AUSA Post-Clerkship Forum

[Anonymous User]

What if I were applying to neighboring districts outside of Des Moines/Iowa, such as Minnesota or Nebraska? I would like to cast a wide net.

Without intending to sound naive, I think the quality of your experience and what you can show you’ve done is as important as the name of the firm. I agree with the poster above that a locally respected firm is completely fine. Chances are decent that if this firm is as well respected in IA as it sounds, MN and Nebraska will be able to figure that out (I have no experience in the Midwest so can’t comment further).

What each office is going to look for/prioritize really depends on the office. Some USAs (especially if they come out of a traditional fancy BL background) like to see people with national schools/firms on their resumes. Some will know and value the good local firms. Some will want to hire people with lots of criminal trial experience. Some will hire almost entirely through connections.

If you can LinkedIn or otherwise stalk the offices online and see what backgrounds people have, that will give you some idea of what they’ll be receptive to. It’s hard to say much more in a vacuum about whether moving to more national biglaw is worth it.

For instance based on my experience and the offices where I’ve worked, I’d say a local firm with the opportunity to be in federal court, get stand up experience, and luminaries who can vouch for your work and work ethic is more valuable than a big name firm where you’re one of many, you churn out discrete assignments on a bunch of matters without ownership over any, and get little courtroom time. But of course there are a wide range of potential BL experiences so it’s difficult to compare these things.

I will say that where I’ve worked, no one has really cared much about which specific BL firm you’ve worked for unless it is local. We have a couple of people from the same local office of BL, but that firm has a lot of former AUSAs, a few of the local judges feed their clerks to that firm, and people who want to go to a USAO are likely to pick that firm. So it’s not that it’s national BL, but that specific firm’s characteristics. We have some people from other not-local BL and they got hired because of their qualifications including having BL experience, speaking generically, not because of the names of their firms. But my experience is also in markets with limited BL presence (I think probably comparable to Nebraska and Iowa, maybe a little bit less for MN).

This is a long way of saying I think the firm where you were a SA would be a good background but I can’t guarantee that. Also, at a certain point making every decision to optimize your shot at some hypothetical future job becomes exhausting and not worth it and you have to decide based on what works for you right now.

Thank you, that helps. It seems like I am in a good spot no matter what. It’ll just come down to whether it’s the right move for me and my family, if I assume it’s somewhere I would stay for a long time.

[Anonymous User]

if you want to live in Iowa etc. the huge lifestyle difference to working at a Des Moines firm vs. biglaw will swamp any marginal difference in USAO prospects imo. (I mean that in a good way, the lifestyle, work culture, and partnership prospects are incomparable.) And anyway I really, really doubt that a USAO would favor out-of-region biglaw over one of the best firms in the Eighth Circuit. Though you should also consider Weinhardt if you’re from Iowa and want to do criminal work.

[Anonymous User]

OP here, thanks for the suggestions. It sounds like the firm would be a very good choice if I still want to be an AUSA (and, I should mention, the judge I clerked for is trying to pull strings for me to get a slot in town).

Side note: it’s not Iowa.

[Anonymous User]

I've heard similarly that AUSAs are getting fewer applicants than they have in the past and that hiring has gotten less competitive post-COVID/George Floyd from several sources. I've similarly heard that the value and necessity of a federal clerkship has decreased, too.

I wanted to point out the New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor's Office. They do very large-scale drug trafficking and gang cases and have city-wide jurisdiction. While it's technically a separate office, most of the ADAs are technically leant from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

What does this have to do with USAOs lol

[lavarman84]

I’m starting my COA clerkship this fall. I clerked for two years on a federal district court in the Midwest, so by the time I finish clerking, I’ll be three years out of school.

I want to be a criminal AUSA (I could also get into affirmative civil work), and I am not thrilled about grinding to get BL if my heart is dead set on jumping ship at the first opportunity to be an AUSA. I’m totally agnostic on location, but there aren’t any openings where I clerked. I’m applying for DOJ Honors, but I am trying to figure out my options if that doesn’t pan out.

Is there any chance of me landing one of these positions with only three years of clerking under my belt? Or am I being unrealistic?

If you don’t receive an honors position, you probably are being unrealistic. I’m not saying there’s not a chance, but honors is your best shot here. Secondary to that is applying to USAO-DC because of their superior court commitment. There you’d be doing the work that a typical DA would be doing (starting in misdemeanors then moving up).

A border district might be doable too, if OP is willing to live in a border community and work on the cases that come with that. My understanding is that once you're in an AUSA office, it's much easier to lateral elsewhere after a few years.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. I wanted to follow up and say that I got picked to be an AUSA through the Honors Program in the location that I really wanted. (I was a lot more worried about not getting anything than I should have been. I had to turn down several offers in the end.)

[Anonymous User]

OP here. I wanted to follow up and say that I got picked to be an AUSA through the Honors Program in the location that I really wanted. (I was a lot more worried about not getting anything than I should have been. I had to turn down several offers in the end.)

Congrats! Glad to hear it worked out for you! (I realized none of us asked about your stats/qualifications beside the clerkship so sounds like some of us were more negative than was merited, lol.)

[Anonymous User]

OP here. I wanted to follow up and say that I got picked to be an AUSA through the Honors Program in the location that I really wanted. (I was a lot more worried about not getting anything than I should have been. I had to turn down several offers in the end.)

Congrats! Glad to hear it worked out for you! (I realized none of us asked about your stats/qualifications beside the clerkship so sounds like some of us were more negative than was merited, lol.)

Thank you! (And no worries. I’m really quite shocked I had so many offers in very ideal/prestigious locations. I didn’t go to a top law school.)

[Anonymous User]

OP here. I wanted to follow up and say that I got picked to be an AUSA through the Honors Program in the location that I really wanted. (I was a lot more worried about not getting anything than I should have been. I had to turn down several offers in the end.)

Congrats! Glad to hear it worked out for you! (I realized none of us asked about your stats/qualifications beside the clerkship so sounds like some of us were more negative than was merited, lol.)

Thank you! (And no worries. I’m really quite shocked I had so many offers in very ideal/prestigious locations. I didn’t go to a top law school.)

Offers at USAOs through the honors program or USAOs generally?

[Anonymous User]

OP here. I wanted to follow up and say that I got picked to be an AUSA through the Honors Program in the location that I really wanted. (I was a lot more worried about not getting anything than I should have been. I had to turn down several offers in the end.)

Congrats! Glad to hear it worked out for you! (I realized none of us asked about your stats/qualifications beside the clerkship so sounds like some of us were more negative than was merited, lol.)

Thank you! (And no worries. I’m really quite shocked I had so many offers in very ideal/prestigious locations. I didn’t go to a top law school.)

Offers at USAOs through the honors program or USAOs generally?

Through the honors program.