Top Law Schools

Curious?

Not planning on it. But I am genuinely curious how hard it is to land a public defender job. Assuming in NYC/Big City?


TYIA

PD jobs in major markets are usually pretty competitive, but not in the same way that biglaw is (less dependent on grades, more dependent on commitment to the field). How good a T2 school will be at placing you at a particular PD office is going to be largely dependent on the specific school and region.

And you should never consider a TTT for any kind of fixed career path, because outcomes from those institutions are just too volatile to predict.

If you work/intern at that office throughout law school I don't think it would be an insurmountable barrier, but if you had no experience with that office I think it might be harder. For instance, Santa Clara PD hires a lot from Santa Clara Law School because the law school has a clinic with the office so students get a lot of experience there. Most PD offices aren't super elitist, they care about what you did and if you worked there, but some might be. As the above poster said, major markets are pretty competitive though.

If you can, I would try to get an informational interview with someone who works in an office you'd be interested in working in to get an idea of what schools they hire from and what they are looking for.

I think an important part to remember here is that your opportunities are pretty locked in geographically. Surely someone who goes to Cardozo or Cuny can get a job at say Queens legal aid society if they do well academically, intern, maybe do moot court or at least mock trial. However, that resume may not get you interviews all over the country, the way you can with a top school. I was able to go into indigent defense with a bottom tier school, but I wouldn't recommend it.