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They are both in San Francisco. I have to decide by Tuesday. All else being equal, which one would look better for 2L OCI (I know 1L summer doesn't matter much, but to the extent that it does)? I'm at HYS btw.

If you're talking about prestige, I would say DOL comes out on top. But I'm a 1L, so take that with a grain of salt. By the way, you're really lucky you get to be in SF.

sfdreaming09 wrote:If you're talking about prestige, I would say DOL comes out on top. But I'm a 1L, so take that with a grain of salt. By the way, you're really lucky you get to be in SF.

I would say that the difference is negligible, but if you want to have a shot at public defender or similar work in the future, the public defender position is your best bet. If you want to just do biglaw, the DoL position is probably slightly better, although again, negligible. More important than the line on the resume would be the experiences you get that you can talk about in OCI interviews.

Unless you're really interested in practicing crim law, DOL would likely give you broader appeal as you'll probably get exposure to both civil rights and corporate issues. Also, may or may not make a difference, but what part of the DOL (W&H/OALJ/EBSA/etc) are we talking about, or will you be rotating through different divisions?

linquest wrote:Unless you're really interested in practicing crim law, DOL would likely give you broader appeal as you'll probably get exposure to both civil rights and corporate issues. Also, may or may not make a difference, but what part of the DOL (W&H/OALJ/EBSA/etc) are we talking about, or will you be rotating through different divisions?

Thanks a lot for the response! I'm not sure if there will be any sort of rotating around, but I'll be working with the EBSA Division. Just out of curiosity - how exactly would this make a difference?

Anonymous User wrote: I'm not sure if there will be any sort of rotating around, but I'll be working with the EBSA Division. Just out of curiosity - how exactly would this make a difference?

If you're interested in corporate, def go with DOL then. The different divisions in DOL can be quite specialized, so their marketability for jobs outside the DOL/government varies. Employee benefits is a stable practice area and few people go into that specialty, partially bc the field is almost as exciting as tax (that is, not very) and almost as difficult.

I interviewed with DOL last year. it's an administrative agency. not a lot of litigation, and the little there is in only in the solicitor's office, which is a relatively small part of the agency. most of what DOL does is investigate naughty employers. imo not a very interesting place to work. SF Public Defender sounds much better to me.