Pros and cons of being a prosecutor? Forum

[jdwinn0963]

I am a Health Services Administration major. I am starting law school in 2015 and have been planning on going into health law. A month ago, I started volunteering at my county courthouse and I am starting to fall in love with criminal law. I would love to be a prosecutor but the salary of a prosecutor turns me away. I want to make a nice salary, especially when I have to start paying for my law school debt. I also want to get into politics one day and want to have a successful background and work history to run on. I am one who likes to way the pros and cons of things and I am curious what your opinion is on becoming a prosecutor.

[heavoldgotjuice]

pros: you put people in jail/prison
cons: you put people in jail/prison


way --> weigh


why the hell do you want to put people in prison?

[Hand]

[DoveBodyWash]

Pros: U get to do something that you presumably enjoy and work more humane hours
Cons: Income will be lower and stagnant

Shit that could be pro or con depending on what you like: You'll have to deal with politics to a certain degree as you move up the chain

[adonai]

Pro: IBR, PAYE and trial work
Con: job is harder to get than biglaw. Many people use it as their fallback when they strike out, and most offices if they're even hiring at all don't hire many.

[Yukos]

As you can see, a lot of people have a natural aversion to prosecution--for that reason, it's probably one of the few jobs you can rule out before you go to law school. Still, take crim law before you get too excited about your future career. Maybe you'll look at the difference between knowingly and purposely and decide torts are much more your thing.

But since we're here, prosecutor has one of the most clearcut sets of pros/cons out there. This all goes for your local ADA, not AUSAs or whatever.

Pros: Get to put bad guys in jail (hopefully), lots of courtroom action, loan repayment, reasonable hours

Cons: A key cog in what many would argue is a fundamentally broken system due to lack of resources, endemic racism, ridiculous mandatory sentences, etc.; you'll probably have to start prosecuting low-level drug offenders; low pay (but loan repayment makes up for a lot of that)

Then again, my crim prof always said that a prosecutor (bc of discretion) can do more justice in 10 minutes than a defense attorney can in a year, so these things cut both ways.

[Young Marino]

I also volunteered at my local DA's office for the past year and look to become a prosecutor. After speaking with numerous prosecutors and seeing it for myself, here's my takeaway:

Pros- More than anything, you make a REAL impact in your community by keeping offenders away from the public.I remember a molestation case I worked on that went trial where we got the guilty verdict. The victim, an 8 year old girl was the gallery crying and kept thanking the ADA for protecting her. It was a great feeling knowing I worked on that case and was able to have a direct impact in my hometown. The benefits are also great. In my office, you get a real pension, great health care and of course, you can't ignore the IBR/PSLF eligibility that goes with it so your loans aren't that much of a burden. The hours are also great. In the year I had interned at the office, I only saw my supervising attorney (who is second in charge of the juvenile division) stay past 5pm twice. There are times when you'll have to stay late at the office when preparing for trial but for the most part, it's a 9-5 with paid holidays and you're entitled to about 30 days off of paid leave per year. You mentioned you may want to get into politics one day? Being a prosecutor is a great stepping stone to do that because you will get the experience of serving your community and you can make great connections that can help you achieve that goal.

Cons- The pay is pretty shitty when you start out but it gets better the longer you stay. In my office, you typically get a raise of $5k a year (start at $40k) and then the raises stop after you get to about $90k (typically within the first 15 years) but you have a chance to make six figures if you want it. Forget about saving for retirement your first few years in when you're trying to get a house or car. You will never get rich with this job but it's very rewarding and you will make a comfortable living. Also, you're at the mercy of budget cuts. My office didn't hire an incoming class this year so a lot of interns that were set to come in got burned by the system. Finally, there is some truth about racism in the system that goes with this. I can't tell you how many minorities I saw in court and actually found myself being judgemental outside of work. I guess you learn to stop with that as time goes on but it's not like the prosecutors are out to get minorities. It's just part of the job and unfortunately, that's what we see a lot of.

[JJ123]

con: being part of racist, unjust system; will spend most of your days putting minorities in jail for drug offenses that should not be criminalized in the first place and other bullshit, ruining the life of harmless people
pro: ...

No, most prosecutors don't do drug offenses all day.

[TheGhostOfGodspeed]

I'm a defense attorney, but I spent a year at the DA's office being something between a glorified intern and prosecutor (licensed, unpaid, tried a few cases).

Don't underestimate the amount of good you can do by working a little harder, evaluating cases and actually giving a shit. Also, there are just some horrific people that cannot be trusted to walk around in society that need to be prosecuted. I'd recommend doing an internship with the public defender's office, if you have one, before going to the DA's office.

You'll also learn a fuck ton about trials and arguing motions, more than anywhere else.

Most importantly, they do a lot of happy hours, and they're fun. It's inherently going to be a young office, especially in the trial division.