AUSA vs DOJ Trial Attorney - Lifestyle, caseload, etc Forum

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Anonymous User
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AUSA vs DOJ Trial Attorney - Lifestyle, caseload, etc

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Mar 15, 2022 5:23 pm

What typically is the difference in lifestyle/caseload between a criminal AUSA and a DOJ trial attorney? I know AUSAs are paid on a lower scale and only travel inside their districts, but other than that what does the trial load/trial role look like between them? I keep seeing discussion about Main Justice attorneys providing "support" to AUSAs on criminal cases--does that mean that they're usually doing more back-end work while the AUSAs are actually in court? Or do they take lead on the more complex cases?

Anonymous User
Posts: 428102
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: AUSA vs DOJ Trial Attorney - Lifestyle, caseload, etc

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Mar 15, 2022 9:25 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Mar 15, 2022 5:23 pm
What typically is the difference in lifestyle/caseload between a criminal AUSA and a DOJ trial attorney? I know AUSAs are paid on a lower scale and only travel inside their districts, but other than that what does the trial load/trial role look like between them? I keep seeing discussion about Main Justice attorneys providing "support" to AUSAs on criminal cases--does that mean that they're usually doing more back-end work while the AUSAs are actually in court? Or do they take lead on the more complex cases?
More often than not, in certain cases, local AUSAs have to bring the case to main Justice. Main Justice has a few options: a) take the case from the local prosecutor, b) work with the local prosecutor as a team, or c) let the local prosecutor handle it. Because of this division, main Justice tends to get the flashier cases while local AUSAs deal more with crimes in their district that are routine.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428102
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: AUSA vs DOJ Trial Attorney - Lifestyle, caseload, etc

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Mar 15, 2022 10:06 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Mar 15, 2022 9:25 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Mar 15, 2022 5:23 pm
What typically is the difference in lifestyle/caseload between a criminal AUSA and a DOJ trial attorney? I know AUSAs are paid on a lower scale and only travel inside their districts, but other than that what does the trial load/trial role look like between them? I keep seeing discussion about Main Justice attorneys providing "support" to AUSAs on criminal cases--does that mean that they're usually doing more back-end work while the AUSAs are actually in court? Or do they take lead on the more complex cases?
More often than not, in certain cases, local AUSAs have to bring the case to main Justice. Main Justice has a few options: a) take the case from the local prosecutor, b) work with the local prosecutor as a team, or c) let the local prosecutor handle it. Because of this division, main Justice tends to get the flashier cases while local AUSAs deal more with crimes in their district that are routine.
It's a pretty narrow category of cases that USAOs have to get approval to charge (you can see a breakdown of the approval etc. roles here: https://www.justice.gov/criminal/approv ... ifications). It's true that main justice may end up taking more complex/specialized or politically sensitive cases. Main justice also does a lot of approvals of and policy-setting for various issues. For instance, OEO has to approve all wiretap applications for all the USAOs, so Main Justice attorneys review and critique applications, as well as set policy on what USAOs need to do to get approval, while the individual AUSA applies for the wiretap and uses it as part of investigation into one case.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428102
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: AUSA vs DOJ Trial Attorney - Lifestyle, caseload, etc

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Mar 15, 2022 10:29 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Mar 15, 2022 10:06 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Mar 15, 2022 9:25 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Mar 15, 2022 5:23 pm
What typically is the difference in lifestyle/caseload between a criminal AUSA and a DOJ trial attorney? I know AUSAs are paid on a lower scale and only travel inside their districts, but other than that what does the trial load/trial role look like between them? I keep seeing discussion about Main Justice attorneys providing "support" to AUSAs on criminal cases--does that mean that they're usually doing more back-end work while the AUSAs are actually in court? Or do they take lead on the more complex cases?
More often than not, in certain cases, local AUSAs have to bring the case to main Justice. Main Justice has a few options: a) take the case from the local prosecutor, b) work with the local prosecutor as a team, or c) let the local prosecutor handle it. Because of this division, main Justice tends to get the flashier cases while local AUSAs deal more with crimes in their district that are routine.
It's a pretty narrow category of cases that USAOs have to get approval to charge (you can see a breakdown of the approval etc. roles here: https://www.justice.gov/criminal/approv ... ifications). It's true that main justice may end up taking more complex/specialized or politically sensitive cases. Main justice also does a lot of approvals of and policy-setting for various issues. For instance, OEO has to approve all wiretap applications for all the USAOs, so Main Justice attorneys review and critique applications, as well as set policy on what USAOs need to do to get approval, while the individual AUSA applies for the wiretap and uses it as part of investigation into one case.
All of this is true, but I think it’s important to note that OP was asking about an AUSA vs a main Justice trial attorney.

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