How to be a Prosecution/PD Gunner? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm trying to decide between summer offers. I heard a couple things at EJW this year and want to know how true they are. 1. if you intern your 2L summer at the Colorado State Public Defender, you're almost guaranteed a job after graduation. You will interview at the end of the summer and if you don't screw it up, you'll get an offer. 2. because Colorado does this, it is hard to get a postgrad job there if you did not intern.

I can't say that #1 is surely true, but I can say that of the 10 or so interns I know, all of us were offered jobs. I have been told this is because they give great weight to your supervisor's evaluation of you. So basically, if you do a good job and care about the work, your supervisor will like you and write a good review. I know that #2 is not 100% true, but most of the people who get hired have interned there (or at least that is my impression). I know if you go to the information sessions on getting hired by the PD, they tell you to intern there if you want to work for them.

Not sure what the other office is, but Colorado is pretty cool.

[Anonymous User]

The local SAO in Florida hires pre bar and has you work during bar prep. If you've done a clinic you can keep working as a certified legal intern up to a year after graduation I think as long as you're working for the government. This means you can do anything an attorney can do as long as you have a babysitter. I dunno how it works in other states.

Our start date for Miami SAO is August 19th. That's plenty off time from the bar.

[Anonymous User]

The local SAO in Florida hires pre bar and has you work during bar prep. If you've done a clinic you can keep working as a certified legal intern up to a year after graduation I think as long as you're working for the government. This means you can do anything an attorney can do as long as you have a babysitter. I dunno how it works in other states.

Our start date for Miami SAO is August 19th. That's plenty off time from the bar.

Yeah I know. I'm not talking about Miami.

[Anonymous User]

Umm...I guess I only know about California and PDS, but it seems really strange to me that an underfunded PD's office (which almost all of them are) would hire you to an attorney position as soon as you graduate from law school. What good does a person who hasn't passed the bar do for them in an attorney position?

Again, I'm only speaking from my experiences with California PD offices.

California is not like the east coast, at all. Many east coast PDs hire 3Ls. See above for a more complete list (the list of offices that require / don't require transcripts).

[Anonymous User]

Any thoughts on the Southern Center for Human Rights? I know this isn't exactly a "public defender" office - but I see it in a lot of public defender's/Prettyman Fellows bios.

Also, it it better to go to as many different PD offices as possible for resume diversity or pick one and intern there to make connections? (i.e during the year + summer)

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know if interview invites went out for OAD in NYC or not? Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know if interview invites went out for OAD in NYC or not? Thanks!

They did.

[Anonymous User]

The local SAO in Florida hires pre bar and has you work during bar prep. If you've done a clinic you can keep working as a certified legal intern up to a year after graduation I think as long as you're working for the government. This means you can do anything an attorney can do as long as you have a babysitter. I dunno how it works in other states.

Our start date for Miami SAO is August 19th. That's plenty off time from the bar.

I'm a current Miami SAO, you're start date is the 19th, but you don't really finish training until after you get the results.

[Anonymous User]

The local SAO in Florida hires pre bar and has you work during bar prep. If you've done a clinic you can keep working as a certified legal intern up to a year after graduation I think as long as you're working for the government. This means you can do anything an attorney can do as long as you have a babysitter. I dunno how it works in other states.

Our start date for Miami SAO is August 19th. That's plenty off time from the bar.

I'm a current Miami SAO, you're start date is the 19th, but you don't really finish training until after you get the results.

Yeah that's fine, point was there's no work or training until 19 days after the bar.

[Anonymous User]

3Ls with gigs can you please post stats? Greatly appreciated.

Hired by a PD office earlier this month.

T14 school, I might hit the top 1/3 in grades, but I might not, depending on this last semester. No journal, moot, or mock. Interned at PD offices (including the one that just hired me full-time) during both summers, as well as 20 hours a week during my 2L year. Currently doing a crim clinic. Various pro bono work, criminal coursework, trial ad, etc.

But I actually think that what mattered were the internships and then how I conducted myself during the interviews. Grades, journals, whatever. No one has ever asked me why I'm not on a journal. My transcript has been requested once, and the interviewer told me it was just an HR requirement.

[Anonymous User]

The local SAO in Florida hires pre bar and has you work during bar prep. If you've done a clinic you can keep working as a certified legal intern up to a year after graduation I think as long as you're working for the government. This means you can do anything an attorney can do as long as you have a babysitter. I dunno how it works in other states.

Our start date for Miami SAO is August 19th. That's plenty off time from the bar.

I'm a current Miami SAO, you're start date is the 19th, but you don't really finish training until after you get the results.

Yeah that's fine, point was there's no work or training until 19 days after the bar.

Looking forward to that holiday for sure.

[Anonymous User]

I keep wondering, what does SAO mean?

[KidStuddi]

I keep wondering, what does SAO mean?

State's Attorney's Office. Local prosecutors.

[Anonymous User]

I keep wondering, what does SAO mean?

State's Attorney's Office. Local prosecutors.

TYVM

[Anonymous User]

3Ls with gigs can you please post stats? Greatly appreciated.

Hired by a PD office earlier this month.

T14 school, I might hit the top 1/3 in grades, but I might not, depending on this last semester. No journal, moot, or mock. Interned at PD offices (including the one that just hired me full-time) during both summers, as well as 20 hours a week during my 2L year. Currently doing a crim clinic. Various pro bono work, criminal coursework, trial ad, etc.

