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Apologies if this or a similar question has been raised before (couldn't find it in the archives). I'm curious what people know about the general window for applying to USAOs post-graduation. I think my credentials would probably be enough at least to get an interview at most USAOs -- top 1/3 at HYS, flyover d.ct. clerkship, close to 2 years at a V5 in NYC doing mostly white collar/investigations work, and about to start a COA clerkship in a medium-competitive (but non-2/9/DC) market.

My question is, essentially: if I want to work at a USAO, do I have to start applying during my COA clerkship? Or could I go back to biglaw for a couple years, make some more money, and then apply? If I started at a USAO immediately after my COA clerkship, I'd have almost 4 years of post-grad experience. If I started a couple years after, I'd have almost 6 years. My concern is that USAOs are reluctant to hire attorneys with this much experience, if only because they don't want to pay them at that level of seniority. Does anyone have a sense of how substantially your chances diminish the longer you stay in biglaw, and at what point you've likely passed the point of no return? I realize my chances would be greater at a flyover USAO, so I'm particularly interested in how seniority affects chances in more competitive markets (esp. SDNY/EDNY).

My law school told me the window was 3-5 years, but the people I know who have gotten hired (I’m as yet unsuccessful) have been trending older, more like 6-10 years. AUSA pay maxes out at 9 years, so by the time you get 8 years in you’re not saving much money compared to 15 years.

Re the timing with a clerkship, id say you should essentially never stop applying. Application + 2 rounds of interviews + a background check can take forever. If you’re open to multiple offices you’re much more likely to be able to catch one at the right time.

andythefir wrote:My law school told me the window was 3-5 years, but the people I know who have gotten hired (I’m as yet unsuccessful) have been trending older, more like 6-10 years. AUSA pay maxes out at 9 years, so by the time you get 8 years in you’re not saving much money compared to 15 years.

Re the timing with a clerkship, id say you should essentially never stop applying. Application + 2 rounds of interviews + a background check can take forever. If you’re open to multiple offices you’re much more likely to be able to catch one at the right time.

OP; thanks. My problem is that I don't want to apply to USAOs now, if possible. I'd rather go back to biglaw for 2-3 years after my clerkship, save a significant amount of $$, then apply for an AUSA position. But I fear that waiting that long to apply will substantially reduce my chances of getting hired.

Anonymous User wrote:

andythefir wrote:My law school told me the window was 3-5 years, but the people I know who have gotten hired (I’m as yet unsuccessful) have been trending older, more like 6-10 years. AUSA pay maxes out at 9 years, so by the time you get 8 years in you’re not saving much money compared to 15 years.

Re the timing with a clerkship, id say you should essentially never stop applying. Application + 2 rounds of interviews + a background check can take forever. If you’re open to multiple offices you’re much more likely to be able to catch one at the right time.

OP; thanks. My problem is that I don't want to apply to USAOs now, if possible. I'd rather go back to biglaw for 2-3 years after my clerkship, save a significant amount of $$, then apply for an AUSA position. But I fear that waiting that long to apply will substantially reduce my chances of getting hired.

The issue is that AUSA pay scale maxes out at 9 years. So they can pay a 9 year attorney the same as a 20 year attorney. That’s why the 3-7 year experience level is so critical, you’re a value to the office and you’re not head to head with 20 year AUSAs who want the same job.

Probably dumb question: don’t they have discretion to pay you below your level?

Sadly I’m in the same boat as OP.

My judge, former USA, said that they did not have such discretion. In one of my interviews I asked the same question of a major office and did not really get an answer. Instead the executive assistant USA basically was like "we have x spots, we can fill them however, and if we have more people we can ask for more spots." That answer made it sound like actual $s weren't at issue, but that can't be right either.

Short answer: i have no idea.