Public Defender & District Attorney Question Forum

[eav1277]

If you are aiming for PD or DA positions, is school prestige more important or graduating debt free more important?

I have heard some people say that your "dedication" to public interest (shown through your resume) is more important than school and grades. I have seen others say that school prestige is definitely more important. Or are grades more important? This has left me a bit confused. I'd appreciate thoughts from those more knowledgeable in the area.

In my case, I want to end up in either NorCal or SoCal. I'm looking at USC with 75k debt or UCI no debt (both include Cost of living).

Either way, I know you should have internships in the field and try to have trial experience. Thanks

[Crowing]

I'm not sure about in general, but in STL being able to show dedication to PI matters way more than school prestige.

[usfvictor]

In this case:debt free, who cares where you went to school

[eav1277]

thanks. Anyone think or know otherwise?

[Scotusnerd]

Between those two, definitely debt free. Maybe prestige matters for for AUSA (I don't personally know), but I doubt you're gonna get that starting out.

[eav1277]

Thanks. My parents are willing to cover Cost of living. But since USC has more lay prestige, they (and some friends) look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them about possibly choosing UCI over USC. They feel that USC is the easy choice. I am still debating because I am not totally certain that I want to go the PD/DA route (but it is what I am currently leaning towards).

[Scotusnerd]

Thanks. My parents are willing to cover Cost of living. But since USC has more lay prestige, they (and some friends) look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them about possibly choosing UCI over USC. They feel that USC is the easy choice. I am still debating because I am not totally certain that I want to go the PD/DA route (but it is what I am currently leaning towards).

Okay, I'm changing my answer now; you don't know that you're going to end up in the DA/PD route. Unless you are damn sure that you are going to be in a courtroom with criminals, I would personally go to USC. There's no sense in limiting yourself without knowledge of what it is actually like on the ground. There's a real possibility that you might end up wanting to do something else with your life than DA/PD, and you want to go to a school where it's possible for your to pursue it if you can.

[quiver]

I'm looking at USC with 75k debt or UCI no debt (both include Cost of living).

I think UCI is the choice here. If the decision was between UCI and, say, Berkeley then the issue of having a great LRAP would come into play despite the extra debt. I don't think that's an issue between UCI and USC. I would personally go for the debt-free option; I don't think USC is worth an extra 75k for whatever marginal advantage it has.

[Dr. Dre]

TTTT



TTTT

[Scotusnerd]

Can you post a bigger logo please? I can't quite see what school you're insulting...

[rad lulz]

How much of USC are you debt financing

[eav1277]

I think he's showing how much better UCI is than TTTTT's. That's what I'm gathering. lol

[eav1277]

It'd be 75k in debt (possibly more if I defer cus the scholly wouldnt be guaranteed then)

[bk1]

Let's try not to post stupidly large images.

[rad lulz]

It'd be 75k in debt (possibly more if I defer cus the scholly wouldnt be guaranteed then)

Decent price for USC. Nice to keep options open bc CA state govt is broke

[Dr. Dre]

Decent price for USC. Nice to keep options open bc CA state govt is broke

[ikle]

things might be different by the time you're a 3l, but as now, there are basically no DA openings in socal. Have a 3l friend at usc that has 5 semesters (including summers) worth of interning/externing at the LA DA's and still can't get a full time position with them.

[Scotusnerd]

things might be different by the time you're a 3l, but as now, there are basically no DA openings in socal. Have a 3l friend at usc that has 5 semesters (including summers) worth of interning/externing at the LA DA's and still can't get a full time position with them.

What the fuck.

Who the hell would they choose over someone who has that much experience in the office? Maybe everyone they hire has six semesters worth of interning/externing...ok...seriously? You have to know you're gonna be a prosecutor before you even step foot into the law school? What, are they accepting members of the Prosecutorial Douchebag Gunner Society at admitted students day now? It's possible your friend did something wrong, possibly in combination with the fact that someone in that office is a gigantic, pink, studded, smelly dildo.

In any event, that is seriously a dick move to lead someone on for that long. They should have dropped some hints about job market woes or something to give your friend a clue that was coming. If there weren't openings here, the attorneys would definitely let me know, and would likely feel bad. Because, you know, working for free and not getting a job out of it is balls. They couldn't help get them a trial court clerkship or give them good recs to another office or something? What a buncha douchebags!

