Need advice for my current situation Forum

[Anonymous User]

Went to a T1 and got alot of experience in prosecution. Did jury trials and the whole shabang. Interviewed at various high profile DA offices as a 3L but received no offers. Moved out to a west coast state far away from my region and kinda put all my eggs in one basket to get one particular DA office.

Got rejected by the HR department sayign I didn't meet the minimum qualifications (Don't know how that is possible). I know I limited myself but what areas would you look at? Would you hold out hope or just go back to school?

[dudders]

I can't tell, OP, but I'm guessing you're a 2014 grad?

Hold out hope and apply widely in your bar exam state. Large metro offices tend to have "classes" and you may be SOL there until the next hiring process, but smaller offices don't often follow that pattern, hiring when they have openings. Network, hustle. If post-grad interning or temping is possible, try that. (I post-grad interned at a DA's office until I got a real job, I had another friend who did a temp stint filling in for someone on maternity leave.)

Don't go back to school. Do. Not.

In terms of other areas to look at, I know nothing about you but look for other things you're interested in. If you want to stay in court, maybe county human services/dependency and neglect? Nonprofits/victim advocacy that does civil restraining orders? If you want defense work, sign up to be ADC (Alternative Defense Counsel - takes cases the public defender conflicts off of, I'm sure every state/county has something similar).

[Anonymous User]

I can't tell, OP, but I'm guessing you're a 2014 grad?

Hold out hope and apply widely in your bar exam state. Large metro offices tend to have "classes" and you may be SOL there until the next hiring process, but smaller offices don't often follow that pattern, hiring when they have openings. Network, hustle. If post-grad interning or temping is possible, try that. (I post-grad interned at a DA's office until I got a real job, I had another friend who did a temp stint filling in for someone on maternity leave.)

Don't go back to school. Do. Not.

In terms of other areas to look at, I know nothing about you but look for other things you're interested in. If you want to stay in court, maybe county human services/dependency and neglect? Nonprofits/victim advocacy that does civil restraining orders? If you want defense work, sign up to be ADC (Alternative Defense Counsel - takes cases the public defender conflicts off of, I'm sure every state/county has something similar).

yeah passed July 14 bar exam. By going back to school, I didn't mean law school/LLM. Meant business school

[mirage1287]

What does business school have to do with wanting to litigate/be a DA? The major market DA offices on the west coast are extremely competitive and connections to/recommendations from current DAs in those offices go a long way. If that's still what you want, you can try to become a volunteer attorney at a DA office to try and get your foot in the door. I also know people who did civil lit for a few years while they made connections and then lateraled into a DA office.

[Anonymous User]

What does business school have to do with wanting to litigate/be a DA? The major market DA offices on the west coast are extremely competitive and connections to/recommendations from current DAs in those offices go a long way. If that's still what you want, you can try to become a volunteer attorney at a DA office to try and get your foot in the door. I also know people who did civil lit for a few years while they made connections and then lateraled into a DA office.

By business school, I mean a different career path. If I can't be a DA, I don't know if I want to be an attorney. Since I got rejected at this office with all the experience and time I put in during law school, I don't want to continue to work for free

[sparty99]

Your first mistake is putting all your eggs in one basket. YOU DON'T DO THAT IN THIS LEGAL MARKET. Do you want to be a lawyer or not? You need to apply to any law job and apply to the jobs you really want on the side. You have probably missed the formal DA 2015 entry-level for large cities. You need to get repricoicy agreements with local law schools so you can see their job postings. They might have the smaller counties post DA jobs. Also, apply to legal aid and public defender offices. Your problem is that you are being way too picky. If you continue to be picky, you will continue to be jobless.

[Anonymous User]

What does business school have to do with wanting to litigate/be a DA? The major market DA offices on the west coast are extremely competitive and connections to/recommendations from current DAs in those offices go a long way. If that's still what you want, you can try to become a volunteer attorney at a DA office to try and get your foot in the door. I also know people who did civil lit for a few years while they made connections and then lateraled into a DA office.

By business school, I mean a different career path. If I can't be a DA, I don't know if I want to be an attorney. Since I got rejected at this office with all the experience and time I put in during law school, I don't want to continue to work for free

To be honest, I don't think you have an accurate idea of what the market is like. Again, DA positions are extremely competitive on the west coast. Read the LA DA thread to get an idea of how many DAs they hired last cycle compared to the number of applicants. The fact that you seem to have done a few DA internships is good, but most of the hundreds of other applicants applying to DA offices have done those too. If you really want to be a DA, you should be trying to apply to any market you see an opening in. Flyover county DA positions will have fewer applicants and may be less competitive than major market DA positions. You definitely didn't do yourself any favors by putting your eggs in one basket and applying only to one DA office that you have no connection to.

[Anonymous User]

You are right, I have misjudged the market. I thought it would be easy since I made it to the final rounds of all those NY and big offices, that I would be able to waltz in the office. It was very stupid.

So what would you guys do? Just mass mail all civil litigation firms?

[mirage1287]

We need more information. Did you have any civil experience in law school or just DA experience? What were your grades like? Do you want to practice where you passed the bar? What market is it, or if you don't want to share that, is it a large or small market?

[Anonymous User]

It's a large market. Just DA experience. Stupid that I limited myself but it was the only classes I enjoyed. I have had civil litigation interviews during law school, so they at least liked my trial experience. Grades are average (3.0 at least).

I have a UBE score and I love it here but am willing to transfer to other markets. Would love Colorado as well.

[dudders]

if you want to talk CO, PM me.

Seriously, you can't get discouraged yet. I'm a 2013 grad and I have friends who've just gotten jobs within the last few months.

[AReasonableMan]

It's a large market. Just DA experience. Stupid that I limited myself but it was the only classes I enjoyed. I have had civil litigation interviews during law school, so they at least liked my trial experience. Grades are average (3.0 at least).

I have a UBE score and I love it here but am willing to transfer to other markets. Would love Colorado as well.

I can understand your not wanting to work for free post grad. That's ridiculous. Lawyering isn't like drawing pictures or acting. But you need to come up with a plan quickly, predicated on the unlikelihood of being a DA.