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Hi guys,
Curious if anyone knows about public defense jobs in Northern California. I initially had no intention of working there, but my wife just got a job offer that could put us there. My guess was that these positions were hyper competitive because I've looked into Seattle, Feds, and LA and I guess I just assumed most of California was insane too. But, based off a quick review of LinkedIn stalking etc. it doesn't look like outside of LA it's too bad.

Am I crazy? In Seattle it's Ivy league or GTFO here for the most part (w/ exception of UW) but it doesn't look that way in San Fran and Sacramento. Any input would be appreciated. Need to figure out how hard I need to gun.

It is highly competitive, but not necessarily based on school rank. Experience, demonstrated commitment to the cause, and personality is much much more important than grades or school. The standard process is to get a graduate law clerk position at an office and then try to get hired when permanent spots open up (which is usually easiest at the office you are already clerking for) or lateraling in from a different PD office from elsewhere in the state or country.