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What advice would you give to an incoming litigation associate who seeks to become an AUSA in SDNY/EDNY?

Had many friends who were AUSAs. Totally depends on your district, but the most common path is ADA for 5-10 years and then jumping to the US attorneys office. Some USAOs also do SAUSA programs with local DA outfits to see if some folks would be a good fit. In offices Local DA's office to USAO is the tried and true, around 70% or so in the crim section are this. There will also be a group of JAGs who go. And a small percentage of biglaw to AUSA. These stats will change in more competitive districts, but most districts are like this.

Crazysnackaroo wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 06, 2025 8:30 am

Had many friends who were AUSAs. Totally depends on your district, but the most common path is ADA for 5-10 years and then jumping to the US attorneys office. Some USAOs also do SAUSA programs with local DA outfits to see if some folks would be a good fit. In offices Local DA's office to USAO is the tried and true, around 70% or so in the crim section are this. There will also be a group of JAGs who go. And a small percentage of biglaw to AUSA. These stats will change in more competitive districts, but most districts are like this.

I don’t think you can say that this is the most common path; it really varies by district but there are plenty of USAs who went through the elite qualifications —> biglaw route and who expect that of their hires. I don’t work in either of those districts, but from my incidental experience with them, SDNY/EDNY are much more “revolving door with biglaw” than many other districts and much less likely to hire local DAs.

OP, get as much courtroom/trial experience as you can, and/or as much criminal work as you can, and get to know as many former AUSAs as you can. Obviously former AUSAs from SDNY/EDNY are best, but any former AUSAs are good connections, in that a recommendation from a former AUSA will carry some weight.

Then it’s a matter of doing good work, developing a good reputation, and applying. Normally I’d say apply whenever there’s an opening because you most offices only take applications when they have openings and you can’t predict when they’ll occur. But my impression is that SDNY/EDNY take applications at any time, so I’m not sure how to strategize that. This is where it will really help if you can get to know former AUSAs from those districts, because they will be able to tell you how hiring actually works.