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Can anyone provide any insight on how much experience you get on your feet in court and/or at trial as an AUSA in the Civil Division? (So, not as a federal prosecutor in the Criminal Division, but as a civil attorney for the federal government.) I'm thinking specifically in the New York metro area (like, SDNY, EDNY). Thanks.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 12, 2023 5:53 pm

Can anyone provide any insight on how much experience you get on your feet in court and/or at trial as an AUSA in the Civil Division? (So, not as a federal prosecutor in the Criminal Division, but as a civil attorney for the federal government.) I'm thinking specifically in the New York metro area (like, SDNY, EDNY). Thanks.

I can't speak specifically to NYC, but as a current civil AUSA elsewhere, my take is this: civil lit is still civil lit; doing civil lit for the government isn't going to magically create more opportunities to be in court (or go to trial) than if you were in the private sector. The main difference is that if you're the AUSA on a civil case, when hearings/trial do arise, you will be the one doing them (or at the least you'll play a pretty big part). If I write a motion, I argue it in court (and if it's my case, I'll be writing the motions). When my case goes to depositions, I'll take/defend the depos. If a case actually goes to trial, I'll have a trial partner but we'll split trial responsibilities down the middle.

It's possible that SDNY/EDNY will give more opportunities to be in court just through volume of cases; I also don't know how leanly they staff their teams.

(There's also the civil forfeiture side of being a civil AUSA, which doesn't necessarily go to court a lot, but I could imagine gets pretty significant in offices like SDNY/EDNY where you get complex criminal cases with lots of assets floating around. I'm currently in a small office where most criminal defendants are dirt poor, and asset forfeiture focuses a lot on drug proceeds, guns, and devices found to contain child sex abuse materials, so relatively straightforward, but I know other districts it can be much more complex.)