Crim AUSA vs Lit Boutique Forum

[Anonymous User]

Coming off of judicial clerkship. My long-term interest is in doing government litigation (not necessarily federal criminal, but it seems like a great job). I'm tempted to take the lit boutique route now to make some money before exiting into gov. But would I be silly to turn down a criminal AUSA position in my preferred USAO? Not a highly competitive USAO, but one where openings aren't happening all the time.

[Anonymous User]

There are definitely pros and cons to both. I think taking the AUSA gig would be wise because it’s hard to predict when another opening will arise. You’d probably still be competitive in the future, too, but you don’t know who you’d be competing with at that point so there are no guarantees. (In theory too someone might look less favorably on a future app if you turn them down now, but this isn’t at all likely as long as you and they are both reasonable).

But I can also see the appeal of the money, and if your longer term goal isn’t criminal, getting good experience at the lit boutique would be another valid route to non-criminal government work (especially if you’re thinking state government local to the boutique). It’s not that you can’t ever move from criminal to civil, but you may get pigeonholed to some extent (depends a little on what you did before the clerkship).

I’d also take USAO for lifestyle reasons, but that varies by offices (USAO and boutique), as well as by individual priorities.

[Anonymous User]

Coming off of judicial clerkship. My long-term interest is in doing government litigation (not necessarily federal criminal, but it seems like a great job). I'm tempted to take the lit boutique route now to make some money before exiting into gov. But would I be silly to turn down a criminal AUSA position in my preferred USAO? Not a highly competitive USAO, but one where openings aren't happening all the time.

Civil AUSA here, senior. Go the AUSA route. The DOJ is an absolutely massive law firm, which allows for an infinite number of career expansion moves. The federal government into which you will be fully networked at a pretty high level is even larger.

You can start as a criminal AUSA, but in due course you can switch to the civil division, or the appellate division, or whatever the hell you want. There are DOJ lawyers with expertise in intellectual property law, space law... I mean, the list goes on and on. Want to move to Washington? Go ahead. Want to transfer to the District of Idaho? Go ahead. Want a detail to the Republic of Ireland? Go for it. It's just a cool place to be, which is why AUSAs tend to stay there long term compared to other sectors of the legal profession.

It is not easy to get in initially, so if you have an offer, consider that. Even if you are an excellent candidate, there are always lots of excellent candidates. Also keep in mind that with each passing year that you gain experience, your law school name and GPA lose relevance.

[andythefir]

It’s crazy to pass on an offer from a USAO where you want to work. First, if Rs win in 2024 and 2028 and the R USA only hires JAGs or ADAs or whatever specific niche you don’t fit, then you’ve aged out by the time there’s a different USA, Second, Fed retirement sucks, but it and other perks like loan forgiveness are only going to get worse in the future.