USAO Vacation Policy Forum

[Anonymous User]

Question for any current / former AUSAs — while working as an AUSA, can you take a vacation (with sufficient advance notice) at any time of the year? Or are the only times you can take vacations court holidays like Christmas and 4th of July?

My spouse is a first responder and gets assigned random vacation blocks like the 2nd week of February and the 3rd week of Oct. I’m wondering if we would be able to coordinate vacations if I started as an AUSA.

[Anonymous User]

You can take vacation absolutely whenever the heck you want, as long as you have leave left and your schedule allows. You will absolutely be able to coordinate with your spouse. I regularly take a week in October b/c of family stuff that always happens then.

Also, two things re: scheduling: first, at least in my experience, colleagues are awesome about covering stuff for each other. One benefit of being a cog in the vast federal engine is that pretty much any other cog can stand in for you. Obviously this isn't going to be the case for trial or some kind of contested evidentiary hearing, but for more routine matters, you're good. (Usually there's a duty attorney who's assigned to cover stuff for colleagues that need coverage, but others chip in as well.)

Second, IME (though this can vary by judge/court/district), when it comes to the more serious stuff like trial or contested hearings, the court will schedule around pre-existing plans involving reservations for stuff, but will not move those things once they've been scheduled (barring emergencies), so the more dates you can pin down and block out in advance, the better.

But no, it doesn't matter when those times are.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for the info! How much leave do you get per year?

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for the info! How much leave do you get per year?

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for the info! How much leave do you get per year?

Different AUSA from the one above. Leave is accrued. When you start, you get four hours per two-week pay period. After three years of service, that goes up to six hour per pay period, and after fifteen years of service, it goes up to eight hours per pay period.

[Bosque]

You know you could have just done one thread for all your USAO questions, right?

[Anonymous User]

You know you could have just done one thread for all your USAO questions, right?

Not the OP, but ???

[Anonymous User]

This is slightly off topic, but what are some realistic exit options from the US Attorneys’ office? I know some people stay their whole careers, but what about those who don’t want to stay forever?

[Anonymous User]

This is slightly off topic, but what are some realistic exit options from the US Attorneys’ office? I know some people stay their whole careers, but what about those who don’t want to stay forever?

Assuming you mean criminal, a lot of this depends on the office and what cases you do - if you spend your time doing guns and drugs cases (which is possible) you’re not going to be that appealing to big firms representing sophisticated white collar defs, for example. And a stint at the USAO in Western Oklahoma isn’t likely to get you to NYC or LA.

That said, here’s what I’ve seen, roughly in order of frequency from most to least:
- solo or very small firm private criminal defense
- more specialized criminal work at Main Justice
- private practice (possibly but not necessarily big law)
- judge (usually state of some kind or federal magistrate, but possibly district court)
- law prof (occasionally)

But for context: I’ve worked in relatively small legal markets that don’t have a lot of local biglaw. From what I hear, it’s much more common to go from the USAO back to biglaw in SDNY, based on their hiring practices and the kinds of cases they get. You can get complex, challenging work at any USAO, but it’s not all going to be complex challenging work that’s relevant to biglaw. (And that said, I’m not saying you can’t get back to biglaw unless you do nothing but complex white collar crime, but you do have to be able to sell why your USAO experience makes you worth hiring.)

[Anonymous User]

To answer the original question and ones like it: AUSAs aren’t GS, but they are federal employees, so they get the same vacation/sick/retirement/layoff rules as all other Feds set by OPM.

Re exit options the jobs are very different on the border v a mid sized city v drug prosecution in a huge city v white collar in a huge city. A lot of folks will hustle to get to white collar divisions in medium offices to then get into white collar in huge offices to then get into white collar defense. It’s wasteful because the USAO is a really good job, but some people can’t wait to work themself to death.

[Anonymous User]

So far, none of the exit options mentioned has been going in-house to a big company. Are they primarily interested in compliance folks with a background in the private sector as opposed to the USAO? For reference, I'm interested in big city USAO offices (NY, LA, Chicago, Boston, DC).

[Anonymous User]

So far, none of the exit options mentioned has been going in-house to a big company. Are they primarily interested in compliance folks with a background in the private sector as opposed to the USAO? For reference, I'm interested in big city USAO offices (NY, LA, Chicago, Boston, DC).

I’m one of the people who answered, and you remind me that I had meant to mention this. TBC, I don’t know anyone personally who’s done it, but I do know a senior AUSA who’s never been in private practice (so didn’t want to go to or think they’d be a good candidate for a firm) who talked about this as a possible option. I don’t know much about it, but it’s definitely out there. Would love to hear if anyone else out there knows more.

[Anonymous User]

FWIW I am a current AUSA and I know someone who left to go in-house at a large well known company. This person was on the civil side. As suggested by a previous post, options will vary depending on your area of expertise.