District Attorneys
Generally, there are district attorney's offices and criminal
divisions of the state attorney's general offices at the
state level. These offices are organized by county. The
District Attorney for the county is usually an elected official.
Depending upon the size of the District Attorney's office,
they may have multiple units that focus upon different types
of crime such as domestic violence, homicide, appellate
work or sex crimes. If you work with a smaller District
Attorney's office, you may have the option of doing multiple
types of work.
One of the largest advantages of working for a District
Attorney's office is that you can get immediate and meaningful
trial experience. This is something that many attorneys
who work in law firms must wait for years to get. As an
Assistant District Attorney, you will generally start out
doing smaller misdemeanor cases and then work your way up
to more significant work. On the higher end, District Attorneys
have a great deal of discretion in how cases are investigated
and prosecuted. The entire process of working as a District
Attorney can result in a tremendously fulfilling career
for people who want meaningful trial and court experience.
State Attorney General
Offices
These offices generally prosecute cases that have statewide
significance and work with local District Attorney's offices
in the prosecution of cases. In addition, virtually every
state has a State Attorney General's office that is charged
with representing the state in litigation.
Federal Prosecutors
At the federal level, prosecutors work at the Department
of Justice in Washington, D.C. and at numerous U.S. Attorney's
Offices throughout the United States. At present, there
are over 90 U.S. Attorneys who manage the majority of all
federal prosecution in the United States. Each U.S. Attorney
reports directly to the Attorney General.
The majority of people working as federal prosecutors are
Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSAs) who carry out the bulk
of federal prosecution in the federal courts. There are
numerous specialized units within the U.S. Attorney's office
and some AUSAs prosecute drug crimes, organized crime or
economic crimes, for example. In addition, there are also
appellate divisions in the U.S. Attorney's Office that carry
out appeals for the government.
At the state, federal and local level, public defenders
serve as court-appointed attorneys for those who cannot
afford an attorney. If what you are seeking is immediate
and substantial trial experience, working as a public defender
is an excellent way to find it.
Since public defender offices must accept all cases referred
to them, the number of cases a public defender handles at
one time can be tremendous. Most public defenders start
out on smaller misdemeanor cases and as their understanding
increases they are given more complex trials such as felony
and even capital cases. It is not uncommon that a public
defender with as little as five years of experience could
be handling a murder trial, for example.
There are several legal myths that surround getting a position
as a prosecutor or public defender. We have addressed some
of the more common ones below.
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Only the top students can get
jobs as prosecutors or public defenders.
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LEGAL AUTHORITY
There are tens of thousands of prosecutor
and public defender jobs. Certainly, some are harder
to get than others, but for the determined job seeker,
an expansive search will very likely find success.
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Prior criminal trial experience
is needed to get hired as a prosecutor.
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LEGAL AUTHORITY
This is not necessarily true, but
in some situations, people who have volunteered in the
prosecutor's office may have a better chance of getting
a position.
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The salaries are very low.
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LEGAL AUTHORITY
As a general rule, the salaries range
from $25,000 to $55,000 for those just starting out.
For experienced prosecutors, the salaries are often
in excess of $100,000. In addition, the emotional fulfillment
has proven to be much higher than at a law firm or in-house
position.
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