Top Law Schools

Anyone have experience applying for post grad positions there? How competitive are some of the offices (Tampa, Miami, etc)?

Can only speak to Miami but their application process is fairly early (decisions are going out now) and similar to many other big city DAs. There are three rounds of interviews, the second being a panel with two higher up ASAs, and the third with SA Rundle. My impression was it is relatively competitive in that you have to show dedication to the work and should have decent grades from a decent school or strong ties to the area. They hire a pretty big class but it is certainly not a fallback for those who missed the boat on OCI. You'll be asked repeatedly why you want to be a DA and why that office, and the panel is a pretty intense crim law/crim pro hypo. The office environment is less competitive and cutthroat than some (some NY offices, for example) and everyone seems really congenial. The pay is pretty bad but the cost of living is very low if you're used to NYC/DC/LA prices.

Miami is the fourth or fifth largest DAs office in the country, so the quality of the work is excellent (after the first year) and the competition is what you would expect. I would imagine smaller offices like Tampa have less interesting work and lower turnover so probably fewer positions.

Anonymous User wrote:Can only speak to Miami but their application process is fairly early (decisions are going out now) and similar to many other big city DAs. There are three rounds of interviews, the second being a panel with two higher up ASAs, and the third with SA Rundle. My impression was it is relatively competitive in that you have to show dedication to the work and should have decent grades from a decent school or strong ties to the area. They hire a pretty big class but it is certainly not a fallback for those who missed the boat on OCI. You'll be asked repeatedly why you want to be a DA and why that office, and the panel is a pretty intense crim law/crim pro hypo. The office environment is less competitive and cutthroat than some (some NY offices, for example) and everyone seems really congenial. The pay is pretty bad but the cost of living is very low if you're used to NYC/DC/LA prices.

Miami is the fourth or fifth largest DAs office in the country, so the quality of the work is excellent (after the first year) and the competition is what you would expect. I would imagine smaller offices like Tampa have less interesting work and lower turnover so probably fewer positions.

Tampa isn't as big as Miami but it's a good size. I think they have 120 ASAs. Turnover is plenty high in offices other than Miami. Local schools seem to have a big advantage.

Same anonymous from above - I should add that from my experience, Miami does not require ties or connections if you have decent stats (top 1/3 ish, maybe even top 1/2, from a T30ish with strong prosecution interest and notable work experience). More regional offices like Tampa will probably look to local schools long before considering WUSTL/Minnesota/BC etc

Miami is going to be just as competitive as NYC, Chicago, etc. It is the outlier in Flordia though. Other offices will be a lot less competitive though most are already filling their being quota and have been since October/November. I'd get on the ball fast.

Miami experience was a bit different for me. Only one interviewer at each screener, and the second was with one of the Chief ASAs. Intense hypos in both, first was more of a law school hypo and second was more of a day in the life of practice as an ASA and how you would react to a hypothetical file that came in to your desk.

I got an offer with no ties, not really important as another poster said.

Anonymous User wrote:Miami experience was a bit different for me. Only one interviewer at each screener, and the second was with one of the Chief ASAs. Intense hypos in both, first was more of a law school hypo and second was more of a day in the life of practice as an ASA and how you would react to a hypothetical file that came in to your desk.

I got an offer with no ties, not really important as another poster said.

Do you think your grades/school made you stand out?

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Miami experience was a bit different for me. Only one interviewer at each screener, and the second was with one of the Chief ASAs. Intense hypos in both, first was more of a law school hypo and second was more of a day in the life of practice as an ASA and how you would react to a hypothetical file that came in to your desk.

I got an offer with no ties, not really important as another poster said.

Do you think your grades/school made you stand out?

Not my school(T1 state school), maybe my grades, but more likely my work experience pre- and during law school. I also got feedback that I did very well on the hypos, especially in the second round.