City Attorney/State Attorney General's Offices

[FlanAl]

Has anyone had an internship or worked in a city attorney's office or state attorney general's office? Or at the uber prestigious New York City Law Department?

There doesn't seem to be a lot of info on this site or out there in general concerning what people in these offices do. I know there are a couple of 3 sentence explanations on this site but I would love to find out more info.

I'm going to be applying for summer intern positions with a few of these types of offices (yeah I know, late in the game) but am kinda at a loss for what to write in a cover letter since I'm not really sure what they do. The abstract idea of "representing my city" sounds great but beyond that I don't really have a clue what they do.

Thanks a bunch for any help!

[seatown12]

Well city attorneys defend the city in tort claims and other suits, and often they also handle misdemeanor/infraction prosecution. I guess you'll have to look into the offices you are applying to. If you are on the civil side my understanding is you will be doing a lot of case research to determine exposure based on precedent. If you are on criminal you will probably be doing motion work and maybe getting in court if you're a 2L. Don't they have websites with info about their intern programs?

[Anonymous User]

I'm a 2L currently interning for my city attorney's office part time and going to work for the state AG in the summer. I spend most of my time defending the city against 1983 claims that happened during arrests so far, but I've only been there a few weeks. I enjoy the atmosphere working there, and I'm in the same office section as the Mayor.