How to be a Prosecution/PD Gunner? Forum

[rpcb]

Rising 2L here. Any of you ever taken two crim pro classes the same semester. I was thinking of taking Crim pro investigation and crim pro prosecution (also known as adjudication) this fall, but I dont know how practical it is, especially since I am taking Evidence as well. I dont mind putting hard work in, but I also plan on doing Moot Court and pro bono work, so Im worried it might end up being a bit much.

I know crim pro is really important for PD work, which is what I want to do, so I want to make sure I am able to fully absorb everything that is taught. If anyone has taken 2 crim pros at once, I would love to hear how it went for you.

[mmm127]

anyone have any experience as a DA/SA for a VOP hearing? I am currently a 1L summer intern for a local SA office and keep having mini panic attacks about it. I haven't taken Evidence/Crim Pro yet-- and although there will be a state's attorney supervising me, I don't want to look like too much of a fool. No trial ad experience either.

how are you able to do hearings as a 1L?

as the other poster said, my state allows 1Ls to be certified legal interns. which has been both awesome and nervewracking, hah

[encore1101]

Rising 2L here. Any of you ever taken two crim pro classes the same semester. I was thinking of taking Crim pro investigation and crim pro prosecution (also known as adjudication) this fall, but I dont know how practical it is, especially since I am taking Evidence as well. I dont mind putting hard work in, but I also plan on doing Moot Court and pro bono work, so Im worried it might end up being a bit much.

I know crim pro is really important for PD work, which is what I want to do, so I want to make sure I am able to fully absorb everything that is taught. If anyone has taken 2 crim pros at once, I would love to hear how it went for you.

I haven't, but someone I know who was also on my school's Moot Court team did both CrimPro: Investigation and Adjudication at the same time. He didn't seem too fazed by it.

It isn't any different than taking any other courses with the same number of credits. I actually found them to be easier than other classes because there isn't a million statutes to memorize.

[Anonymous User]

so i'm a few days into my pd internship and my first assignment is writing a trial brief. this is a good first assignment right? i'm a rising 2l so so far its been research/writing and in the future i'll split time with misdemeanot unit. should i ask in the future to help write motions?

[Ded Precedent]

so i'm a few days into my pd internship and my first assignment is writing a trial brief. this is a good first assignment right? i'm a rising 2l so so far its been research/writing and in the future i'll split time with misdemeanot unit. should i ask in the future to help write motions?

Just let them know you're really open to helping out any way you can and that you would love to get as much writing experience as possible.

[Tanicius]

A trial brief is a motion. You're golden.

[dreakol]

anyone have any experience as a DA/SA for a VOP hearing? I am currently a 1L summer intern for a local SA office and keep having mini panic attacks about it. I haven't taken Evidence/Crim Pro yet-- and although there will be a state's attorney supervising me, I don't want to look like too much of a fool. No trial ad experience either.

how are you able to do hearings as a 1L?

as the other poster said, my state allows 1Ls to be certified legal interns. which has been both awesome and nervewracking, hah

that does sound awesome and nervewracking

ive never done a vop but i have done bail hearings. in my experience with a DAs office, most of the hard work was done pre-hearing. by that i mean, everything i ever needed to say was written down on the file before the hearing.

[volp]

how many of you pd/da ppl are going to clerk?

[spleenworship]

how many of you pd/da ppl are going to clerk?

What kind of clerk? Judicial or law?

[volp]

judicial was what i meant, but i'd like to hear about law too

[Easy-E]

This is probably too general of a question, but generally do prosecutors/PD keep somewhat normal hours, or would there be plenty of overtime work?

[Anonymous User]

This is probably too general of a question, but generally do prosecutors/PD keep somewhat normal hours, or would there be plenty of overtime work?

every office i have worked at, the hours were like 830-430 with a lunch break. some stayed longer if a big call was coming up or took work home or if they were swamped with work.

At my last office, if you worked more than 8 hours a day, you were given comp time and most people always had their comp time maxed so no one was ever there friday afternoons in order to use some of those hours.

these were DA offices.

[Easy-E]

This is probably too general of a question, but generally do prosecutors/PD keep somewhat normal hours, or would there be plenty of overtime work?

every office i have worked at, the hours were like 830-430 with a lunch break. some stayed longer if a big call was coming up or took work home or if they were swamped with work.

