How many years DA to AUSA? Forum

[BNA]

Generally, and what are other factors to consider? Does location matter and, if so, how?

[Anonymous User]

Generally, and what are other factors to consider? Does location matter and, if so, how?

To piggy back this, I've heard (unreliably) that those in Appeals Bureaus have a leg up. How true is this? Assuming one of the large, pre-bar hiring offices.

[Anonymous User]

Pretty rare to become an AUSA from even pre-bar hiring offices unless DANY. Brooklyn does a little better than the others and then Bronx but generally doesn't happen.

[Anonymous User]

Generally, and what are other factors to consider? Does location matter and, if so, how?

To piggy back this, I've heard (unreliably) that those in Appeals Bureaus have a leg up. How true is this? Assuming one of the large, pre-bar hiring offices.

AUSAs generally do a lot of writing and not many trials, so to the extent you will develop more relevant skills there that may be true.

Pretty rare to become an AUSA from even pre-bar hiring offices unless DANY. Brooklyn does a little better than the others and then Bronx but generally doesn't happen.

True, but hard to tell whether that's because of the offices themselves or the candidates those offices tend to attract/hire (i.e. people with higher grades and a desire to go federal)

[Anonymous User]

To piggy back this, I've heard (unreliably) that those in Appeals Bureaus have a leg up. How true is this? Assuming one of the large, pre-bar hiring offices.

I have not heard this. It might depend on the office and where the hire will be placed. Some USAOs run all appeals through the appellate unit, some have the trial attorneys handle appeals. In my office trial skills are strongly valued over appellate skills, unless the position is specifically appellate, but that's a function of our caseload and charging policies.

Pretty rare to become an AUSA from even pre-bar hiring offices unless DANY. Brooklyn does a little better than the others and then Bronx but generally doesn't happen.

This also varies a ton by office. I've heard SDNY (and probably EDNY) hire almost exclusively out of biglaw, but I would say the majority of AUSAs in my (large but not prestigious and nowhere near NYC) office are former ADAs or other kinds of state prosecutors, and the majority of those are local. I'd say they mostly have 3-6 years experience when hired (it can depend on what the experience is, though).

[Lacepiece23]

To piggy back this, I've heard (unreliably) that those in Appeals Bureaus have a leg up. How true is this? Assuming one of the large, pre-bar hiring offices.

I have not heard this. It might depend on the office and where the hire will be placed. Some USAOs run all appeals through the appellate unit, some have the trial attorneys handle appeals. In my office trial skills are strongly valued over appellate skills, unless the position is specifically appellate, but that's a function of our caseload and charging policies.

Pretty rare to become an AUSA from even pre-bar hiring offices unless DANY. Brooklyn does a little better than the others and then Bronx but generally doesn't happen.

This also varies a ton by office. I've heard SDNY (and probably EDNY) hire almost exclusively out of biglaw, but I would say the majority of AUSAs in my (large but not prestigious and nowhere near NYC) office are former ADAs or other kinds of state prosecutors, and the majority of those are local. I'd say they mostly have 3-6 years experience when hired (it can depend on what the experience is, though).

Can you PM me?

[Anonymous User]

Fastest I've ever seen is 2.5 years. But that was a grant position to go and basically try DUIs on federal land. I know others who did it in 6, 10, and 10. The 6 and the other 10 were also at one point cross designated as Special Assistant United States Attorneys before making the jump....here's to hoping I add my name to the list with 3 and a clerkship.

[stealthgunner]

To piggy back this, I've heard (unreliably) that those in Appeals Bureaus have a leg up. How true is this? Assuming one of the large, pre-bar hiring offices.

I have not heard this. It might depend on the office and where the hire will be placed. Some USAOs run all appeals through the appellate unit, some have the trial attorneys handle appeals. In my office trial skills are strongly valued over appellate skills, unless the position is specifically appellate, but that's a function of our caseload and charging policies.

Pretty rare to become an AUSA from even pre-bar hiring offices unless DANY. Brooklyn does a little better than the others and then Bronx but generally doesn't happen.

This also varies a ton by office. I've heard SDNY (and probably EDNY) hire almost exclusively out of biglaw, but I would say the majority of AUSAs in my (large but not prestigious and nowhere near NYC) office are former ADAs or other kinds of state prosecutors, and the majority of those are local. I'd say they mostly have 3-6 years experience when hired (it can depend on what the experience is, though).

What district office are you in?

[Anonymous User]

Both SDNY and EDNY hire from DAs offices. The U.S. Attorney at EDNY is a former DANY prosecutor.

The median time for being at a DAs office is NYC to transfer to one of the USAO in NYC area (EDNY/SDNY/D.NJ) is 5 years. That's because it takes about 5 years to get the experience necessary handling complex felonies to be competitive for USAO. You can go to other non-NY jurisdictions in less than 5. I've seen people do 3 years in ADA, go be an AUSA in Miami, DC, and Chicago, as examples.

[andythefir]

Fastest I've ever seen is 2.5 years. But that was a grant position to go and basically try DUIs on federal land. I know others who did it in 6, 10, and 10. The 6 and the other 10 were also at one point cross designated as Special Assistant United States Attorneys before making the jump....here's to hoping I add my name to the list with 3 and a clerkship.

I've seen <2 years due to funding issues. AUSAs get paid based on the number of years they've been working since passing the bar, so no credit for people like me who worked in a law office while studying for the bar at night. That means that there is a premium on getting people in the 3-5 year window because it's cheaper for them and they can disrupt any bad habits.

3 big caveats. (1) Different offices have completely different hiring practices. My home market has been hiring DAs/AGs 15-20 years out (I've been watching the mandatory address updates in the bar bulletin), which I haven't heard of happening in other places. Some basically require biglaw, others require time in a DAs office. (2) If you insist on working in a huge city it will be much more difficult. Smaller towns are much more flexible. (3) Not all experience is created equal. In my 1st 2 years I've done 70 trials, and I know some people who haven't even done a deposition.

If you're a DA that wants to get to the USAO, I suggest (1) do a huge number of trials that will jump out on your resume, (2) do complex/high profile cases so that you have good talking points (you'd be surprised how many lifer DAs will try to avoid doing a gnarly white collar case and would love to give it to you), and (3) write, write, write. If you can say "I filed 4 motions this week" in your interview, that will go a long way to quieting any doubts the USAO may have about your writing experience.