AUSA/USAO hiring Forum

[Anonymous User]

I just had my interview with the USA, which I think went well. I got some questions about my experience, but mostly it was "What can I tell you about the office?" This is a fly-over county usao. They have not been asked for references. What should I expect to happen next? Fingers crossed for good news. Might that be an offer? Or, would the next step be a request for references?

In my experience, it would most likely be a request for references, but it can depend on the office and how the USA likes to operate. Good luck!

[Anonymous User]

Tentative offer at MDFL

Willing to share any details about your background, the division, and the branch in MDFL?

Florida ties, T14, Biglaw, criminal division

How many years out? Crim trial experience at biglaw? Did you have ties within the office?

junior, White collar experience/civil trial experience, no

Sorry to bump an old post, but how long did your background check take?

[Anonymous User]

Stupid question here. Do AUSAs visit crime scenes? I know that many state prosecutors do.

[Anonymous User]

Stupid question here. Do AUSAs visit crime scenes? I know that many state prosecutors do.

Yes and no. They are pretty unlikely to visit an *active* crime scene, mostly because it runs too great a risk of becoming a witness, and you can't both prosecute a case and testify in it. So you don't want to go and actually assist with the investigation, b/c say you find a piece of evidence - boom, you're a witness, you can't continue as the prosecutor.

I'm not going to say that it has *never* happened, and if there is something particularly hairy going down they might well go to assist law enforcement on the ground, but more commonly they'd be on standby on the phone. Also, by "assist" I mean legal advice, not actual help with identifying/collecting evidence (b/c then you're part of the chain of custody).

Once the investigation is complete, I think it depends on whether the case is going to trial (or something else evidentiary like a motion to suppress). If you're going to trial it can often be helpful to go see the location for yourself to make sure you understand where/how the crime occurred, so you can put on evidence to show that to the jury, and maybe get some pictures taken of pertinent stuff that hasn't changed (like buildings or similar). There may also be circumstances where someone needs to see a scene before they can decide whether to charge it or not, although I don't think this is very common.

However, not all crimes really have a "scene" - for instance, something like wire fraud (if the pertinent evidence is in e-mails you probably don't need to know what the office the defendant sent them from looked like) or possession of child sex abuse material (if that arises from materials found on a defendant's phone, you'll examine the phone, but you don't have to do that in the defendant's own home or anything).

[Anonymous User]

I had an crim AUSA panel interview approximately 3-4 weeks ago in a competitive district. Since then it's been crickets. At this point should I just move on and assume I wasn't selected?

[Anonymous User]

Especially if this is SDNY, definitely do not dispair! I know many AUSAs who had a long gap between the first and second (and final) round and ended up getting hired.

[Anonymous User]

Are there any child care benefits through the DOJ for being an AUSA? Trying to figure out how to manage having a baby and being an AUSA while my spouse works 9-5.

[Anonymous User]

No. You get parental leave, which is 12 weeks paid leave in the 12 months immediately following giving birth/adoption, but you have to qualify for FMLA, so you have to have worked there for a year to get it. But no child care benefits.

Relatively recently we got info about a free service we can use that provides for X days or hours of backup/emergency care for children or others (like elderly parents); I don't have kids so haven't paid too much attention to the details, but it's intended to cover emergency care, so in theory somewhat helpful but not a long term option.

As for how you manage having a baby and being an AUSA while your spouse works 9-5... I don't mean to sound unkind, but you manage it pretty much the way all the other families with two working parents do (which is most families these days). Very few employers offer on-site/paid child care benefits. So your options are family, day care, and/or school once they get old enough.

My experience in a couple of different offices is that USAOs are pretty family friendly, in that there is at least the recognition that people have kids and need/want to take care of them and be involved in their lives. So the culture is generally supportive - at least, from what I can tell as someone without kids. Although, full disclosure, I've never worked in one of the super prestigious major metro offices, which doesn't make a difference WRT access to child care options, but might WRT family-friendly culture.