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Biglaw midlevel litigator here. All the matters I work on are high-dollar, years’ long disputes that pretty much never make it to trial. I’m not dying to try a case, but I also don’t want to be one of those senior litigators who has no clue what they’re doing when one of their matters does go to trial.

There are pro bono opportunities, sure, which might give me a chance to go to trial. But that’s far from a guarantee, and it’s a pain to balance that against my billable caseload.

So, to get to the heart of it: would it be a bad idea to apply for ADA positions in the hopes of getting a few years of trial experience? Ideally I’d try to swing back into private practice eventually. Has anyone done this, seen this, or have general thoughts on it? Admittedly, I don’t have a burning desire for public service—this is purely a career-driven move.

This isn't an illogical plan but you'll obviously have to fake an interest in the work when you apply or interview. Also, the pay cut is going to be dramatic and the work unglamorous in many ways, so be prepared for that. You will get lots of experience up on your feet in court and, if you're there for a few years, you'll almost certainly get significant trial experience. But note that getting hired back into a biglaw-type firm might not be easy, even with the trial experience. At that point, you'll be quite senior and, as you say yourself, biglaw firms don't frequently take matters to trial. If those firms have two or three trial lawyers already, then that's enough and they don't really need any more.