At my last office, if you worked more than 8 hours a day, you were given comp time and most people always had their comp time maxed so no one was ever there friday afternoons in order to use some of those hours.

these were DA offices.

Was this in a major city? Figured that would make some difference right? Or does the nature of the job make overtime work rare?

[kay2016]

This is probably too general of a question, but generally do prosecutors/PD keep somewhat normal hours, or would there be plenty of overtime work?

DA office in a medium sized city..

Hours - 8:30ish -5 ish, sometimes people would come in later or earlier slightly and stay a little later but could take up to an hour and a half lunch

Many of the Ada's came in from time to time on the weekend, but it just dependended on how they managed their case load.

I didn't see or hear of anyone working more than 50 and that would be very rare, much closer to 40 was the norm

[dreakol]

This is probably too general of a question, but generally do prosecutors/PD keep somewhat normal hours, or would there be plenty of overtime work?

every office i have worked at, the hours were like 830-430 with a lunch break. some stayed longer if a big call was coming up or took work home or if they were swamped with work.

At my last office, if you worked more than 8 hours a day, you were given comp time and most people always had their comp time maxed so no one was ever there friday afternoons in order to use some of those hours.

these were DA offices.

Was this in a major city? Figured that would make some difference right? Or does the nature of the job make overtime work rare?

Not major cities/counties. Office sized ranged from 30 assistants (county of 150k) to 100 assistants (county of 1 million). I'll be starting in an office with around 200 assistants and county of a couple million this fall and was told around the same regarding hours and expectation.

the comp time might vary from office to office. both offices required attorney's to clock in and out but before they did that, they didnt offer comp time but people were free to come and go as they pleased as long as they were in court when required and got their work done.

[Anonymous User]

This is probably too general of a question, but generally do prosecutors/PD keep somewhat normal hours, or would there be plenty of overtime work?

I work in a major city. I work 8-7 most days and go in on Weekends. Disclaimer, for the big city offices, mine is severely understaffed at the felony level for the cases I handle. My caseload hovers around the 200+ range. Which I'm told is absurd by many of my friends at other prosecutor's offices.

[Easy-E]

This is probably too general of a question, but generally do prosecutors/PD keep somewhat normal hours, or would there be plenty of overtime work?

I work in a major city. I work 8-7 most days and go in on Weekends. Disclaimer, for the big city offices, mine is severely understaffed at the felony level for the cases I handle. My caseload hovers around the 200+ range. Which I'm told is absurd by many of my friends at other prosecutor's offices.

Well, good to hear both sides. I probably wouldn't be going for a position in a major city anyway, but I'm very much still undecided on what I want to do. I know I'd prefer prosecution over PD, but that's all I've got. Thanks for the replies.

[spleenworship]

judicial was what i meant, but i'd like to hear about law too

I know two PDs at my entire office who did a judicial clerkship.

More than half clerked or interned at a PDs office in LS. Probably closer to 80%

ETA: and probably 99% if you don't include boomers who came to the PDs as a fallback job because they couldn't get local biglaw equivalent.

[Anonymous User]

I'm a rising 3L looking to be a PD in Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, or Utah-- all UBE states. Can I take the bar in one state and apply to PD positions in other states on the condition that I will transfer my score into that state? Or should I be taking multiple bar exams?

I'm just trying to figure out what I'll be told if I send in an application for one state that says I am taking the bar in another state and am willing/able to transfer.

[Tanicius]

I'm a rising 3L looking to be a PD in Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, or Utah-- all UBE states. Can I take the bar in one state and apply to PD positions in other states on the condition that I will transfer my score into that state? Or should I be taking multiple bar exams?

I'm just trying to figure out what I'll be told if I send in an application for one state that says I am taking the bar in another state and am willing/able to transfer.

This should be fine, provided your UBE score qualifies as high enough for each state and you've filed all the proper paperwork for each state on time for whenever your job would start. That stuff really matters, so you'd need to be applying for bar entry in each state about 9 months out from your expected job start date. It will also cost you assloads of money.

[Cal Trask]

I'm a rising 3L looking to be a PD in Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, or Utah-- all UBE states. Can I take the bar in one state and apply to PD positions in other states on the condition that I will transfer my score into that state? Or should I be taking multiple bar exams?

