3L Public Defender Applications Forum

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone heard from Mecklenburg who interviewed at ejw? Today is the regular deadline for the north Carolina bar so I would have thought people would have heard by now.

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone heard from Mecklenburg who interviewed at ejw? Today is the regular deadline for the north Carolina bar so I would have thought people would have heard by now.

Nope, nothing. But I know several of people that interned there this past summer and are still waiting to hear about offers. Kevin Tully told them they'd hear in January, and then the general applicant pool will hear after that.

[Anonymous User]

....

[PDwannabe2015]

Can anyone give me some insight on the Tina LAS interview? What questions are asked, what's her personality... what can we expect? Any and all information is welcome

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know if Colorado is done hiring?

[Anonymous User]

I had my panel with LAS in September and still haven't heard anything about a final interview... do you think I'm out of the running? Have they sent out any rejections yet? I'm so confused about their process.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know if Colorado is done hiring?

I don't think so. Apparently they're working on finishing up selections for interviews in the next month.

[Anonymous User]

I had my panel with LAS in September and still haven't heard anything about a final interview... do you think I'm out of the running? Have they sent out any rejections yet? I'm so confused about their process.

My panel was in November and I haven't heard anything. I had thought final rounds this year wouldn't begin until all panel interviews were over, yet I know of a person doing a panel interview this month, so I have no idea what to make of that. I'm not terribly confident at this point, though.

[Anonymous User]

Any news from Brooklyn or San Diego Fed Defenders on final rounds?

[Anonymous User]

Bronx ding email

[Anonymous User]

Any more LAS movement? The paper they gave me at the interview said that no news is good news. There were to be multiple hiring committee meetings, and your app may just not have been evaluated in the December one.

Also, I submitted an app to Palm Beach in October and finally heard back from them today to schedule an interview. Talk about procrastination. Anyone have any info/tips on the interview?

[Anonymous User]

Here's my situation. I've been offered a 2 year public defender fellowship in a somewhat rural area where there's a lot of need. I really admire the people I'll be working with, I'll get great trial experience, and am interested in taking it. My concern is that I don't want to stay in that area permanently and I'm concerned that if I do the fellowship it might be tricky for me to relocate afterwards to a bigger city/office (LAS, Bronx, PDS, etc.). I have interviews lined up at a bunch of other offices. If I do the fellowship will I still be competitive for bigger offices or will I be pigeon-holed into that region? Thoughts?

[Anonymous User]

Here's my situation. I've been offered a 2 year public defender fellowship in a somewhat rural area where there's a lot of need. I really admire the people I'll be working with, I'll get great trial experience, and am interested in taking it. My concern is that I don't want to stay in that area permanently and I'm concerned that if I do the fellowship it might be tricky for me to relocate afterwards to a bigger city/office (LAS, Bronx, PDS, etc.). I have interviews lined up at a bunch of other offices. If I do the fellowship will I still be competitive for bigger offices or will I be pigeon-holed into that region? Thoughts?

Based on my interactions with PD people, I would not take the fellowship if you would not be happy spending a significant chunk of your career in that area. I don't think city PD's in charge of hiring value rural experience that highly. I've interned with two offices, neither "prestigious", and one flat out said they would have to be in a bind to take someone who had come up in a rural office. The other didn't seem to have an opinion on the matter.

I think difficulty of lateral movement is one of the least recognized problems with being a PD. So many of the "good" offices seem to hire almost exclusively out of law school, which doesn't make sense to me, but whatever.

[Anonymous User]

Here's my situation. I've been offered a 2 year public defender fellowship in a somewhat rural area where there's a lot of need. I really admire the people I'll be working with, I'll get great trial experience, and am interested in taking it. My concern is that I don't want to stay in that area permanently and I'm concerned that if I do the fellowship it might be tricky for me to relocate afterwards to a bigger city/office (LAS, Bronx, PDS, etc.). I have interviews lined up at a bunch of other offices. If I do the fellowship will I still be competitive for bigger offices or will I be pigeon-holed into that region? Thoughts?

Based on my interactions with PD people, I would not take the fellowship if you would not be happy spending a significant chunk of your career in that area. I don't think city PD's in charge of hiring value rural experience that highly. I've interned with two offices, neither "prestigious", and one flat out said they would have to be in a bind to take someone who had come up in a rural office. The other didn't seem to have an opinion on the matter.

