<p>So this might be a stupid question, but are there "BigLaw" firms that solely do criminal defense? Or do some of the BigLaw firms just have a division for criminal defense? Thanks in advance for answers.</p>
<p>I would say that most of the “biglaw” criminal firms are very small firms in which a few attorneys monopolize the geographic or case area. Unless you are talking about white collar crime, which is very different.</p>
<p>So despite criminal defense being more glamorous its not necessarily a realistic career path to get into unless you go the low paying public defender route? As a note, i’m not talking about defending Goldman Sachs in their civil suit, more along the lines of attorneys that the likes of OJ Simpson or michael vick would hire (i’m assuming he didn’t use the falcons in house attorneys).</p>
<p>Most criminal defense work is about as far from glamorous as you can get. It is not typically done by “biglaw” with the exception of white collar crime - which is truly criminal defense. In fact, Billy Martin was Vick’s attorney and was also hired by Larry Craig. He is a partner with Howrey (fka Howrey & Simon) - considered to be of the “biglaw” variety.</p>
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<p>As cartera pointed out, it’s not really seen as glamorous at all, and for the most part is not very lucrative. You don’t need to be a public defender to get into the field; a better way to ultimately land a job at a good criminal defense firm would be to start out as an ADA or assistant US Attorney.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, i’m still a year a way from applying anyways. I’m just trying to understand what i’m getting myself into. Honestly, for the longest time I wanted to work for the DOJ as a prosecutor. But with it being so selective, if I do well enough to get a job at the DOJ I could also probably get a very good BigLaw job as well. And i’m just not sure the difference in liking my job is worth the difference in income. Does anyone have any views on this? Does the money of Biglaw make it worth it to pass up gov’t or pi jobs?</p>
<p>If you decide to go for the money rather than what you like, live like a pauper and save every penny you can so you don’t end up in golden handcuffs.</p>