I'm just trying to figure out what I'll be told if I send in an application for one state that says I am taking the bar in another state and am willing/able to transfer.

0L here but let me know if you have any questions about Montana and its PD offices.

[Displeased]

This is probably too general of a question, but generally do prosecutors/PD keep somewhat normal hours, or would there be plenty of overtime work?

I'm an APD in a small to mid-size city.

Hours are roughly 8:30 to 5:00. Sometimes I have to stay past 5:00 due to jail visits, or if I got stuck in court all day, or if I just need to catch up on paperwork, but generally speaking, I stick to those hours. If I have a jury trial (relatively rare in my jurisdiction) or something else big coming up, I take it home, but that's uncommon. Anybody staying past 6:00 at our office would be a real anomaly. By Friday around 3:00, the office is a ghost town.

All in all, probably balances out to 40 hours a week.

[Easy-E]

This is probably too general of a question, but generally do prosecutors/PD keep somewhat normal hours, or would there be plenty of overtime work?

I'm an APD in a small to mid-size city.

Hours are roughly 8:30 to 5:00. Sometimes I have to stay past 5:00 due to jail visits, or if I got stuck in court all day, or if I just need to catch up on paperwork, but generally speaking, I stick to those hours. If I have a jury trial (relatively rare in my jurisdiction) or something else big coming up, I take it home, but that's uncommon. Anybody staying past 6:00 at our office would be a real anomaly. By Friday around 3:00, the office is a ghost town.

All in all, probably balances out to 40 hours a week.

That's what seems to be the case where I am, based on conversations I've overheard in court. I know the clerks (at least the criminal ones) say that the work hours are pretty regular just because a judge is only going to hear so many cases. I suppose that extends a bit to prosecutors/PD, though to a lesser extent? Thanks for the info.

[Anonymous User]

This is probably too general of a question, but generally do prosecutors/PD keep somewhat normal hours, or would there be plenty of overtime work?

I'm an APD in a small to mid-size city.

Hours are roughly 8:30 to 5:00. Sometimes I have to stay past 5:00 due to jail visits, or if I got stuck in court all day, or if I just need to catch up on paperwork, but generally speaking, I stick to those hours. If I have a jury trial (relatively rare in my jurisdiction) or something else big coming up, I take it home, but that's uncommon. Anybody staying past 6:00 at our office would be a real anomaly. By Friday around 3:00, the office is a ghost town.

All in all, probably balances out to 40 hours a week.

That's what seems to be the case where I am, based on conversations I've overheard in court. I know the clerks (at least the criminal ones) say that the work hours are pretty regular just because a judge is only going to hear so many cases. I suppose that extends a bit to prosecutors/PD, though to a lesser extent? Thanks for the info.

I'm a PD at a nationally-known office in a major city. I work at least 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. Minimum. It's often more than that, a lot more. Most everyone else in my office works similar hours. I'd be shocked to come in on a Saturday afternoon and find fewer than 25% of my colleagues in the office. And frankly, I'm not really sure how anyone can do this job in less time than that. You have dozens (maybe even hundreds) of people depending on you to steer the course of the rest of their lives. I don't mean to sound like a jerk, but I really can't fathom how people are making this a 40 hour a week job.

[Tanicius]

I'm a PD at a nationally-known office in a major city. I work at least 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. Minimum. It's often more than that, a lot more. Most everyone else in my office works similar hours. I'd be shocked to come in on a Saturday afternoon and find fewer than 25% of my colleagues in the office. And frankly, I'm not really sure how anyone can do this job in less time than that. You have dozens (maybe even hundreds) of people depending on you to steer the course of the rest of their lives. I don't mean to sound like a jerk, but I really can't fathom how people are making this a 40 hour a week job.

It really depends on how litigious your office is. If you're filing a ton of 4th Amendment and sufficiency-of-evidence motions for misdemeanors, yeah, you're gonna get drowned. But not all jurisdictions do that, if only because in some jurisdictions the judges simply don't entertain those motions with any thought or care. Other offices don't file a lot of motions out of credibility concerns.

Some jurisdictions also just aren't as adversarial as yours. In a suburban or rural office, the PDs and DAs know each other and tend to solve a lot more of their cases without fighting it out in court. This can be both good and bad for clients, depending on details.