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I have been told that having "criminal division" on your resume doesn't look good when trying to get a BigLaw job... is this true? If I do an externship at the USAO criminal division, am I necessarily headed for a job in criminal law?

Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated.

No. That's plainly absurd.

First off, if you're a 1L, your 1L summer job will not matter at all for your biglaw prospects. I know people who have done judicial externships, interned at the DA's/PD's, worked at small firms, etc. and still landed big law jobs.

In any case, I don't think USAO Crim Div will hurt your chances at all. Not sure about other districts, but USAO of N.D. Cal.'s Crim Div handles cases involving white-collar crime and IP matters, which many biglaw firms handle as well.

Just to be clear... I have a federal judicial internship for the summer. The USAO would be for the fall. Not sure if that changes anything.

Thanks for the input!

Anonymous User wrote:First off, if you're a 1L, your 1L summer job will not matter at all for your biglaw prospects. I know people who have done judicial externships, interned at the DA's/PD's, worked at small firms, etc. and still landed big law jobs.

In any case, I don't think USAO Crim Div will hurt your chances at all. Not sure about other districts, but USAO of N.D. Cal.'s Crim Div handles cases involving white-collar crime and IP matters, which many biglaw firms handle as well.

True and True.
I did this exact externship during the year - ND Cal economic crimes unit. And I would say over half the attorney's were in biglaw at some point. Some people go biglaw > USAO, some go something > USAO > biglaw, some go biglaw > USAO > biglaw > USAO. Revolving door.