District Attorney's Offices 2018 Forum

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District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by encore1101 » Wed Aug 09, 2017 9:13 am

Hi all. I think its safe to start a new thread for the Fall 2018 hiring season. The previous iteration of this thread listed the following offices as hiring/extending offers pre-bar admittance:

Cook County State's Attorney - Chicago, IL
Miami-Dade Office of the State Attorney - Miami, FL
Philadelphia District Attorney's Office - Philadelphia, PA
District Attorney of New York (Manhattan) - NY, NY
Bronx District Attorney - Bronx, NY
Nassau County District Attorney - Long Island, NY
Kings County District Attorney (Brooklyn) - Brooklyn, NY
Queens County District Attorney - Queens, NY
Suffolk County District Attorney - Long Island, NY
Suffolk County District Attorney - Boston, MA
King County (Seattle) - Seattle, WA

Also, if you're interested in applying as a lateral, I've seen job postings for specific DA offices on http://www.lawjobs.com and the NYC Employment webpage.

A fair number of posters, including myself, currently work in one of these offices. I was hired within the past 3 years, so the hiring experience is relatively fresh in my mind. Feel free to post any questions or discussions related to the Fall 2018 hiring season.

Good luck to all applicants!

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by gom.sa » Wed Aug 09, 2017 5:46 pm

Checking into this thread. A little disappointed because this summer I worked at an office that had a pre-bar hiring policy... but then chose to get rid of it during the summer. Sucks but that's how the government cookie sometimes crumbles.

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Great45 » Thu Aug 31, 2017 9:41 pm

Checking in. Has Queens already contacted applicants for 2nd round interviews?

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Aug 31, 2017 9:58 pm

2017 grad, starting at one of the ny offices in a month or so. checking in to answer q's about the hiring process. i did int's at the 4 ny offices

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Great45 » Thu Aug 31, 2017 10:12 pm

Anonymous User wrote:2017 grad, starting at one of the ny offices in a month or so. checking in to answer q's about the hiring process. i did int's at the 4 ny offices
Hey. Thanks for taking questions. Do you remember how much time passed between your 2nd and 3rd rounds at each of the offices?

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Aug 31, 2017 11:55 pm

Hey. Thanks for taking questions. Do you remember how much time passed between your 2nd and 3rd rounds at each of the offices?
Based on my experience and my friends who were also interviewing for DA positions I would say that it varies dramatically across offices, based on when your app is in, and maybe also based on how good of a candidate you are. But for the most part the general theme of my experience was that waiting is the name of the game. I applied early, maybe late August or September. From my memory the time between round two and three was quickest at Bronx by far (like a week or so maybe), but that could be because they were hiring so many last year. Queens was the slowest, I personally didn't even hear back after screener until like feb/march to schedule rd 2 I think, but some people I know heard sooner so it's possible I just wasn't high on their want list. Brooklyn was also like Queens, maybe a little faster. Manhattan's responses were not as quick as the Bronx but I heard back I think within 2-3 weeks after 2nd round.

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Sep 01, 2017 10:26 am

Great45 wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:2017 grad, starting at one of the ny offices in a month or so. checking in to answer q's about the hiring process. i did int's at the 4 ny offices
Hey. Thanks for taking questions. Do you remember how much time passed between your 2nd and 3rd rounds at each of the offices?
Went through interview cycle last year too for the 4 NY offices. I agree with poster above. Queens is extremely slow. September 1st round while my second was in February. However, third round was two weeks after my second round.

Bronx was a quick turnaround, a week or two between interview rounds.

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Sep 01, 2017 3:22 pm

Great45 wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:2017 grad, starting at one of the ny offices in a month or so. checking in to answer q's about the hiring process. i did int's at the 4 ny offices
Hey. Thanks for taking questions. Do you remember how much time passed between your 2nd and 3rd rounds at each of the offices?
Not other anon, but I applied late for Bronx and I was getting turnaround times of a couple days. I also applied to Nassau and they were pretty quick as well (maybe a week in between, max).

Other offices were slower; it took Brooklyn a really long time between my 2nd and 3rd (like over a month). I think it's because of Thompson's death, though I hear in general they're a little slow. The others were within a couple weeks for me.

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by pvnyc » Fri Sep 01, 2017 3:31 pm

Anonymous User wrote:2017 grad, starting at one of the ny offices in a month or so. checking in to answer q's about the hiring process. i did int's at the 4 ny offices
Hi, I am still on hold at Queens (they might consider me for the spring class pending bar).

I currently have no job.... it really hurts to know that everyone will be starting officially soon and I am left hanging until bar results....

Did you apply to Queens? How was the third round?

I might apply to Nassau again, any advice about that? I did not make it past the 1st round.

Thank you for taking out time to answer questions.

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Sep 01, 2017 4:47 pm

pvnyc wrote:
Hi, I am still on hold at Queens (they might consider me for the spring class pending bar).

