Law Careers

jonri
Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:13:06 +0000

THE golden path to being a litigator at at top firm is to clerk for a federal judge(s) for two years, then join the US Attorney’s office, particularly in the Southern District of New York for a few years, and then go on to a major firm. Working in the criminal division is a bit more prestigious than the civil division. It’s a bit harder to do it coming out of an ADA (assistant district attorney) job, but if it’s with a well respected office, it’s still possible.

Other folks work in a big firm for 2 or 3 years and then go to the US Attorney’s Office for a few years–it’s usually a minimum 2 year commitment–and then go back to big law.

It’s hard to get the same sort of trial experience at biglaw. MANY of the top litigators are former prosecutors, especially AUSA’s.