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I’m hoping someone familiar with USAO hiring practices has some insight into the extent those offices focus on grades for applicants who have been out of law school for ~3 years. I’ll be a state level prosecutor hoping to apply to a USAO known to hire a good amount of state prosecutors. Average grades (top 40%) isn’t ideal but it’s what I’m working with. Any feedback on ways to stand out during your career that USAOs value?

Thanks!

If the office hires a lot of state prosecutors, then it's very likely that they value trial experience over pedigree, so you would want to just play up all the experience you have and the things you can already do and the ways in which you'll hit the ground running (while acknowledging you will have to learn the ways the federal system is different from the state). The big thing is to get felony trial experience (although do keep in mind you can usually get away with a lot in state court that you can't in federal, so again, be prepared to acknowledge that; emphasize the transferable skills, like comfort in the courtroom, before juries, managing trials, etc.) In this context, I'd be surprised if grades were a huge factor. They might come into play when deciding between two people, but there's not really anything you can do about that now.

(I'm an AUSA who's worked in an office that hired a lot of state prosecutors - I wasn't on the actual hiring committees, but I have never heard anyone mention any candidates grades, ever, and the focus on what the person had done after law school. Obv I can't say that grades didn't come into play at any point b/c I wasn't involved, but again, I'd be surprised.)

Current AUSA in medium-sized district who worked as a state prosecutor for 3-5 years before going fed. The knock on most former prosecutors is that they can’t write. And AUSAs do a lot of writing. Try to do some appeals at your current office and generate a strong writing sample.

The other knock on former prosecutors is that they fly by the seat of their pants and can’t conduct a long-term investigation. So if your current office does any white collar cases or drug wiretaps, try to get in on those.

For most USAOs, that kind of experience will matter far more than your law school grades.