California PD offices Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi all,

I'm a 2L, aspiring PD, in CA currently and want to stay here post-grad. Long-term I want to be in the Bay Area but I'm open to going somewhere else for awhile. Starting to do research into different PD offices around the state, and wanted to see if anyone's got some knowledge about offices in the following counties (not asking about Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, or San Francisco, because after next summer I will have worked in all of them):

Fresno
Kern
Sacramento
San Bernardino
San Diego
San Joaquin
Santa Barbara
Solano
Stanislaus
Yolo

Looking at these counties because it seems like they are the larger counties that actually have dedicated offices, rather than contracting the work out (based off of Davis' now 5 year old PD hiring guide).

In particular, I'm wondering about:
1) the culture - are they a true believer office, or are they just a 'clients are all guilty, plead em out' office?
2) what's training like for new attorneys
3) attitude about going to trial - encourage/discourage?

Essentially I'm looking for a mid to large-sized office with a good culture, where I can get trained up and get some trial experience. If anyone's got any info on them, please share! Also feel free to share on what their hiring process or positions are like.