Top Law Schools

Just a quick question, is the USAO considered a prestigious position for 1Ls? I got an offer in a major major city without an interview in their office. Just makes me seem skeptical. Thoughts would be welcome

nativtracker wrote:Just a quick question, is the USAO considered a prestigious position for 1Ls? I got an offer in a major major city without an interview in their office. Just makes me seem skeptical. Thoughts would be welcome

If you're talking about the DC USAO, that's how they do it for everyone. There are dozens and dozens of interns there for the summer, so they don't have the ability to interview. It's a perfectly respectable summer employer, and will give you pretty good insight into whatever group you're placed in. But that internship can also be limiting because you'll only work on cases in that group.

If you're talking about a different USAO, then the office will have fewer interns and you're more likely to see a range (though most offices do separate out criminal/civil). In any event, it's a good 1L job. I'm not sure it's "prestigious"--it's no civil appellate--but it will give you more than enough to talk about in future BigLaw / Gov't / Clerkship interviews.

I spent my 1L summer with a USAO in a much smaller market. Here, (non-Chicago midwest market) it's considered a competitive placement for 1Ls. It was a major talking point during my OCI interviews, not just in the "what did you do this summer?" sense, but also in the "so how did you land that gig?" sense. It probably differs from place to place though.