Reply to Should my kid bail on DOJ Honors

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Unless your child has poop for brains, they should get the DOJ Honors program on their resume. Sounds like your kid could be qualified for DOJ’s SO or at least appellate program, which is a step towards the most prestigious and interesting legal jobs in the country. They should already know this.[/quote]

Reread OP. Their kid is looking as US Trustee or Commercial branch. I’d take high end big law or a lot boutique over those. As someone who had better credentials than OP’s kid and chose not to do honors program, I’m glad I chose big law to start. [/quote]

Well of course you defend your own choice. But spending three years getting actual substantive responsibility on commercial or bankruptcy litigation, then entering biglaw with a big hiring bonus and having skipped the hazing of document review, is actually the MUCH better career path. [/quote]

There’s just as much if not more doc review at DOJ than as a mid level at a top big law firm. [/quote]

I think your son should go BigLaw over DOJ HP. With his credentials, he’ll get a DOJ job after a few years - it may take some time, but he’ll eventually get something.

I’m an alum of DOJ Commercial Lit. I loved it but will say the Honors Program experience can be hit or miss - it all depends on who ends up training and mentoring them. There are brilliant, brilliant lawyers at DOJ Commercial Lit (eg Ken Dintzer, lead trial counsel who just won the US v Google antitrust trial) and getting trained by someone like is invaluable.

But just as often, I’ve seen Honors attorneys thrown into cases without  any supervision or get trained by lazy senior attorneys — and they can learn terrible habits and committing malpractice.

For me, I joined DOJ after a few years at a BigLaw - I think the experience there made me so grateful when I landed at DOJ. Because I was the lead attorney, I worked just as hard at DOJ as I did in BigLaw, but it was because I wanted to and not because some partner was yelling at me. It sounds like your son is the type to work hard wherever he ends up). Those of us who came to DOJ after a few years in BigLaw generally were happier than the Honors attorneys, who didn’t know enough to appreciate what they had at DOJ[/quote]

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