I think difficulty of lateral movement is one of the least recognized problems with being a PD. So many of the "good" offices seem to hire almost exclusively out of law school, which doesn't make sense to me, but whatever.

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. It's an area with a lot of drug problems and violent crime so I will get great experience, but I'm hesitant if bigger officers will be turned off by the fellowship two years down the road when I'm job hunting again. Oof. This sucks.

[Anonymous User]

Here's my situation. I've been offered a 2 year public defender fellowship in a somewhat rural area where there's a lot of need. I really admire the people I'll be working with, I'll get great trial experience, and am interested in taking it. My concern is that I don't want to stay in that area permanently and I'm concerned that if I do the fellowship it might be tricky for me to relocate afterwards to a bigger city/office (LAS, Bronx, PDS, etc.). I have interviews lined up at a bunch of other offices. If I do the fellowship will I still be competitive for bigger offices or will I be pigeon-holed into that region? Thoughts?

Based on my interactions with PD people, I would not take the fellowship if you would not be happy spending a significant chunk of your career in that area. I don't think city PD's in charge of hiring value rural experience that highly. I've interned with two offices, neither "prestigious", and one flat out said they would have to be in a bind to take someone who had come up in a rural office. The other didn't seem to have an opinion on the matter.

I think difficulty of lateral movement is one of the least recognized problems with being a PD. So many of the "good" offices seem to hire almost exclusively out of law school, which doesn't make sense to me, but whatever.

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. It's an area with a lot of drug problems and violent crime so I will get great experience, but I'm hesitant if bigger officers will be turned off by the fellowship two years down the road when I'm job hunting again. Oof. This sucks.

Some offices value experience, especially smaller offices that don't have the resources to create a great training program. But if your goal is PDS, Bronx, LAS, etc., the opposite is true. They like to hire new grads that they can mold. When I interviewed with LAS, I hadn't taken trial advocacy yet. They told me, "great, because we usually have to unteach all that stuff during training." Whereas local offices I've spoken to like you to have that knowledge and experience. I think it depends on what your future goals are. Anecdotally, I know that several of PDS' best attorneys were lateral hires from another big office (Philly specifically).

[Anonymous User]

People with OPD final round interviews: about how long did the interview last? Im trying to figure out when to schedule my flight from NOLA after the interview. PM if you want.

[Anonymous User]

People with OPD final round interviews: about how long did the interview last? Im trying to figure out when to schedule my flight from NOLA after the interview. PM if you want.

Mine was about an hour..but you should give yourself enough room in case they are running behind

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know what the second CO interview entails? I don't remember my interviewer saying anything about there being an opening/client interview/bail hearing or anything.

Also, did anyone ever hear anything from Palm Beach after EJW?

[Anonymous User]

For the OPD final round was anyone else asked questions during the bail hearing? My friend and I both interviewed and she was not asked any questions, but I was. I'm sure it means nothing, but I'm just curious.

[Anonymous User]

For the OPD final round was anyone else asked questions during the bail hearing? My friend and I both interviewed and she was not asked any questions, but I was. I'm sure it means nothing, but I'm just curious.

Can you say any more about this bail hearing? I wasn't told that would be part of the interview, and I have not yet had to do one in an interview (or in real life).

[Anonymous User]

I wasn't asked questions about the bail hearing..also..to the person wondering..opd does a bail hearing that is emailed when your interview is confirmed and scheduled

[Anonymous User]

Sorry OPD questions are dominating this thread currently but does anyone know about how many people they are interviewing or how many people they are hiring?

People with OPD final round interviews: about how long did the interview last? Im trying to figure out when to schedule my flight from NOLA after the interview. PM if you want.

Mine was about an hour..but you should give yourself enough room in case they are running behind

Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

I'm not surprised OPD is dominating..they are making offers in about a week or so..I'm not sure how many they are interviewing but I heard that they are splitting offers between those they will pay and Gideon people..I'm not sure if this is true

[PDwonderchild]

NYCDS? I have searched on this forum and googled but can't find anything? Does anyone have any info. tips re. interview/reputation etc. at New York County Defender Services?
I graduated from a CA law school and interned/certified law clerked at SF (serious felonies) and Oakland (Misdemeanors-Alameda PD). Just moved back to NYC (hometown).
I am interviewing for a post-bar internship. I'm taking the Feb 2015 NyBar. The trial attorney who contacted me said there would be a panel of three including the executive director- Michael Coleman at this first meeting.... yay!

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know how many total rounds Philly has?