Anonymous wrote:They're hiring attorneys because the existing attorneys are leaving. They're not leaving because things are awesome.

+1. I read yesterday that in the last year DOJ has lost about 3,400 out of roughly 10,000 attorneys. 34% attrition in one year is insane.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Thanks for the pulse check. I am content with my private sector job, and it pays more. But I’ll always miss being a civil servant and really hope to get back to it down the road. Hopefully sooner than later.

Even without the current craziness, new hires pay more for their benefits, have fewer protections, and are generally worse off. It's fine that you left but it's weird to leave and think you'll go back. Maybe if you're independently wealthy.

It is not remotely "weird to leave and think you'll go back." Fed attorneys (which is what OP is) leave and end up returning to fed service in pretty large numbers.

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Thanks for the pulse check. I am content with my private sector job, and it pays more. But I’ll always miss being a civil servant and really hope to get back to it down the road. Hopefully sooner than later.

Even without the current craziness, new hires pay more for their benefits, have fewer protections, and are generally worse off. It's fine that you left but it's weird to leave and think you'll go back. Maybe if you're independently wealthy.

I'm an attorney and also a former fed.

DH is also a lawyer and still a fed. Things have calmed down in certain ways for him -- no more raging DOGE for instance. But the fallout is still tough; for example they have only about 1/3 of the people they had before and they still have to get the work done, and things have been shuffled, leadership-wise and administratively. Stuff like that. So calmer. But not completely calm, if that makes sense.

And I'm with you, OP. I'd love to get back to federal service at some point. But I'm old enough and haven't practiced in years, so that ship has probably sailed for me.

Anonymous wrote:Not applying until they remove the KSA where you have to say how much you love smelling the president’s farts.

My college student wrote these using AI (which is "prohibited", i recognize). He copies and pastes them into every application. The hiring managers don't read them.

Anonymous wrote:My fed attorney position is relatively unscathed. However, the new attorney hires are in a much worse position. We are fed attorneys that have a union and all our new hires cannot be part of the bargaining unit. They have far fewer protections than I have.

I'm still WAH. My position was protected from DOGE and I never had to go back to the office. However, my manager, because he lives in the area had to come back to the office. The office is having trouble filling the managment positions because those are all back in the office. Very few people want to give up WAH.

What agency has protection from DOGE and still WAH for anyone? Do you mean you have an RA?

This is OP. Thanks for the pulse check. I am content with my private sector job, and it pays more. But I’ll always miss being a civil servant and really hope to get back to it down the road. Hopefully sooner than later.

Anonymous wrote:My fed attorney position is relatively unscathed. However, the new attorney hires are in a much worse position. We are fed attorneys that have a union and all our new hires cannot be part of the bargaining unit. They have far fewer protections than I have.

I'm still WAH. My position was protected from DOGE and I never had to go back to the office. However, my manager, because he lives in the area had to come back to the office. The office is having trouble filling the managment positions because those are all back in the office. Very few people want to give up WAH.

are you USPTO?

My fed attorney position is relatively unscathed. However, the new attorney hires are in a much worse position. We are fed attorneys that have a union and all our new hires cannot be part of the bargaining unit. They have far fewer protections than I have.

I'm still WAH. My position was protected from DOGE and I never had to go back to the office. However, my manager, because he lives in the area had to come back to the office. The office is having trouble filling the managment positions because those are all back in the office. Very few people want to give up WAH.

Anonymous wrote:Not applying until they remove the KSA where you have to say how much you love smelling the president’s farts.

Yep. If you dont kiss the ring you arent getting a call.

They're hiring attorneys because the existing attorneys are leaving. They're not leaving because things are awesome.

Not applying until they remove the KSA where you have to say how much you love smelling the president’s farts.

You still have the same people in charge so it is the same shitshow it has been since last year.

I left my federal attorney job about a year ago for the private sector. I miss being a federal employee (pre-2025) but am not looking to leave my current position. That being said, I’m seeing a lot of interesting federal job posts in the various job list serves I still get, and curious to hear from the feds how things are going. More calm? The same?

One day I want to go back. I miss federal service.