Federal Public Defender With A Decade of Experience Taking Questions Forum

[realworldescapee]

Hello,

I am currently a federal public defender in a local branch office in the boonies. Previously I was state public defender in two state systems. One was a large metro area, the other was a mid-metro area. I'm doing a bit a travel in the upcoming days but I am willing to take questions about criminal law, the practice of law, federal/state work, and even my thoughts on prosecution work (for those that want it). I'm not willing to out myself. But I know the people on the forum are often anxious, and the fall is a stressful time for people in school looking for jobs. So I'm happy to help out however I can.

All the best,

RWE

[Anonymous User]

Hey, fellow AFPD here. I'm considering trying my hand at clerking and may have an in with a more conservative judge on a circuit court. However, I want to come back and be an AFPD. You think other offices would give me funny looks if I ended up needing to be in a different office due to the clerkship?

Also, what're your thoughts on the budget cuts?

[Anonymous User]

For people that are geographically open, what are the offices you would recommend applying to from what you've seen or heard. Or what qualities should applicants be looking for in an office.

[Anonymous User]

Not the OP, but am the other AFPD. WD TX is looking for folks. A lot of southwestern ones like AZ/NM/TX are constantly looking for folks. I think spanish is a must?

[Anonymous User]

Not the OP, but am the other AFPD. WD TX is looking for folks. A lot of southwestern ones like AZ/NM/TX are constantly looking for folks. I think spanish is a must?

Yes, in AZ at least, AFPDs must be fluent in Spanish (not an AFPD myself but worked in that district for while).

[realworldescapee]

Hey, fellow AFPD here. I'm considering trying my hand at clerking and may have an in with a more conservative judge on a circuit court. However, I want to come back and be an AFPD. You think other offices would give me funny looks if I ended up needing to be in a different office due to the clerkship?

Also, what're your thoughts on the budget cuts?

Budget cuts are unfortunate. The rumor that I have heard is that the DSO can make it until July 2023 without having to take any measures like furloughs. I think the next fiscal year is where things get interesting.

As for clerkship, I think it depends on the reasons for leaving and returning. As I am sure you know once you are in the Fed system it is easy to move around

[realworldescapee]

For people that are geographically open, what are the offices you would recommend applying to from what you've seen or heard. Or what qualities should applicants be looking for in an office.

Hi, for federal gigs, if you are geographically open, you should apply to any position within a district you are willing to live permanently. You should do your due diligence on your district, but many offices will hire people in a branch office where it is harder to recruit and then bring them back to civilization after a couple of years. Moving within a district is much easier than moving between districts. However, moving between districts is not as hard as getting into the Fed system.

For state PD systems, you should pick a state where you want to live and get a PD job that will take you, subject to some things that I will say below. If you have good recap from your last job, the big shot PD office you couldn’t get in with at that right time will probably eventually take you.

For state offices, I would honestly try to find someone in the area or at the office to give you the details of working at the office. Every state system (including most of the highly sought after offices) have a lot of dysfunction in them. This is caused by a variety of factors, but the most common is under-resourced, overworked, and poor management. Ideally, you want to work in a place where the work you can do meets your ethical standards (or you are fine with the trade offs/triaging you may need to do) and your supervisors help you navigate the system.