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Getting a job as a prosecutor

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beer.
Posts: 3096 - Karma: 44
right now I'm in undergrad for poli sci and am pretty set on going to law school.  I had a question for NS before I go searching the ol' world wide web.  actually 2 questions:

1. I am planning on becoming a prosecutor before going on to become a criminal defense attorney.  my decision is based on the increased job security, experience, and connections being a prosecutor will give me.  anyone know someone who is a prosecutor?  what is it like being one?

2. does florida have some good law schools?
Mar 11 2008 2:53PM
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yelsel
Posts: 12967 - Karma: 3,451
 I really dont think youd want to be a prosecutor. Its not like law & order at all. Also you do not want to be a criminal defense attorney...trust me dude its not the high life. Your morals and ethics will come into play more than once and in a couple of years you'll hate your job. Law school is a bitch and you're obviously going to work your ass off to succeed. On that note, after you graduate law school go into private practice or work for a giant firm. We have first year associates coming in here making $90K+. You'll also need some big $$ to pay off your student loans. Did I mention law school is not cheap by any means.


Mar 11 2008 3:00PM
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Nicholas.
Posts: 10905 - Karma: 60
do you really expect to get any good answers from this site...let alone NSG?






and now im sure some mod or someone old will come in and know what they are talking about and shut me up.
Mar 11 2008 3:00PM
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Yauch
Posts: 1685 - Karma: 62
ouch?
Mar 11 2008 3:03PM
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TheMoostafian
Posts: 4504 - Karma: 9,435
yoh my dad is a prosecutor... i dont know much about his job........ but i do know that the campaigning part is a major pain in the dick
Mar 11 2008 3:07PM
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Download-My-Apps
Posts: 5069 - Karma: 1,017
My dad used to be a crown council prosecutor. Long work days and very stressful. He did it for many years and didn't enjoy it, holidays were short and didn't get to see as much of the kids as he would have liked. He has since switched to family law and real-estate and works for a private firm. He enjoys it much more and finds it less stressful and actually gets a vacation since he's his own boss.
Mar 11 2008 3:17PM
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Fish_Sandwich.
Posts: 9108 - Karma: 16
Ya, our dad is a prosecutor, and he was a defense attorney for 4 or 5 years before that.  He likes his job but the hours are long.  I could ask him more about it if you want.  Just send me a PM and I'll see what I can do for you.
The salary is good though.  Not as much as a succesful defense attorney would make, but the hours are a bit less.  My uncle is a pretty big defense attorney in Portland and he makes $500,000+ per year depennding on what cases he has, but he works a ton. 

Campaigning is fucked up though, huuuuge hassle, more stress than like anything.  I've elped with 2 campaigns and some of the shit the opposition will pull is lower than low.  Needless to say, my dad won both times he ran opposed.  He's been doing it for like 10 years or osmething, he's on his third fur year term (first term he ran unopposed).
Send me a PM if I can help you any more or if you want me to like ask him about his job.
Mar 11 2008 3:18PM
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R-Bertsch
Posts: 4719 - Karma: 20
you can pick any profession in the world and someone like you will tell them its not worth it, im so tired of hearing things liek that.
Mar 11 2008 3:22PM
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Shpadoinkle
Posts: 10437 - Karma: 84
University of Florida FTW

You know you want to bleed orange and blue.
Mar 11 2008 3:31PM
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yelsel
Posts: 12967 - Karma: 3,451
Did at any point in my post tell him it wasnt worth it? No.

I told him areas to steer clear of because I know the demands of the practice. Ohhh how do I know that? Because Ive worked in a law firm for over 6 years now. 
Mar 11 2008 3:50PM
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Dustin.
Posts: 13839 - Karma: 7,704
+ karma
Mar 11 2008 4:00PM
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Fish_Sandwich.
Posts: 9108 - Karma: 16
Well you pretty much did, you said:
"you do not want to be a criminal defense attorney"
Mar 11 2008 4:14PM
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yelsel
Posts: 12967 - Karma: 3,451

but he can still be an attorney. going to law school and passing the bar makes you an attorney. from that point on you can choose whether or not you're a prosecutor, a criminal defense attorney, a personal injury attorney (they are the worst), trust and estate, commercial litigation, etc.

i did not say becoming an attorney is not worth it. i know the time and energy it takes to be one since i work with too many of them. being a criminal defense attorney in my opinion is one of the worst ones to become, right next to personal injury. at times its got to be extremely difficult to put your morals and ethics aside to defend someone that may have killed someone, raped them, etc. thats all i said.

Mar 11 2008 4:20PM
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beer.
Posts: 3096 - Karma: 44
the morals part isnt really a problem for me, because I believe in the adversarial system.

working hard is probably gonna suck, but I think i'll really enjoy my job.  I have the mind for it for sure.
Mar 11 2008 11:14PM
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yelsel
Posts: 12967 - Karma: 3,451
good luck man. let me know how you make out.
Mar 12 2008 8:29AM
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Delhi11
Posts: 71 - Karma: 10
well if this decision is based on law and order or any other show i would strongly suggest you reconsider. Its a great job and all but the shows makes it better then it seems.  Not everybody is soo good looking and cases usually dont work out that easily. Plus you see them working in the day when how about those murders at night when you get woken up at 3am after working the whole day before. It seems to good to be true on TV.  You have to work longggg hours, holding a family would be hard, shit like that
Mar 12 2008 9:36AM
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salamander
Posts: 815 - Karma: 16
my stepmom went from being a prosecutor to a lawyer to a judge. she is busy all the time dude. she's bitter as fuck and just striaght up cruel. that's probably just her though she's a bitch.
Mar 12 2008 9:41AM
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yelsel
Posts: 12967 - Karma: 3,451
Wow. Theres no way I could do that either. Youd have to be a very strong willed person to be able to sit through that. 
Mar 12 2008 10:25AM
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beer.
Posts: 3096 - Karma: 44
well at least one person will be

seriously though I am not basing this on law and order, I am aware of the mundanity of being a lawyer, its a lot of clerical work.  but nonetheless, as a trial lawyer I would get to stand in the courtroom and present my case.

its either this or advertising, cant decide which
Mar 12 2008 11:19AM
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Delhi11
Posts: 71 - Karma: 10
advertising seems interesting. Imagine being the one to come up with McDonalds new slogan, it would be like winning the lottery
Mar 21 2008 9:48AM
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