Dst. to COA Worth it for AUSA Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'll be clerking at SDNY either next year or the year after that. I'm currently trying to decide whether I should be applying to COA clerkships as well. I obviously see the benefit/prestige of clerking at the circuit level, given that it is only a year commitment. However, my ultimate goal is to work at the USAO. How valuable or how much of an incremental benefit would I get if I had an additional circuit clerkship under my belt in addition to my SDNY clerkship when applying to the USAO?

If I do apply, should I only consider applying to a circuit in the state in which I would want to work as an AUSA in the future? For example, if I want to be in CA should I even bother applying to other circuits?

I'm assuming that if I don't do a circuit clerkship, I would be using that same year trying to gain more trial experience while at my firm (e.g. pro bono work, etc.)

Happy to provide more color if needed.

[los blancos]

The answer here is frustrating: it just depends a hell of a lot on the particular USAO and the US Atty/First Assistant's hiring preferences. Obvious exception: if you want to be an appellate section AUSA then I'd suspect there's a major benefit there. (Think this has been discussed before FWIW - might wanna try to find those threads)

[JusticeJackson]

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[Anonymous User]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but is pursuing a district court clerkship worth it if you want to be an AUSA but already have a COA clerkship? If so, are there any specific districts I should be targeting?

[Anonymous User]

I think a district ct clerkship is much more relevant/helpful for being an AUSA than COA is. I have also known people applying to USAOs with only a COA to face suspicion that they only want to do appeals and won't be willing to get down in the trial trenches as a line AUSA. I'm sure that's not universal because different offices value different things in hiring, but it's what I've encountered.

As for which district: 1) the district where you want to be an AUSA, or 2) a district that handles similar cases (if the USAO has a distinctive caseload, like immigration on the border), or 3) it doesn't really matter much. The skills are transferable.