Top Law Schools

fill in the ? and please comment on your choice (eg. duration, market, etc.). I've landed d.ct. and coa. Pondering future.

Is ADA possible/realistic without having worked in some crim area as a law student? I've done jackshit. No clinics. No externships. Civil lit all the way (biglaw summer). I'd rather not do biglaw for another day. No debts (lucky).

Depends on the biglaw firm and the USAO. Meet with some AUSAs (present or former) and see what they say.
In my local USAO, there are a few law firms that feed pretty regularly into the USAO, and a few that almost never do. That would obviously make a difference. In other USAO's ADA's are strongly preferred to biglaw refugees.

If the "big market" is NY or LA, ADA is a definite option if you can take the pay hit. Those offices are very competitive, and they tend to like well-pedigreed attorneys. If it is Chicago, it's less so -- they tend to be more parochial and less awed by federal clerkships and top law school credentials. I don't know enough to speak intelligently about SF or Boston or Texas.

One thing to consider is maybe a state SG office. A lot of them have very fun and high-profile practices, with very competitive hiring. The pay isn't great, and most of the ASG/DSG positions are political (so you'd be out when the AG switches parties), but given your ultimate goal, that doesn't seem so bad.

Anonymous User wrote:If the "big market" is NY or LA, ADA is a definite option if you can take the pay hit.

what pay hit? i'll make 60k as a clerk during my first clerkship, maybe slightly more during my second clerkship because I will go up JSP.

I don't think ADA makes significantly less than 50k. Maybe 40k at worst in a big market. Any pay differential between these jobs is minimal.

AUSA, otoh, pays 80k+, some places even 100k+

Anonymous User wrote:

Is ADA possible/realistic without having worked in some crim area as a law student? I've done jackshit. No clinics. No externships. Civil lit all the way (biglaw summer). I'd rather not do biglaw for another day. No debts (lucky).

You're going to get hammered on this. DA's want to see a steady interest in criminal work.

what pay hit? i'll make 60k as a clerk during my first clerkship, maybe slightly more during my second clerkship because I will go up JSP.

I don't think ADA makes significantly less than 50k. Maybe 40k at worst in a big market. Any pay differential between these jobs is minimal.

AUSA, otoh, pays 80k+, some places even 100k+

Pay hit relative to biglaw. But yes, you'll probably make in the $70+ range as a JSP 12 in a big market (assuming that means NY, Chicago, LA, SF or Boston -- maybe less if it's in Texas). Though check the published salary ranges on the federal courts website. What you will make as an ADA will vary substantially based on the specific office.

You're going to get hammered on this. DA's want to see a steady interest in criminal work.

This isn't necessarily true for some of the elite DA offices (Manhattan, mainly).

That could be, I have no idea about the Manhattan DA. I know that here in Dallas (and I would assume other major cities), you won't even get an interview if you don't have a strong criminal background.

Anonymous User wrote:

what pay hit? i'll make 60k as a clerk during my first clerkship, maybe slightly more during my second clerkship because I will go up JSP.

I don't think ADA makes significantly less than 50k. Maybe 40k at worst in a big market. Any pay differential between these jobs is minimal.

AUSA, otoh, pays 80k+, some places even 100k+

Pay hit relative to biglaw. But yes, you'll probably make in the $70+ range as a JSP 12 in a big market (assuming that means NY, Chicago, LA, SF or Boston -- maybe less if it's in Texas). Though check the published salary ranges on the federal courts website. What you will make as an ADA will vary substantially based on the specific office.

You're going to get hammered on this. DA's want to see a steady interest in criminal work.

This isn't necessarily true for some of the elite DA offices (Manhattan, mainly).

Manhattan is the only one with that mindset. All of the others will hammer you, like he said, for having a resume that doesn't scream prosecution.

For LA, I've been told that the higher the clerkship, the better the chances of landing an AUSA spot. Since you have both, I'd imagine you are at a significant advantage. The next tier is a few years of biglaw experience. I'd imagine having fed. clerkships + biglaw is the most guaranteed route. Third tier is ~5 years of ADA experience. Person I spoke to said about 20% of their AUSAs were former DAs who lateraled to AUSA.