But I actually think that what mattered were the internships and then how I conducted myself during the interviews. Grades, journals, whatever. No one has ever asked me why I'm not on a journal. My transcript has been requested once, and the interviewer told me it was just an HR requirement.

Caliber of office?

[Anonymous User]

3Ls with gigs can you please post stats? Greatly appreciated.

Hired by a PD office earlier this month.

T14 school, I might hit the top 1/3 in grades, but I might not, depending on this last semester. No journal, moot, or mock. Interned at PD offices (including the one that just hired me full-time) during both summers, as well as 20 hours a week during my 2L year. Currently doing a crim clinic. Various pro bono work, criminal coursework, trial ad, etc.

But I actually think that what mattered were the internships and then how I conducted myself during the interviews. Grades, journals, whatever. No one has ever asked me why I'm not on a journal. My transcript has been requested once, and the interviewer told me it was just an HR requirement.

Caliber of office?

I'm not really sure how to rank offices, but it's one of the big, very well-regarded ones with nationwide recruitment.

[Anonymous User]

3L who received and accepted an offer for a position in a large county PD office in CA. I'm currently about top 40% at a T14. No mock or moot but I am on the Ed Board of a secondary journal. I also took Trial Ad and did very well in it. I externed at three different PD offices (each summer and once during the school year)-- including the one that hired me. I also participated in two in-school clinics: one public-interest and one crim.

My office asked for a transcript and I know I was up against people from my school and higher-ranked schools with better grades. I think commitment, experience, and personality fit with the office helped me the most.

[Anonymous User]

Got an offer from San Diego Public Defender for Post-Bar Clerkship.

[Anonymous User]

How important are grades? I just finished my first semester and ended up with a disappointing barely top 50%. I'm gunning for prosecution so if this leaves me with no real shot, I might re-evaluate my law school decision.

[Anonymous User]

Got an offer from San Diego Public Defender for Post-Bar Clerkship.

Congrats! How did you hear? Snail mail/email? How long ago did you have your performance interview?

[Jeremyl]

Geez. It didn't even take one page til someone asked about grades.

[Anonymous User]

Got an offer from San Diego Public Defender for Post-Bar Clerkship.

Congrats! How did you hear? Snail mail/email? How long ago did you have your performance interview?

Phone call. I had my performance interview two weeks ago, then a final interview last week. They called me a few days later with an offer.

[spleenworship]

How important are grades? I just finished my first semester and ended up with a disappointing barely top 50%. I'm gunning for prosecution so if this leaves me with no real shot, I might re-evaluate my law school decision.

Read the thread. The short answer though, is grades aren't important for most offices. Dedication, internships, moot/mock, and trial advocacy classes are most important to most offices. Get internships and start networking.

[melgado]

I'm currently a 1L and in the process of lining up work for this summer. If I know I absolutely want to end up at the Cook County PD's office but I don't think I'll have the grades to land it right out of school, would I be better off starting in a smaller market and getting 2 to 3 years experience? I have a connection to the Cook County PD's office so part of me wants to go there this summer and bust my ass to then hopefully summer there again after 2L with my 711 and then land the gig directly. However, in reality I don't think I did well enough first semester to be competitive to land the gig directly so I'm thinking I might start in a smaller county in Illinois where I also have a connection who has made it pretty clear that I would be seriously looked at after graduation. I know time and circumstances can change things over the next 3 years but I want to take the safest route with it in mind that my ultimate goal is to end up at the Cook County PD's. I'll do anything to get it, even if I have to take the long route and work in bumfuck Illinois for a few years.


Thoughts on what my game plan should be? Should I summer in Cook County and hope my hard work trumps my grades or play it safe by showing off my work ethic to a less desirable office but with a higher probability of landing something straight out of LS? Thanks.

Hey anon, if you see this pm me and I'll send you my email address so that we can talk about this more.

I'll try and give you some info that might help with your decision...
CCPD as far as I know isn't huge on grades. BUT getting into the CCPD is really hard. They don't hire a lot and only hire after the bar (so you won't get a job straight out of law school). Up until recently (or so I was told at my internship last semester) they had a system that was almost lotto like because hiring was ran by the county and not specifically the PD. Basically everyone who applied for an assistant PD position was put in an electronic hat and 50 names were pulled. Those 50 people got interviews. From what I was told, this system is now gone (thankfully). Although this makes interning with the CCPD more important, if you have an in with
DuPage, Will, Kane, Lake or some other county I would go there. Especially since you stated in that smaller county you'll seriously be looked at after graduation.

[Anonymous User]

I'm trying to decide between summer offers. I heard a couple things at EJW this year and want to know how true they are. 1. if you intern your 2L summer at the Colorado State Public Defender, you're almost guaranteed a job after graduation. You will interview at the end of the summer and if you don't screw it up, you'll get an offer. 2. because Colorado does this, it is hard to get a postgrad job there if you did not intern.

I can't say that #1 is surely true, but I can say that of the 10 or so interns I know, all of us were offered jobs. I have been told this is because they give great weight to your supervisor's evaluation of you. So basically, if you do a good job and care about the work, your supervisor will like you and write a good review. I know that #2 is not 100% true, but most of the people who get hired have interned there (or at least that is my impression). I know if you go to the information sessions on getting hired by the PD, they tell you to intern there if you want to work for them.

Not sure what the other office is, but Colorado is pretty cool.

I've heard you get your own caseload in Colorado, but do you actually do any trials? I want more than arraignments and bail hearings, which a friend of mine got last summer at a place where he was promised felony prelims and misdo trials.