Where are the best District Attorney's Offices in US? Forum

[gasja_tearo]

Other than Manhattan's DA, does anyone know where the best DA offices are? I don't have any geographical limitation because my family is no longer here in the US. By best, I mean getting training with the most ethical lawyers on a variety of interesting cases, and in a good work environment. How and where can I gauge this type of information?

[BarbellDreams]

Define "best".

Most competitive offices are Manhattan and San Francisco.

[Anonymous User]

Manhattan DA's office is pretty much one of the worst choices you could make, you must not be from NY or familiar with NY at all. Anyway, I interned at the Bronx DA's office which was great. You'll definitely get a lot of experience since it was has the worst crime rate in NYC. In terms of training I know they have a felony trial training program for ADAs before they graduate to trying felony cases. I'm not sure of the extent of training before that. Work environment? It's a very fast pace environment. In terms of gathering information about DA's offices, I'd say definitely look at their website, information about them in the press, and websites like this are a good way to get the inside scope.

[CanadianWolf]

Largest are State Attorney's offices in Chicago & Manhattan NYC District Attorney, if I recall correctly.The Manhattan DA's office is well known & highly respected for financial white collar crimes. Positions in the Manhattan DA's office are sought after by grads from even the top law schools. Strong interest in bilingual candidates, especially Spanish-English.

P.S. "Best" DA's offices may depend upon your interests. An above poster noted that the Bronx DA's office is highly respected for many types of felonies, while the Wall St. Manhattan DA's office earns substantial respect for financial crimes. A larger office may offer more in-depth training opportunities in specific areas of law, while smaller DA offices may offer more exposure to different areas of law.

P.P.S. I would avoid the Perugia, Italy prosecutor's office.

[Anonymous User]

P.S. "Best" DA's offices may depend upon your interests. An above poster noted that the Bronx DA's office is highly respected for many types of felonies, while the Wall St. Manhattan DA's office earns substantial respect for financial crimes. A larger office may offer more in-depth training opportunities in specific areas of law, while smaller DA offices may offer more exposure to different areas of law.

Previous anon poster here, yeah, from what I've heard from the people that work there the work is pretty boring, it's rare that they get something "interesting," which of course is highly subjective. If you're interested in financial stuff than you might love it. Just be aware though that you most likely won't be working on triple homicides, car jackings, etc. the traditional criminal stuff. I think a lot of people hear the word Manhattan and think cool exciting stuff like they see on TV shows i.e. Law & Order, Castle, Blue Boods etc. Just be aware the Manhattan DA's office is not that.

[Anonymous User]

I've summered at the San Francisco DA's Office and had a mixed experience. They assign you to different divisions from the get go. I got lucky and was assigned to the homicide unit. There was a range of really exciting murders. By "exciting," I meant complex and involving a lot of drama and story just like on Law & Order. However, I didn't get much feedback on my legal writing. The homicide unit itself had about 10 attorneys, which meant that resources was limited. For me, the office was a little bit too small. I've heard that the Los Angeles DA's Office is much larger than the SFDA's Office though. So I'd consider LADA if size is a factor.

[zot1]

If you're a white male, you would love the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

[Fantasyfreak294]

Manhattan DA's office is pretty much one of the worst choices you could make, you must not be from NY or familiar with NY at all. Anyway, I interned at the Bronx DA's office which was great. You'll definitely get a lot of experience since it was has the worst crime rate in NYC. In terms of training I know they have a felony trial training program for ADAs before they graduate to trying felony cases. I'm not sure of the extent of training before that. Work environment? It's a very fast pace environment. In terms of gathering information about DA's offices, I'd say definitely look at their website, information about them in the press, and websites like this are a good way to get the inside scope.

No idea if you're still on here, but would be interested in learning more about what the Bronx DA's office was like when you were there!

[desiballa21]

Manhattan DA's office is pretty much one of the worst choices you could make, you must not be from NY or familiar with NY at all. Anyway, I interned at the Bronx DA's office which was great. You'll definitely get a lot of experience since it was has the worst crime rate in NYC. In terms of training I know they have a felony trial training program for ADAs before they graduate to trying felony cases. I'm not sure of the extent of training before that. Work environment? It's a very fast pace environment. In terms of gathering information about DA's offices, I'd say definitely look at their website, information about them in the press, and websites like this are a good way to get the inside scope.

Most likely a bitter who didn't get a 2nd round.

Manhattan is far and away the best office in the land. Bronx is and has always been a mess though that's finally getting cleaned up (barely). Brooklyn is the second best office in NYC. Queens is a family affair where ties mean more than anything else.

I've heard San Fran is a phenomenal office as well but don't know much.

[Anonymous User]

Not sure where all the SFDA love is coming from. I'm an SF-based litigator with friends in that world, and the sense I get is it's really not a stellar place to work. There are terrific government litigation offices in the City (US Attorney, City Attorney, Public Defender), but in the Bay Area, my understanding is that the standout DA offices are Alameda and Santa Clara, not San Francisco.

