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Hey all. What are some government positions (preferably federal, though state and local too) that are available for transactional attorneys? It seems like some of the "cooler" gov positions (AUSA, SEC enforcement, DOJ Civil rights division, etc.) are more geared toward litigation folks. Do any of you have experience transitioning into a government role as a former transactional attorney? Would love to work for the gov some day but am not sure if there are positions like that. Thanks!

I think this has been discussed before but a lot of non-DOJ and smaller agencies use attorneys as essentially in-house counsel. In those places, the bulk of what you'd do is advisory/transactional in nature. But as you can imagine, there are less of those positions available so you you just gotta keep looking.

In a lot of the bigger agencies that deal constantly with contractors (I have a bit of personal experience with DOD, DHS and the Federal Reserve before law school as a paralegal and through internships) there are attorneys who deal almost exclusively with the agency's contracts (employment, procurement, supply etc.). It's not as sexy as some of the litigation roles are in premiere agencies in the eyes of laypeople, but I've met many people who seem really happy with their job. Who knows what will happen in the next few years, but many of these positions have good hours, stability and at least in my (limited) experience pretty competent managers. Also, like Zot kind of alluded to, a lot of times these roles don't shoehorn you necessarily from moving up in a legal management roles if you're good with people and office politics (this also might be more of a boomer era thing, but hey).

There is obviously a big pay cut from big law, but I've spoken to quite a few people who have managed to save up during their stint in big law and are now able to live pretty comfortably working 45-50 hour jobs now for much less pay, but also much less stress (and time to be around their family).

Where do people find non-fed gov gigs? I've only seen symplicity postings for NYC Law Dept. Assumptively it seems to be an exclusively network-derived job opportunity.

Thanks for the responses, just what I was looking for. Even though like you said these jobs aren't with the "premiere" agencies, the competition get them to has got to be insane.

pancakes3 wrote:Where do people find non-fed gov gigs? I've only seen symplicity postings for NYC Law Dept. Assumptively it seems to be an exclusively network-derived job opportunity.

I think think you have to proactively check the state government websites to see their postings, or/also state bar association classifieds. (I'm sure networking helps too.)

almondjoy wrote:Thanks for the responses, just what I was looking for. Even though like you said these jobs aren't with the "premiere" agencies, the competition get them to has got to be insane.

My agency is "premiere." That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

zot1 wrote:

almondjoy wrote:Thanks for the responses, just what I was looking for. Even though like you said these jobs aren't with the "premiere" agencies, the competition get them to has got to be insane.

My agency is "premiere." That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

sorry didn't mean to offend anyone

almondjoy wrote:

zot1 wrote:

almondjoy wrote:Thanks for the responses, just what I was looking for. Even though like you said these jobs aren't with the "premiere" agencies, the competition get them to has got to be insane.

My agency is "premiere." That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

sorry didn't mean to offend anyone

Lol not at all! I don't mind lack of prestige. It also means I don't work overtime. Not a bad trade off.

The Navy and Army frequently post contract attorney (non-uniform) positions on USAJobs.