Any tips for a public defender who wants to transition into big law?

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How long have you been a PD? Unfortunately going the “opposite route” from public interest to a biglaw firm can be particularly difficult, especially if your work doesn’t translate (barely ever see trial and don’t do much criminal representation unless it’s white collar). Best advice I could give is speak to a recruiter, find an area of practice that you can draw connections to with your current work, and push the skills you’ve learned - multitasking, client communication, drafting, etc. Good luck!

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Also push your direct and cross questioning skills which are transferable to depos and relationships with Jusges

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“Big law” is probably a non starter unless you have an in. However I transitioned from crim work into civil (real estate) after two years in it. Think my clerkship helped. I don’t make the 190k and not a “big law” firm but I make well over six figures now

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Candidly, it's pretty hard for PDs to make the transition to Big Law. In spite of your amazing work ethic and trial experience, state court criminal experience is not typically viewed as sufficiently prestigious. The only obvious exception is if you have financial crimes experience, because that's viewed as beneficial to banking clients. If you were good at math or accounting, you might want to find a way to get on a financial crimes task force, if you have one in your jurisdiction.

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Would you want to open up your own place as a criminal defense attorney? You might end up making more and have the freedom to do it in your terms.

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Try to get in contact with any former PD’s or prosecutors at that firm. They’re usually willing to talk to you because of the common experience and they should be able to shed light on the firm’s approach to hiring from those backgrounds.

I don’t want to insult anyone or make any assumptions, but Big Law is heavily based on high class rank and good grades...if you had those and decided to become a public defender for moral reasons, that could be admirable, but it’s an uphill battle if you don’t have the grades at a decent school (unless you call your grandpa “grandfather” and said grandfather has museums named after him).

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