Top Law Schools

Hello,

Is a second federal clerkship going to be a *substantial improvement* to a resume if the goal is to become an AUSA?

I'm going to start a Federal District Court clerkship soon and understand some people apply for follow-on circuit court clerkships afterwards to make themselves more competitive. My goal is to land an AUSA position back in my home state. I've been practicing for 4+ years so am concerned about being "too senior" at a certain point if I am fortunate enough to land back-to-back clerkships.

I know there are certain careers where a circuit court clerkship is basically required (e.g., Law Professor, Appellate Work, certain prestigious law firms), but I figured an AUSA office would almost prefer former district court clerks due to the trial aspect and day-to-day experience? But I also hear that AUSAs handle their own appeals, so maybe it's something that would really set me apart? The alternative to doing a follow-on clerkship would just go directly into a litigation boutique/big law back home and just keep applying to the USAO's office.

If there are any clerks who have done both and/or AUSAs out there who would chime in, that'd be great!

Thanks in advance.

*Edit: saw the prior post with the similar question, but wanted to focus specifically on the AUSA route.

Anon because I am a AUSA. Almost every recently hired AUSA I’ve met has a district clerkship; almost none have a circuit clerkship. I don’t think having one will *hurt* you, but I don’t think for most offices it’s at all necessary and they will want to see how you handle trial-level work. Although AUSAS do usually do their own appeals, I haven’t seen a focus on that background in hiring. There are appellate specialists in each office and I would say that *they* usually have a circuit clerkship (or have just been practicing for yonks), but there are far fewer openings posted as specifically appellate. My caveat is that if your hometown office is particularly prestigious/fancy, they *might* like to see a circuit clerkship (I don’t have any evidence of this but most AUSAs I know aren’t at the super competitive offices so I can’t rule it out).