<p>I always hear about how terrible the job market is for law school grads, but I get the impression that everyone is talking about the big business law firms. I have always been interested in criminal law, and I know I would enjoy practicing it. I'm not really interested in it for monetary reasons, and I would prefer to land a job in the DA's office, but I would be satisfied working as a defense attorney, too. How competitive is the job market for this? I have the feeling many people might discard being a prosecutor as an option due to the low salary.</p>
<p>Extremely competitive.</p>
<p>Expect to shape your legal career and dedicate your law school summers accordingly.</p>
<p>Regional firms express regional biases, and working for the U.S. government has its own straight and narrow path.</p>
<p>If you’re wise, you’ll start off your career in biglaw litigation, then make the transition to criminal prosecution/white collar defense after a few years of practice.</p>
<p>The job market for both assistant district attorney and assistant public defender jobs is very competitive; most newly hired attorneys for both offices usually start as law clerks in those offices, and upon passing the bar, apply to be assistants. But it’s extremely competitive-at the DA’s office where I was an assistant, we had 10 clerks who were in their last year of law school; all had been clerks in our office for two years by the time they passed the bar. All passed, all applied for asst da jobs: total of three were hired.</p>