NYS Office of the Attorney General Forum

[Anonymous User]

Not sure if this is the right place for this question, but does anybody have any experience regarding hiring here? Talking about as a full-time career; not an internship while at school. Do they hire right after graduation? Or do you have to get work experience first?

[Anonymous User]

I'm a current intern at the NY AG. My impression is that they pretty rarely hire directly from law school. They do have fellows who work in the office for a year or two but typically they don't hire them either. However there are exceptions, so it's possible to get lucky, but don't count on it.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for the reply. So what do you think the best way to get a job there would be? I'm mainly interested in the Litigation and Appeals & Opinions Bureaus. From what you know, is it best to work at a firm for a few years first?

[Anonymous User]

That Office is a bit of a shitshow lately. Morale has been tanking since Schneiderman has come in, and they've lost a ton of good people. They are getting a bit desperate on the hiring front -- particularly in the criminal/civil securities side, where the AG has promised way more than his office can deliver. It's not a place I would go, honestly, unless you really need the job or money. It's also become extremely political, which is unfortunate since the office used to have a reputation for being an apolitical place.

Basically, the AG is just way in over his head, and has insulated himself with like 5 or 6 senior people. The actual litigating bureaus are just kind of rotting away, and the place has become a bit of a joke. Appeals & Opinions used to do really novel work, but now it's pretty much just habeas corpus and appeals out of the court of claims.

[Anonymous User]

Second poster here. I'm not seeing the same thing about the morale, but I'm also fairly isolated in a small bureau. The attorneys I work with seem happy, but definitely underpaid.

It seems like most did private practice for a few years first. But if that's really your goal you should talk to some of the attorneys there now. Though my guess is you'd have to take whatever position opened up, whether or not it's Litigation or A&O.

[o0o0o0o]

What are the aforementioned entry-level fellowship hiring opportunities? When I looked, it appeared as though the AG only hires folks w/ 2 years experience.

[Anonymous User]

Worked there for a semester as a 2L, and explicitly heard their attorneys tell 3Ls who had struck out during OCI that they weren't looking to hire any of the interns. This was in 2013.

[Anonymous User]

What are the aforementioned entry-level fellowship hiring opportunities? When I looked, it appeared as though the AG only hires folks w/ 2 years experience.

http://www.ag.ny.gov/job-postings

There's one all the way at the bottom. But my guess is you have to look for programs through firms or through schools to get funding, and then they'll let you work there.

[o0o0o0o]

What are the aforementioned entry-level fellowship hiring opportunities? When I looked, it appeared as though the AG only hires folks w/ 2 years experience.

http://www.ag.ny.gov/job-postings

There's one all the way at the bottom. But my guess is you have to look for programs through firms or through schools to get funding, and then they'll let you work there.

Thanks, yeah. So it looks like there is in fact no entry-level hiring.