Top Law Schools

Currently a 3L with a D.Ct. clerkship and post-clerkship biglaw lined up. I'm slowly starting to realize that my true passion lies in the criminal justice system. It has always been my goal to join the USAO as an AUSA following some time in biglaw. However, I'm also starting to realize that prosecution/trial experiences is likely necessary to be as competitive as possible for an AUSA position.

A few questions:

1) Will my odds of landing an AUSA gig greatly increase by serving as an ADA, as opposed to attempting to jump from biglaw with little courtroom experience to an AUSA position?

2) If an ADA position will help, is it plausible to go biglaw (general lit at a firm where I am very unlikely to get courtroom experience in the first few years asisde from taking on pro bono matters) --> ADA position? I go to a T14, law review, clerkship, etc. and would try for an ADA position in my home market, a southern secondary market that doesn't see too many non-local law school grads. Would this help make the jump from biglaw to ADA more plausible?

I know that many will wonder why not just gun for the ADA gig directly following my clerkship. I have a SO with a decent amount of student loan debt that will need to be paid off. Thus, even if I can qualify for public-interst loan forgiveness, it will not cover all the loans needing to be paid off, and some years in biglaw will undoubtedly help on that front. I could pay off my SO's loans, then try for an ADA gig and accompanying public-interest loan forgivness route.

This is something that I have been researching a fair bit as I am shooting for a similar career path (I did two years of biglaw right out of law school, and am now in my second week of a D. Ct. clerkship - hoping for DOJ or AUSA after the clerkship is done).

Would being an ADA help? Probably. I think that part of my current challenge is that I don't have the criminal experience necessary to be competitive for the criminal division openings, so I am largely concentrating on civil positions (I am still applying to some criminal spots - just not getting my hopes up). ADA experience would solve that problem.

On the other hand - it sounds like you will have a fairly solid resume. Assuming things are going well at your firm, I would say to just start applying to AUSA jobs around year 3 and see what kind of response you get. If you don't get any bites after a set amount of time, switch gears and go do ADA for a while. However, as I am sure you know, the whole process is crazy competitive, and it could take a while to land a spot even going clerkship-biglaw-ADA. I would be somewhat mindful to not switch jobs too often in hopes of building your resume for an AUSA spot, because then you might look like someone who doesn't know what he/she wants to do.

It will depend on the office - some like to hire out of biglaw, some prefer ADAs, some like a mix. People do go from biglaw to criminal AUSA, but getting as much practical experience as you can will help. I'm told that pro bono can be a good way to do this (can't speak from personal experience, didn't do biglaw).

(I do know one person who went biglaw -> ADA, but he only did about a year in biglaw, and I'm pretty sure he interned for that DA's office during school. I don't know of lot of examples of this, but I'm not a great source because most people from my school didn't start in biglaw.)

From my understanding, it depends on the office and who the current U.S. Attorney is when you apply. Some like to take people from biglaw, and some prefer hiring former DA's with a lot of litigation experience. This is what I was told by the AUSA's when I interned in D.C. last summer so take it for what it's worth. Also, it helps to know an AUSA in the office you are applying to who will push your resume to the top of the pile.

OP here. Thanks for the replies. How difficult would it be to try to make the jump from biglaw civil litigation to an ADA position? It would seem difficult given the many people gunning for these positions straight out of law school with public-interest riddled resumes.

Another thing to consider is the USAO and local ADA relationship. In my jurisdiction the USAO has only taken 3 people from the local ADA office in the last 3 years. And the DA legit bitched at the USAO to stop taking her good people. The DA here is weirdly territorial.

In my home state I have seen a number of people go from civil private practice to the state prosecutor. It doesn't seem to be the hardest thing in the world to do, as long as the timing is right. Connections probably help. I am sure this varies somewhat from state to state.