ADA in New York City taking questions Forum

[llachans]

Are most DAs you meet natural extroverts, or is it easy to increase your ease with public speaking through practical classes your 2L and 3L years?

[JCFindley]

Thank you for taking questions.

Does your office take 1L summer interns?

Probably my biggest question is about age. I was spent 20 in the military before LS so I am a rather extreme nontraditional. Is that a big issue in your office? (I know the general official answer but I also know reality can sometimes vary from that.)

Yes, we do, but focus more on 2Ls.

No, not at all. We have many people who are in their 30s when they start, and quite a few who are switching to law after 10-20 years in the workplace. Military experience is looked at extremely highly, and a lot of ADAs are in the reserves. They will press you on whether you're going to be able to be supervised at times by someone 30-35 years old but who has a lot more legal experience than you.

Thanks again for answering the questions here.

Yeah, I have got the bolded issue type question a few times already just with the PI scholars program at my school. (Which, should be a non issue with military folks as we are very chain of command oriented and it never had anything to do with age, so I am used to being on both ends of the equation in my past.)

[Anonymous User]

Can you describe a typical day during your first few months? What hours did you typically work during a normal week?

Thanks a lot for doing this!

Typical day:
8:45, arrive, check messages, deal with things that need to be done first thing.
9:15, head to court
9:30-1, staff court part
1-2:15, lunch/catch up on things
2:15-4, more court
4-4:15, get coffee
4:15-7:30 or 8, work on my cases, meet with witnesses, investigate things, prep for trial, etc.

On an office day it's more like 9-6 or 7 or so. If you're on intake you're basically spending 8-5 evaluating cases and writing criminal court complaints.

Do ADAs get to decide which bureau they want to go into, either after a year or so or right away, or are they just placed based on the needs of the office? Do you think it is beneficial to do Criminal Court even if the ADA has the opportunity to go into a specific bureau right away? What are the benefits and draw backs of starting in a specific bureau?

[Anonymous User]

Can you describe a typical day during your first few months? What hours did you typically work during a normal week?

Thanks a lot for doing this!

Typical day:
8:45, arrive, check messages, deal with things that need to be done first thing.
9:15, head to court
9:30-1, staff court part
1-2:15, lunch/catch up on things
2:15-4, more court
4-4:15, get coffee
4:15-7:30 or 8, work on my cases, meet with witnesses, investigate things, prep for trial, etc.

On an office day it's more like 9-6 or 7 or so. If you're on intake you're basically spending 8-5 evaluating cases and writing criminal court complaints.

Do ADAs get to decide which bureau they want to go into, either after a year or so or right away, or are they just placed based on the needs of the office? Do you think it is beneficial to do Criminal Court even if the ADA has the opportunity to go into a specific bureau right away? What are the benefits and draw backs of starting in a specific bureau?

Our office has 4 real divisions, 3 of which take new grads right away: Trials, Appeals, and Special Narcotics. There's also an investigations division that occasionally takes laterals and transfers. You list your preferences, and they wont put you in your last choice. Some people do prefer narcotics because you handle felonies right away. I went the more traditional trial division route, and I do think it was beneficial to be in criminal court for a year or so. It's a good place to learn without a fear of making mistakes.

[Anonymous User]

What specific factors about yourself as an applicant do you believe led to your being hired? By that I mean, do you attribute it to experiences that you had through internships/clinics or grades or school ranking, etc.?

[gobosox]

So how many hours a week do you spend actually in the courtroom trying cases in front of a jury?