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Applying to ADA Positions for One Year Out of Law School

Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2016 11:48 pm
by Anonymous User
Hi! I'm currently doing a one-year fellowship at an appellate public defense firm. Does anyone know the process of applying to DA's offices as a lateral in this type of situation? I've seen some of the DA sites saying that you can apply any time of year, but I feel like that applies to people with a few years experience. Does working on the defense side of things make me less appealing to a DA's office? Do some DA's office hire more often throughout the year than others? Is there a non-DA website that has all of this information compiled? Thanks in advance for any and all advice!

Re: Applying to ADA Positions for One Year Out of Law School

Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2016 1:13 pm
by fauxpsych
Anonymous User wrote:Hi! I'm currently doing a one-year fellowship at an appellate public defense firm.


Like a not-for profit firm/agency?
Anonymous User wrote:Does anyone know the process of applying to DA's offices as a lateral in this type of situation?
It depends, can be office and region specific. The vast majority of offices only hire bar passage people with experience, only the roughly dozen massive offices hire pre-bar passage.

Can't really help without more info. However the fact that you are doing appellate work, rather than trial work (or even an appellate clerkship), is a bit of a wild card. Do you want to stick with appellate work?
Anonymous User wrote:Does working on the defense side of things make me less appealing to a DA's office?
Same, it depends. However generally it's easier to go PD --> ADA than the reverse.
Anonymous User wrote:Do some DA's office hire more often throughout the year than others?
Yes.
Anonymous User wrote:Is there a non-DA website that has all of this information compiled? Thanks in advance for any and all advice!
No.


You're not giving much to work with. If you want to PM me with more info, I can try to answer.

However there's no magic bullet, if you want to get hired as a lateral you're going to have to hustle, call offices, send out resumes, and network to be considered since you are essentially competing with other candidates who have commitment to prosecutor work, but struck out at the pre-bar offices, and others who struck out generally in civil work.