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Currently clerking on a district court. I missed the boat on 17-18 COA's given that my current clerkship ends after 99% of 17-18 COA clerkships begin. I also haven't heavily targeted 18-19 COA's because I need to be at my firm a year for my clerkship bonus to vest and would start an 18-19 clerkship before that happens.

So. Is it worth it to try and go d.ct. --> two years biglaw --> 19-20 COA? Whether it's worth it obviously depends on my goals. After the hypothetical COA clerkship I would ideally transition to DOJ/USAO/State AG. I see the COA as 1) being a great experience and 2) being a way to transition from biglaw to government. The only issue is that a government gig is not guaranteed, so it may be that I end up looking at firms post-COA. In that case, would it be tough for me to land something at a firm given that I would be coming in as essentially a 5th year (I think? come in as 2nd year after d.ct., two years big law, class year credit for COA)?

Would like some input before I put the effort into crafting 19-20 term apps.

Bump

z

JusticeJackson wrote:I sorta did this, but in reverse order (fed coa -> firm -> fed d Ct.) It worked for me. There are definitely fewer openings for people that.

Sort of off-topic but I posted elsewhere about this and will be in a similar situation. Did the firms just materialize too quickly? Any thought of reneging? I really only want to be an AUSA but prefer biglaw over unemployment, obviously.

c

Sure, I totally get it after you start, I just fear I will be forced to accept long before any AUSA will figure stuff out. I actually appreciate the 8 months. Ideally I'd just as well apply right when my COA clerkship starts in September and get it figured out as soon as possible. But Who knows what will happen with hiring freeze and when I will even have the opportunity to apply.

Any advice as far as applying/getting interviews even though you ultimately went another direction? (Just trying to acquire as much data as possible).