I know a couple of PDs who clerked for the state appellate court after law school, and apparently it helped with their PD applications- not exactly sure why it would help much though.

I worked for one of the largest upstate NY PD offices. They prefer applicants with state/federal appellate court clerkships. This applies to regular PD's and appellate PD's. I don't know the specific reason (If anyone is interested I'll ask).

However, they don't really care about Supreme Court (trial court) clerkships. They are much easier to get.

[Borhas]

I thought it could be anywhere from tomorrow through Oct?

September 19 - October 3: Employer application review and interviewee selection

Aw for the love of Christ. Conceivably I won't know if it's worth it to buy an October 23 plane ticket until October 3. Great.

My school paid for my flight yours might too

[Anonymous User]

I applied to several PD positions at EJW and heard back from one office today inquiring about whether I have or will be completing a practice program before graduation. Anyone else hear anything at all?