I currently have no job.... it really hurts to know that everyone will be starting officially soon and I am left hanging until bar results....

Did you apply to Queens? How was the third round?

I might apply to Nassau again, any advice about that? I did not make it past the 1st round.

Thank you for taking out time to answer questions.
No idea about Nassau didn't apply there. I did apply to queens. The third round was the one where you have to give a five minute opening statement that is recorded. You get the facts ahead of time so you are able to prepare. The rest of the interview was ethical/situational hypos.

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:36 pm

pvnyc wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:2017 grad, starting at one of the ny offices in a month or so. checking in to answer q's about the hiring process. i did int's at the 4 ny offices
Hi, I am still on hold at Queens (they might consider me for the spring class pending bar).

I currently have no job.... it really hurts to know that everyone will be starting officially soon and I am left hanging until bar results....

Did you apply to Queens? How was the third round?

I might apply to Nassau again, any advice about that? I did not make it past the 1st round.

Thank you for taking out time to answer questions.
Not above anon, but for Nassau I think I got into the 2nd round because I had experience I could talk about (at another office, but still welcome) and I could clearly articulate why I chose the DA over, say PD/etc., and why I "liked" Nassau more than the other offices. I think it's a given that most people are gunning for the other offices, so on top of just sounding like you're sure of what you're getting into, I think it helps to be able to feign genuine interest in Nassau specifically.

FWIW they're starting huge initiatives to combat the heroin epidemic in LI, and they were also working on a cyberbullying initiative last year.

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Sep 01, 2017 9:38 pm

Anonymous User wrote:2017 grad, starting at one of the ny offices in a month or so. checking in to answer q's about the hiring process. i did int's at the 4 ny offices
Have an interview w/ NYC in the next couple of weeks. What should I expect and how should I prepare?

Also applied to Brooklyn and Bronx (about 2 weeks ago), but haven't heard back about anything in terms of an initial interview. Should I just assume I'm dinged from jump street?

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Sep 02, 2017 12:05 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:2017 grad, starting at one of the ny offices in a month or so. checking in to answer q's about the hiring process. i did int's at the 4 ny offices
Have an interview w/ NYC in the next couple of weeks. What should I expect and how should I prepare?

Also applied to Brooklyn and Bronx (about 2 weeks ago), but haven't heard back about anything in terms of an initial interview. Should I just assume I'm dinged from jump street?
Definitely do not assume that you were dinged from Brooklyn and Bronx. I had first rounds at both towards end of September. I remember that August and first half of September were basically for their interns to go through the rounds and then everyone else gets a shot. You'll hear back, especially if you were able to get an interview with DANY.

For first round DANY: articulate why you want to work as an ADA and why DANY in particular; understand what you will be doing and not doing during your first three years at the office; focus on how you are willing to do whatever the office requires; and know your writing sample backwards and forwards. First-round was pretty chill. I do not remember getting any hypos at DANY, Brooklyn, or Bronx.

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Sep 05, 2017 2:03 pm

Can anyone offer advice on Bronx 2nd round?

Also, applied to DANY early August and haven't heard anything.

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Sep 05, 2017 3:28 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Can anyone offer advice on Bronx 2nd round?

Also, applied to DANY early August and haven't heard anything.
I'm in the same boat, 2nd round coming up with the Bronx, haven't heard back from DANY but only applied a week ago.

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by encore1101 » Wed Sep 06, 2017 10:05 am

General advice for all offices:

Regarding hypos, don't worry about getting the answer right or wrong on hypos, but be ready to explain your reasoning AND defend your position. Especially in the panel interview, expect at least one interviewer to be hostile towards you. If you believe your answer is right, stick to your guns and be ready to explain why.

One common trait across all offices is be ready to explain why you want to be an ADA, and why in that particular county. That latter part is kind of a BS question because, let's face it, we just want to get hired, but you should come up with something that is unique to that office (note: when I interview, I never ask that question because I recognize it is BS -- either bullshit or blowing smoke).

Have some demonstrable interest in public service. Offices don't want to hire people who use DA's office as a fall back because they struck out at OCI. It doesn't need to be prosecution, necessarily. One of my classmates interned for the Innocence Project prior to becoming a prosecutor.

One of the biggest questions/concerns that an interviewer has, especially in the first round, is "Can I see myself working with this person." Do practice interviews with people who will honestly tell you if you're coming across too nervous, cocky, or otherwise unlikable.

MEN: WEAR A SUIT AND TIE. Groom yo'self. It's sad that I have to say that, but interviewees have shown up dressed inappropriately before (i.e. no jacket, no tie, poor grooming, etc.).

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Sep 06, 2017 10:31 am

Anonymous User wrote:Can anyone offer advice on Bronx 2nd round?

