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District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 5:46 pm
by Anonymous User
Almost about that time, y'all. Hearing Queens is SEVERELY cutting down their number (8-12) and that Brooklyn is bringing in a big class but the Brooklyn rumor is fairly unsubstantiated.

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 1:04 pm
by Anonymous User
bump

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 10:29 pm
by Anonymous User
Accepted for Kings County OCI in September.

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 10:40 pm
by encore1101
Good luck to all applicants. I'm tagging this thread to help answer any questions about the interview process.

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 8:11 pm
by Anonymous User
Hey Encore,

I have a 1st round interview with Manhattan DA office next month. Any advice? Straightforward get to know you interview?

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 10:16 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:Accepted for Kings County OCI in September.
what school

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 2:12 pm
by Anonymous User
Is this a slam dunk for T14 students? What are the odds of a T14 student not getting a job in an office outside of the ultra competitive NY ones?

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 2:36 pm
by Anonymous User
Do you have experience interning for a DA's office or doing a criminal clinic?

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 3:55 pm
by Anonymous User
I will be in the midst of a criminal clinic whilst applying and will be able to speak of my application to intern with my local USAO.

I'll have a biglaw summer under my belt, a win in a regional practical competition (like moot court/trial team), grad degree, federal judicial internship and a GPA between median and honors.

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 4:05 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:Is this a slam dunk for T14 students? What are the odds of a T14 student not getting a job in an office outside of the ultra competitive NY ones?
T14 -> incoming ADA here. Can only speak to the NY area offices. I and a couple classmates got it NY area offers, but there were also some who struck out completely in NY area. Takeaway is that it's not a slam dunk merely by virtue of being T14 - interviews matter TONS as well as a bunch of other factors.

Happy to answer any other questions on the ADA job hunt

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 4:11 pm
by Anonymous User
Hi! I sent application materials to the Miami-Dade SAO's office in June, received a letter from them asking me to contact them in September if I was still interested. I'll be calling them next week, but has anyone else gotten the same response? And if you did, were you scheduled for an interview when you called them? Any information you can offer would be most appreciated!

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 4:13 pm
by Anonymous User
Thanks.

I'm assuming that it's a little less competitive where I am. I've heard VERY few go the DA route from my school, so I'd be a bit of a novelty candidate.

Would you recommend trying to intern there in the Spring, instead of the USAO? What should I be doing to increase my chances? I think I'll be good in the interview room and give a fairly compelling story as to why I want to be there.

I guess I just want to go in with some confidence that I'll get an offer.

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 6:37 pm
by A. Nony Mouse
I mean this in the nicest possible way, but I don't think anyone can go into any one interview with some confidence that they'll get an offer. You could well get an offer. You may not. Unless you have an in and have already had an assurance from someone that the job is yours, everything is a crap shoot dependent on a lot of factors, some of which are in your control and some of which aren't. Just because few people from your school go for DA jobs doesn't therefore make you a more attractive candidate for the position, and going to a T14 is likely less relevant than your experience.

I'm saying this because you sound kind of like you want a guarantee before going in, and also like you think a DA's office should be glad to hire you, and I'm not sure that's giving off the impression you want it to.

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:07 pm
by Anonymous User
Does anyone know anything about how many people the LA DA is looking to hire this year?

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:26 pm
by Anonymous User
Thanks, A Nony. Your words are well-taken.

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 8:55 pm
by Anonymous User
lower t14 here... tons of friends got shut out of NYC DA offices last year.

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2015 10:17 pm
by Anonymous User
'15 grad from T2 school who was hired by an NYC office (starting this fall).

It is absolutely credited that simply being T14 is *not* going to get you hired. Even though I was competing against many people from better law schools, I was hired relatively quickly in the cycle due to prior work experience, interning experience, and, of course, good interviews. You definitely need to take each interview seriously and be prepared for the obvious questions they're going to ask you:

Why DA instead of PD?
Why this office in particular?
(for NYC offices if you're not local) Why New York?

