SF City Attorney vs. AUSA NDCA Forum

[raymondk]

A friend told me about openings in the SF City Attorney's complex lit section. The US Attorney's Office also has a few crim openings. Anyone know anything about how these jobs compare, competitiveness, work/life balance, exit options, etc?

[burritotaco]

Any AUSA position, especially in NDCA, will be extremely competitive. You’d be competing with people coming off top-tier clerkships and/or lots of experience.

City Attorney’s office is also very competitive. Not sure about the complex lit dept in particular, but I imagine it’s tough to get into.

[andythefir]

I don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer, but I bet the NDCA USAO is the most difficult legal job to get in the world. SDNY and CDCA are tough, but at least those offices are huge. NDCA San Francisco is tiny, everyone wants to work there, and I’d bet there’s essentially 0 turnover. Sure, there’s been a few spots open in the last few weeks, but there are 36 SCOTUS clerks hired every year, too.

[nixy]

The SF office is certainly smaller than SDNY/CDCA but it’s not really tiny.

That said, I agree it’s going to be crazy competitive.