Also, applied to DANY early August and haven't heard anything.
If the second round is the panel (not sure if they changed the process since I joined), it is going to be pretty combative. Know your resume and writing sample, cold. Don't forget your passport photo. Have a good answer to why public interest, why criminal law, why prosecution, and why the Bronx.

As for hypos and other substantive things, they are going to challenge you and make you feel like shit (all offices do). Be genuine, and stick to your guns.
It's pretty close to hazing and a way for them to find out how well you do under pressure and if you are someone they could see themselves working with. Unlike Encore, I don't mind the geography question, even though it's bullshit, because it's another way to see how the applicant thinks on their feet when they get challenged on it ("Oh you 'love' the Bronx? Where else did you apply? Why there? So you don't really 'love' the Bronx then do you?" type shit.).

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Sep 06, 2017 10:59 am

What should I expect from OCI screener interviews with the big 4 NYC offices? Mostly common sense stuff I'd imagine, but I'd love it if someone could comment.

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Sep 06, 2017 12:42 pm

Also be sure to do some basic research on "Why ____" just in case one of the interviewers happens to be someone in that bureau. For the Bronx one I gave a generic "Oh the Riker's reform is cool" response, and one of the interviewers happened to be spearheading that initiative and asked me all sorts of questions about it. I'd skimmed an article and had to BS my way through some of the questions. I moved on to the 3rd round (before taking another offer), so it wasn't a huge issue; just be prepared for the possibility and be sure you won't blank if you give your canned answer and there's someone there who knows enough to challenge you on it.

Queens asked me hypos in my screener, which I was not prepared for (since it was my first screener); the interviewer made it pretty clear 5 minutes in that he didn't like me, though, so it was probably for that reason and not indicative of Queens screeners as a whole. But I guess be prepared at any time for someone to grill you with hypos.

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Sep 06, 2017 5:56 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:2017 grad, starting at one of the ny offices in a month or so. checking in to answer q's about the hiring process. i did int's at the 4 ny offices
Have an interview w/ NYC in the next couple of weeks. What should I expect and how should I prepare?

Also applied to Brooklyn and Bronx (about 2 weeks ago), but haven't heard back about anything in terms of an initial interview. Should I just assume I'm dinged from jump street?
Definitely do not assume that you were dinged from Brooklyn and Bronx. I had first rounds at both towards end of September. I remember that August and first half of September were basically for their interns to go through the rounds and then everyone else gets a shot. You'll hear back, especially if you were able to get an interview with DANY.

For first round DANY: articulate why you want to work as an ADA and why DANY in particular; understand what you will be doing and not doing during your first three years at the office; focus on how you are willing to do whatever the office requires; and know your writing sample backwards and forwards. First-round was pretty chill. I do not remember getting any hypos at DANY, Brooklyn, or Bronx.
Hope you're right in regards to Bronx and Brooklyn. Appreciate the advice.

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Sep 06, 2017 9:34 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Can anyone offer advice on Bronx 2nd round?

Also, applied to DANY early August and haven't heard anything.
If the second round is the panel (not sure if they changed the process since I joined), it is going to be pretty combative. Know your resume and writing sample, cold. Don't forget your passport photo. Have a good answer to why public interest, why criminal law, why prosecution, and why the Bronx.

As for hypos and other substantive things, they are going to challenge you and make you feel like shit (all offices do). Be genuine, and stick to your guns.
It's pretty close to hazing and a way for them to find out how well you do under pressure and if you are someone they could see themselves working with. Unlike Encore, I don't mind the geography question, even though it's bullshit, because it's another way to see how the applicant thinks on their feet when they get challenged on it ("Oh you 'love' the Bronx? Where else did you apply? Why there? So you don't really 'love' the Bronx then do you?" type shit.).
Thanks for the advice. Yes, the second round is the panel. No passport photo this year thank god. Can you give me a better idea of how they question you about your writing sample? Do I need copies of my resume and LoRs in hand?

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Sep 06, 2017 9:59 pm

Does anyone have advice regarding Philadelphia's second round panel interview?

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Sep 12, 2017 8:04 pm

Heard from a source in the know (one of the top ADAs in an NYC borough) that hiring classes for this year are going to be larger than usual (130 for Bronx, 100 for Kings, 70 for Manhattan, though fewer (~20) for Queens).

Take that for what it's worth. Curious if anyone else has heard something similar. I know Bronx was expected to have another big class.

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Sep 12, 2017 9:23 pm

Looks like Gonzalez is going to get re-elected pretty easily. Good news for us.

Not surprising, as the other candidates were mostly a clown-show.

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Re: District Attorney's Offices 2018

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Sep 12, 2017 9:41 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Looks like Gonzalez is going to get re-elected pretty easily. Good news for us.

Not surprising, as the other candidates were mostly a clown-show.
just curious, but why is gonzalez getting reelected good news for us?

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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