[Anonymous User]

I've heard the same thing about San Francisco. On the surface it might appear to be one of the most prestigious, well-run offices to work for, because it's San Francisco. I'm not surprised. I work as an ADA in an office that at first glance is almost as glamorous but really falling apart in the eyes of anyone who actually works there.

[QContinuum]

Manhattan is far and away the best office in the land. Bronx is and has always been a mess though that's finally getting cleaned up (barely). Brooklyn is the second best office in NYC. Queens is a family affair where ties mean more than anything else.

Out of curiosity, do you know anything about Staten Island?

[Anonymous User]

Most likely a bitter who didn't get a 2nd round.

Manhattan is far and away the best office in the land. Bronx is and has always been a mess though that's finally getting cleaned up (barely). Brooklyn is the second best office in NYC. Queens is a family affair where ties mean more than anything else.

I've heard San Fran is a phenomenal office as well but don't know much.

Not the above anonymous poster.

I don't really see Queens, Brooklyn, or Bronx as great places to work. First, Brooklyn's Justice 2020 initiative will turn ADAs from prosecutors into community liaisons. Senior ADAs at the office aren't happy about it, and I don't see it as a great investment in the future with diminished opportunities to develop trial skills. Second, Bronx's DA has had numerous accusations of improprieties over the past few years and the attorneys I met there really didn't seem like they enjoyed their jobs. I don't want to work there. Third, Queens is probably the best out of the three, but the attorneys I spoke to there didn't seem thrilled with the incoming DA. Perhaps they think she will follow Brooklyn's model.

[Anonymous User]

While it's technically federal, the DC's USAO (Superior Court Division) is a great office where one's basically a traditional "district attorney." Pay is better than most state DA's office; you have the title of a federal prosecutor; you try contested trials regularly; and it's a way to transition to main DOJ or another USAO's Office in a few years. Or you can stay and graduate to the Criminal Division or just continue trying cases in the Superior Court Division.

Orange County DA's office is also great: you're living in Sunny California and the pay is pretty competitive with other offices, including more pay if you have prior experience. It recently had a huge scandal re: prosecutorial misconduct and ethics, and the new DA seems to be really cleaning up the office.

I think the Manhattan DA's office is pretty prestigious and one can really work on a wide array of cases, but the pay is pretty low while you try to make ends meet living in Manhattan. However, just like most DA offices, they really look for ties to the local community (why here). There are so many local NY law schools that feed well into Manhattan's office.

[Anonymous User]

While it's technically federal, the DC's USAO (Superior Court Division) is a great office where one's basically a traditional "district attorney." Pay is better than most state DA's office; you have the title of a federal prosecutor; you try contested trials regularly; and it's a way to transition to main DOJ or another USAO's Office in a few years. Or you can stay and graduate to the Criminal Division or just continue trying cases in the Superior Court Division.

I have heard otherwise about DC USAO Superior Court -- that it is extraordinarily hard to go from DC USAO to Main Justice or even another USAO office. (Agree that pay is better and you do a lot of trial work, though.) The attorneys are also extremely hit-or-miss, some are quite good, some are trying to make a massive case to get the call upstairs, and some are very much phoning it in. (That's the opinion of most people at PDSDC as of ~3 years ago, times may have changed since then.)

[Anonymous User]

There are other USAO-DC posters on TLS who have described how difficult it is to transition from Superior Court to District Court.

I interviewed with the Superior Court Division. I asked my panel about the prospects of transitioning and they made it sound like a possibility, but one that can take 10+ years depending on availability. A lot of Superior Court AUSAs want District Court spots but there aren't enough positions to go around. It's not a reliable backdoor way into traditional federal prosecution.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Superior Court requires a four year commitment, signed in writing. As grueling as my ADA work has been (80 to 100 hours at a time), Superior Court seemed like maybe even worse of a grind over time. The caseloads are high, the public defenders are extremely aggressive, and the community generally has a distrust of prosecutors. I did my research and was able to confirm much of that with my interviewers. It sounds like a tough place to be a prosecutor.

The Superior Court pay range is pretty broad. I think AD-21 is something like $70,000 after cost of living, if you're hired near the bottom of the scale. In practice, it's possible they pay the midpoint, but I'm not sure.

In terms of exit options, I've heard mixed things. Some people consider Superior Court AUSAs to be rockstars in general, but others say that quantity does not necessarily mean quantity. I can see the truth in that -- the Superior Court trials I sat in on were not as remotely complex as the federal trials I've seen as a defense attorney. It sounds like a Superior Court AUSA could get hired in a different district but that it's no guarantee by any means.

[logical seasoning]

Santa Clara County DA's office has the highest starting pay in the nation. Attorney I pay is $110K not including benefits.

However, it is extremely competitive to get in and you have to be prepared to work 80 hour weeks