Originally published in Student Lawyer magazine, March 2005 (Vol. 33, No. 7). All rights reserved.

Jobs

Public agencies seek lawyers committed to their missions

by David C. James

Among legal employers, the government looms large. The federal government alone hires more lawyers than any other single employer. But “government” is more than the feds. It’s the whole panoply of federal, state, and local agencies.

It’s also more than just one practice area. Government lawyers work in almost every area of law imaginable. They do criminal law—prosecution as well as defense. They do intellectual property law, securities law, bankruptcy, tax law, real property law, environmental law, and litigation—plaintiff and defense. And the list goes on and on.

In many cases, especially in terms of job searching, a government agency isn’t a single entity. Consider the U.S. Department of Justice, the biggest government employer. Within it are more than 35 organizations, each with a distinct hiring profile.

Although most government employers hire in the spring and don’t participate in fall on-campus interviewing, this is not always the case. Large agencies with big budgets can join the fall interview season because they have enough resources to conduct paid summer intern programs and the funds to hire lawyers every year. If you pay attention only in the spring to the opportunities in government agencies, you’ll miss the application deadlines of many offices that hire a significant number of law students and lawyers.

It’s important to put in perspective common advice about working for the government. Many career advisers and others argue that government work is a good way for entry-level lawyers to get the experience law firms find attractive.

Former Baker & McKenzie recruiter Ann Turnicky, in her book How to Get the Job You Want in a Law Firm, writes that firms seek job applicants who have worked a few years with agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Commerce Department, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Treasury Department.

This is good advice, but it has its limits. If you seek government work solely for this reason, you need to realize that the people who will interview you look at things differently. Applicants who tell government recruiters “I think your office is a great place to start” admit to seeing the agency merely as a steppingstone. Remember, government hiring lawyers have invested their careers in their agencies. Although they know not everyone they hire will end up staying, they look for lawyers who see their agencies as career opportunities, not as means to an end.

What else do government employers look for? Jeanne Svikhart, who has worked for a law school, for private law firms as a consultant, and now as an assistant director of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management, offers an important insight: Government law offices are mission driven, not profit driven. This principle explains a lot about what’s important to government employers. In Svikhart’s words, when law students apply for government jobs, the hiring lawyers want to see “touchstones” the students have with what the agency does—that is, demonstrated interest in the agency’s mission.

If you want to work for the SEC, for example, it’s not enough to say you’ve always wanted to work for the government. You need to know what the SEC does. You need to know that it has four divisions. The SEC will look for touchstones on your résumé. The recruiter will evaluate how you have invested your time—whether your course selections, jobs, and volunteer activities demonstrate your interest in the SEC’s mission. Have you taken a class in securities regulation? Have you clerked in the securities area? The more touchstones, the stronger your application.

Agencies focus on these aspects for good reason. Unlike large firms, most government employers don’t have the luxury of hiring entry-level lawyers simply to do legal research. Lean budgets mean lawyers are given lots of responsibility right away. For entry-level lawyers, practicing for the government often means meeting with clients, managing caseloads, and trying cases. It is common for new prosecutors and defenders, for example, to try cases within weeks, or even days, of being hired.

Government hiring attorneys, therefore, emphasize the practical skills applicants bring to the table, not the prestige of attending a particular law school. They put a premium on honors in moot court, mock trial, and the like. Bill Trainor, a supervising deputy public defender in California’s San Diego County, quips, “We aren’t concerned about pedigree—we’re looking for sled dogs.”

Your commitment to the agency’s mission, your practical experience, and your desire to take on cases as soon as possible are good things to mention in a job interview. Another thing to think about is the quality of life many government employers offer. Many lawyers are willing to trade some salary for intangible benefits, such as a family-friendly setting. Most private firms, with their profit motive and competition for partnership, have not readily accommodated lawyers who want part-time work schedules, flextime, or opportunities for extended time off. In contrast, many government agencies have found they can compete for the best legal talent by offering the perks that many private firms won’t.

Quality of life isn’t just about working fewer hours. The passion and work ethic of many government lawyers drive them to work the kind of hours that are endemic in the profession. Watch government litigators trying cases, and you’ll see they put in long nights while they are in trial. And, of course, there are times the government’s transactional lawyers put in the same long days and nights as their private firm counterparts.

But long hours are just one component of the stresses of law practice. Government settings are a haven from the stresses of billing hours, being a profit center, and bringing in business. Another benefit is that many government employers, without the inhibiting effect of the profit motive, allow lawyers to transfer from practice areas in which they are experienced to areas in which it will take time for them to become as efficient.

When comparing government pay to that of private firms, remember to factor in the respective benefits packages—items such as health insurance, vacation time, and the benefits mentioned above. You generally can count on government positions to come with an attractive set of benefits, something that may not be true of small and medium-sized firms.

The number of law students and lawyers whose first choice is government service exceeds the number of available government jobs. Government employers, therefore, do not want to hire an applicant for whom government service is second choice, something the applicant is settling for. If you want to work for a government agency, you need to convince the interviewer that you’re interested in more than just a job. You need to convey a passion for the agency’s mission and demonstrate that you can help fulfill it.

David C. James (dave.james@abanet.org) recently retired after serving 20 years at the office of the San Diego city attorney. For the past 14 years, he was the office’s hiring lawyer.

The ABA Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division and the Section of State and Local Government Law offer discounted memberships and specialized resources for law students.

For more career and job search guidance, visit the ABA Career Counsel at www.abanet.org/careercounsel/students.html.

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