This process is super competitive, so you cannot afford to fumble one of these guaranteed questions. Moreover, you should talk to people who went through the process before to get a good feel for the various hypos you will be asked if you advance through the multiple rounds. Last year's thread had a lot of discussion of hypos people were getting.

The best advice I can give anyone going through this grueling process (I went through pretty much the entire process for each of the four offices, and I was exhausted near the end of it) is this: in the "getting to know you" questions, be your professional self. These people are trained and experienced in detecting bullshit. In the hypos, "show your work," meaning do your reasoning out loud so that they know you are thinking about things and spotting potential issues. If you do this in your head, they have no way of knowing that you're actually thinking critically about something. Finally, and again this goes for hypos, answer them. This is apparently the #1 complaint interviewers have.

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 3:00 pm
by Anonymous User
How do the various offices inform you that you've been advanced or rejected? (phone, e-mail, etc?) Primarily interested in NYC, but I imagine others would be interested in other areas if people know.

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 3:24 pm
by Anonymous User
Are these positions paid?

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 11:19 am
by PipPip171
Hi! I have an interview with the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office next month. They don't interview at my OCI, so I'll be flying down to Miami. Any advice or info anyone can offer?

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 11:30 am
by A. Nony Mouse
Anonymous User wrote:Are these positions paid?
Pretty sure this thread is talking about hiring for post-grad positions.

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 1:44 pm
by Anonymous User
Just been told by a former supervisor to sit tight for a panel interview for Kings County. Finished my OCI last week and was told that it's going to be 3 more rounds of interviews: 3 person panel -> executive 1 on 1 interview -> interview with the DA.

They are still going through panel interviewing some of their former 2L summers so I likely won't get scheduled in for a while.

Anyone have any insight as to how day to day is at the other NYC offices? I can try to answer any questions about Kings (trial zones, ECAB, etc.).

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 2:55 pm
by Anonymous User
PipPip171 wrote:Hi! I have an interview with the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office next month. They don't interview at my OCI, so I'll be flying down to Miami. Any advice or info anyone can offer?
Prepare for hypotheticals in your initial interview. Try to practice on a friend or counselor beforehand. Some could even involve role-playing as a police officer or other LEO character.

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 8:04 pm
by sd5289
Anonymous User wrote:How do the various offices inform you that you've been advanced or rejected? (phone, e-mail, etc?) Primarily interested in NYC, but I imagine others would be interested in other areas if people know.
It actually depends on the specific office. Some work via email and others work via phone call. Pretty much all will be able to tell you where you are if you're in between rounds (a/k/a "waiting") and wondering where you are.

Best advice I have is be nice to the hiring staff. I understand how frustrating this process can be, but they are working extremely hard processing thousands of applications and even more write up's from the ADA's who are interviewing you. I guess I'll add "be patient" to that.

Re: District Attorney Offices 2016

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 9:58 pm
by UnicornHunter
Anonymous User wrote:Thanks.

I'm assuming that it's a little less competitive where I am. I've heard VERY few go the DA route from my school, so I'd be a bit of a novelty candidate.

Would you recommend trying to intern there in the Spring, instead of the USAO? What should I be doing to increase my chances? I think I'll be good in the interview room and give a fairly compelling story as to why I want to be there.

I guess I just want to go in with some confidence that I'll get an offer.
Not going to be as nice as Nony. Nobody gives a shit where you went to school. As you point out, most of the ADAs did not go to a school like yours, so if anything you're going to have to overcome the strong presumption that you're a turd. Your application to the USAO won't help you- it's going to feed the presumption that you're not really interested in state level work.

Best thing you can do is network your ass off. If your goal is to work at the DA's office and not the USAO ABSOLUTELY intern there in the spring. The more you can show them that not only are you smart, but you're also someone whose easy to work with and actually wants to be an ADA, the better the interview process will go for you.