State AG's Office to BigLaw? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Around the middle of the road at a T10 and about to graduate. Struck out at OCI due to bad 1L grades and bad geography (went to undergrad in one region, law school in another, grew up in another); have an offer in my home region of my state with a small firm I really like. I would probably make partner at the small firm in around 5 years; comp would probably be six figures [king's ransom money in my neck of the world].

Strongly considering a position working for my home state AG office immediately after graduation. A lot of people I've talked to at some BigLaw white collar groups say that's a really good way to get into their groups. I've seen people from this state AG office move on to BigLaw general lit in my home state but not necessarily white collar.

Is this perceived wisdom correct? Curious as to what TLS would say about this. Would like to try BigLaw at the very least before practicing back home; taking the offer at the small firm would probably foreclose this in my circumstances.

[objctnyrhnr]

What unit of the state AG’s office? Or are we talking tiny state where ags office is also prosecutors office and you’ll just be basically an ada?

Anyway, I lean towards this if biglaw is goal. As soon as you accept that offer, I’d be trying to apply to every legit ssc and fedclerkship you can. Land one early enough (after 1-2 years at ags office) and I think you’d have a decent shot at biglaw if you network and play your cards right. And also start networking ASAP. That t10 will carry more weight than your mediocre gpa after you’ve been practicing for a bit.

I predict you get some posters o here saying that the small law sitch sounds glorious and why would you want biglaw yada yada

[lavarman84]

What unit of the state AG’s office? Or are we talking tiny state where ags office is also prosecutors office and you’ll just be basically an ada?

Anyway, I lean towards this if biglaw is goal. As soon as you accept that offer, I’d be trying to apply to every legit ssc and fedclerkship you can. Land one early enough (after 1-2 years at ags office) and I think you’d have a decent shot at biglaw if you network and play your cards right. And also start networking ASAP. That t10 will carry more weight than your mediocre gpa after you’ve been practicing for a bit.

I predict you get some posters o here saying that the small law sitch sounds glorious and why would you want biglaw yada yada

(I actually have no idea if the small firm situation is glorious because there's not enough detail, but I think this forum's biglaw infatuation tends to be misplaced. However, it's OP's life, and that seems to be what he or she wants.)

[objctnyrhnr]

What unit of the state AG’s office? Or are we talking tiny state where ags office is also prosecutors office and you’ll just be basically an ada?

Anyway, I lean towards this if biglaw is goal. As soon as you accept that offer, I’d be trying to apply to every legit ssc and fedclerkship you can. Land one early enough (after 1-2 years at ags office) and I think you’d have a decent shot at biglaw if you network and play your cards right. And also start networking ASAP. That t10 will carry more weight than your mediocre gpa after you’ve been practicing for a bit.

I predict you get some posters o here saying that the small law sitch sounds glorious and why would you want biglaw yada yada

(I actually have no idea if the small firm situation is glorious because there's not enough detail, but I think this forum's biglaw infatuation tends to be misplaced. However, it's OP's life, and that seems to be what he or she wants.)

But biglaw is just soooo prefffteeeegious

[Anonymous User]

I took a role similar to an AAG in my home state after graduation and ended up in biglaw 2 years later. I made the switch to corporate and took a class year hit when I jumped but other attorneys at my agency that left went the litigation/white collar route at multiple V50s (and one V5 satellite). It was fairly common. It really comes down to what division you would be in. In the field my agency was in, we had frequent contact with big law firms, which is obviously key. You need to be working on matters big law firms care about.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. To clarify, it would be six figs when I made partner (not as an associate), if that factors in at all. It would be a civil lit position with an AG's office. The small law firm is really good, but I want to experience something else before I go home, all things considered.

[objctnyrhnr]

OP here. To clarify, it would be six figs when I made partner (not as an associate), if that factors in at all. It would be a civil lit position with an AG's office. The small law firm is really good, but I want to experience something else before I go home, all things considered.

This small law situation sounds pretty awful. A sub 6 figure job in state gov is NOT equivalent to a sub 6 figure job in private practice from a future employer standpoint. Frankly, a sub 6 figure job in private practice sounds pretty bottom of the barrel and will be difficult to claw your way back from. By contrast, a sub 6 figure job in state gov is just the nature of junior attorney work in state gov and won’t necessarily result in you limiting your career. Now I say this aware, of course, that a future employer won’t know your salary in all likelihood; my comment was more about the two respective types of gigs and their exit options.

Definitely go AG

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Took the AG job. Thanks everyone!