Assistant State Attorney General Jobs/Internships Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm trying to switch from a private legal field to public service (specifically looking for government litigation-related stuff). I looked around and saw my state's AG allows students to get internships. But what would an intern with the AG do? And what would an assistant AG for the state do day-to-day? And why would someone choose an ASAG job over, say, an ADA/AUSA job?

[Anonymous User]

What an intern would do would depend a great deal on what unit of the AG's office you were dealing with. One reason someone might choose the AG's office is that they aren't limited to criminal matters. The AG usually does address criminal stuff - I interned for my state AG's appellate unit, which handles all the state criminal appeals - but there's also lots of regulatory stuff - like dealing with licensing of professions, utilities (gas/water/whatever), local environmental stuff, healthcare - plus dealing with things like consumer fraud, employment law (defending the state against employment suits, mostly), tax stuff, funding stuff, election stuff, tort law (dealing with slip and fall cases where the slip is down the capitol steps), transportation issues (is there an airport? the AG's office is probably responsible for it), education stuff, etc. etc. Basically almost anything in which the state has a legal interest. So the office as a whole does way more than just criminal stuff, so is much broader than a DA's office or USAO. (As an individual lawyer you would probably work in just one of these things, of course.)

In terms of what you do day to day, it could involve criminal litigation, civil litigation, drafting contracts/agreements, working out settlements, issuing permits and licenses, etc. etc. Huge variety of work.

Really you should just go to your state AG's website and look for something that describes the sections or components or however they want to call it. They usually want to advertise what they actually do.

[skeenbr0]

I'm going to suggest that a networking lunch with an actual AAG in your state will get you headed in the right direction much faster than a TLS post. The AAG can tell you what the job actually entails better than most of us can, and you will end up with a contact at the office who might get your resume off of the first look rejection pile. These jobs may not pay Biglaw bucks, but it's still a competitive process, and you may be up against people who have 15-20 years of relevant subject area experience, which will trump your awesome GPA and prestigious associate gig. So you are going to need all the inside contacts you can get. Even if you aren't sure you want to go that direction, you are not going to regret starting your networking now.

[poweradezero]

Does AG office hire only experienced attorneys? Have you seen a new graduate start with the AG?

[skeenbr0]

I only know Colorado, if you want the answer in your state, once again, you are going to have to reach out and start networking.

Here, most (if not all) of the advertised AAG openings are for attorneys with 5+ years of experience. Most of the advertised openings are also for specific jobs in specific sections, so if they have an opening, say, in the dental licensing department, they ideally want a candidate with a little experience with administrative hearings and / or medical law. So it would be fairly rare to get the job right out of law school.

I do know of people that got a grant from their law school to work an otherwise unpaid position at the AG's office, and in at least one case, that turned into an offer. But the general path is working another job, getting subject area experience, and then moving over when the right position opens up.

Right place, right time, right experience, right connections. That's what it takes to get a job as an AAG, and honestly, anywhere else.

[skeenbr0]

It looks like the AG actually has a "fellowship" program for new attorneys or folks right out of a one year clerkship. $50K, one year commitment, no promise of future employment, but probably a good way to get your foot in the door.

http://coag.gov/employment/fellowships

[Anonymous User]

Does AG office hire only experienced attorneys? Have you seen a new graduate start with the AG?

In Texas, they do hire new attorneys. They also occasionally hire contract attorneys as temp AAGs and provide training. Pay for the temps isn't great but not a bad gig for learning and getting experience, plus it's a great foot in the door.