I've heard a lot of crazy shit about the job market man, but that takes the fucked up, dookie-sprinkled cake. You work for an office for your entire time in law school, spend a shitton of money on schooling, and the office you GIVE YOURSELF AWAY FOR doesn't bother to hire you?

[rad lulz]

things might be different by the time you're a 3l, but as now, there are basically no DA openings in socal. Have a 3l friend at usc that has 5 semesters (including summers) worth of interning/externing at the LA DA's and still can't get a full time position with them.

What the fuck.

Who the hell would they choose over someone who has that much experience in the office? Either everyone they hire has six semesters (including summers) worth of interning/externing (rediculous), your friend did something wrong (possible), or someone in that office is a gigantic dildo (also very possible).

In any event, that is seriously a dick move to lead someone on for that long. If there weren't openings here, the attorneys would definitely let me know. They couldn't help get him a clerkship or something? What a buncha douchebags!

Welcome to ITE bro

[Scotusnerd]

Welcome to ITE bro

Edited my last post to more properly express my contempt for shitty-ass dickweeds.

That's not economy, that's assholeonomy. Giving someone a leg up for slaving for you for THREE YEARS has nothing to do with a shitty job market. What that office is doing is just plain old asshattery.

[rad lulz]

Welcome to ITE bro

Edited my last post to more properly express my contempt for shitty-ass dickweeds.

That's not economy, that's assholeonomy. Giving someone a leg up for slaving for you for THREE YEARS has nothing to do with a shitty job market. What that office is doing is just plain old asshattery.

A not insignificant amount of those offices are asking people to work full time for free in the hopes of getting hired. Welcome to ITE.

[rad lulz]

Getting a leg up don't help if there are 0 positions.

[eav1277]

I didn't know it was that bad. If the economy is that bad for DA/PD's, would it be better to be at USC to hopefully have better options or at UCI and graduate debt free?

[Scotusnerd]

What, state trial judges don't have clerks now? Did I miss the memo on that one? Because they sure have em out here. They don't get paid well, but it's work.

Look, I know the economy is bad and all that, but what the fuck nuggets. However, the economy is besides the point. My major point on the douchebaggery claim is that someone should have said something to this person. It's one thing if you don't have openings. Fine, communicate that clearly. It's another thing entirely to lead on someone into thinking that you will give them work. Either said student is an ignoramous who completely missed the signs (if he worked there for five semesters, I don't think that is the case. We're not talking a scrub here), or those people suck major monkey nuts.

I'm inclined to believe that any moderately functional human being, capable of entering law school (i.e. capable of breathing and applying for FAFSA) if told that there was no jerbs at the office and would not be for some time, WOULD PACK UP AND MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE. Since that obviously did not happen here, we are either dealing with someone who really should have known better, or an office that is raping students for work and not telling them it does not have jobs on the other end.

I really don't see a room for middle ground here. No, I don't know if they've helped them or not, but what I read certainly did not indicate that they did. I absolutely refuse to believe that such a big and powerful office could not find SOME FORM of legal employment for someone who has busted their keister for them. That defies belief, and smells a lot like shittiness.

As a side note, I firmly hold that anyone dumb enough to take an unpaid, full-time position and perpetuate that horrible cycle of office morale deserves a horrific experience. I can't even imagine how stressed out that position would make someone. Not to mention the difference between paid attorneys and unpaid...

The office can't get all its work done? Tell Congress to get its ass in order and pass a budget that addresses it. Don't try and make students saddled with 200k in debt work for free. Unless your daddy or your daddy's trust fund is paying for your existence at that point, you are in no position to be deus ex machina to these the district attorney offices and their budget woes.

[Scotusnerd]

I didn't know it was that bad. If the economy is that bad for DA/PD's, would it be better to be at USC to hopefully have better options or at UCI and graduate debt free?

Eav1277, if I were you, I would get the fuck out of California. Find yourself a small, region-controlling regional law school (U. of new mexico comes to mind, if you're partial to deserts), hunker down and get yourself a volunteer gig at a local DA/PD office. Be interested. Meet people. Be social. Don't fart in their office while going through files. Ask them about their day. Chat with the secretaries.

I promise you that, whatever budget woes we may have out here in the South, they are nothing compared to what was just described by ikle. That sounds horrible.