Anonymous wrote:Don't waste your time. The attorneys who will screen your resume will often be the types who couldn't hack it as a second or third-year associate, so they'll look for reasons to find fault with someone who is smarter than they are and lasted until they were a senior associate.


With a general litigation background, I'd look for an in-house position in MD or VA.

Not going to happen without subject-area expertise. Seven years of government contracting or patent litigation? Good. Seven years of random document reviews and litigating parts of cases? Unlikely without an "in". There isn't much demand for in-house litigators.

I assume you are OK with a huge paycut and don't need to make seventh year associate pay?

The postal service is often hiring for people to litigate contract disputes. The work is deadly dull and the pay is lower than the GS scale (you will probably start around 80-90k).

The VA is probably looking for low level attorneys to handle disability appeals since they have such a back log. I think they are the only place I've seen that starts attorneys at GS-9 but they probably aren't too choosy at that pay so your general lit experience would be good enough.

Anonymous wrote:NP here. Slight hijack -- curious what fed opportunities an experienced management-side labor/employment associate should explore (other than the most obvious agencies).

I am not a labor law attorney, but AFAICT, every agency needs management-side labor law attorneys because every agency has its own HR dept and own employment law issues. EPA, or Interior, or Ag. all have thousands of employees and the agency management need counselling on labor law issues (union and non-union). It's actually one of the few areas where there's some mobility from agency to agency.

NP here. Slight hijack -- curious what fed opportunities an experienced management-side labor/employment associate should explore (other than the most obvious agencies).

Don't waste your time. The attorneys who will screen your resume will often be the types who couldn't hack it as a second or third-year associate, so they'll look for reasons to find fault with someone who is smarter than they are and lasted until they were a senior associate.


With a general litigation background, I'd look for an in-house position in MD or VA.

Govt hiring VERY competitive now. As PP said, don't think just bc you come from big law that people are beating down your door. They get resumes from partners. Don't even think about applying for a specialty position (antitrust, securities) if you don't have any background.

That being said I know ppl who have moved to govt w general lit background but had great credentials-- top firm or true litigation boutique. Top schools, clerkship etc

General lit is a tough move into the government. It is easier with specialized experience (e.g. securities, health law, etc...). It's not impossible, though. Do you have admin law litigation experience? That would make you stand out and is a necessary skill set for many agencies. General civil litigation is less in demand.

As others have said, sometimes big law associates think they are stepping down by joining the feds and that the govt will open arms to them. It's not that easy. We get hundreds of applicants for open positions. We can be very picky and look for on point experience.

That said, like anywhere else, don't discount the power of "who you know." If you don't have an obvious skill set match with a particular agency, start networking like crazy, info interviewing, etc...Getting your resume in the door through an informal process onto someone's desk can be very, very helpful.

Can you move laterally into another firm? That's your best bet - and the pay will be far greater than feds.

Anonymous wrote:I know you didn't mean it this way, but as a fed attorney, I always find these posts a bit laughable and bit offensive. If you have been practicing for seven years, you know that the attorney field is as varied as the medical doctor field. What skills and experience do you have? If you have practiced in national security law, look at those agencies. If you have practices patent law, look at PTO. If you have federal court experience, look at DOJ. No federal agency is going to hire you for any position based on seven years simply being an attorney. Focus your search on positions that you are qualified for.

+1. Someone is always hiring attorneys, but no one is hiring "seventh year associates" specifically. OP, I've been where you are so I know you're thinking "well, I just want any job." But even when the government is open, it can't afford to train people; it hires skill sets, not class years. So you have to think about what work you do that an agency would want done.

Get on USAJobs and search for "attorney." Then for each application you submit, tailor your resume and cover letter to explain your experience relevant to that particular job. People often fall into the trap of saying they can do the job as it is described in the announcement, rather than showing that they already have done relevant or analogous work.

Good luck!

Have to agree with 22:09.

I recently retired after 26 yrs. with an agency including 23 in management. We typically had 200 applicants for a GS-14 or GS-15 position including BigLaw associates and even partners who want out.

General experience such as 7 yrs. in a firm isn't going to help nearly as much as specific experience in areas that the agency you want to work for needs.

In our case we didn't even interview anyone without significant experience in the particular regulatory or practice areas that we dealt with or needed help in. So your best shot is to tailor your approach to each specific position.

A general idea that we were hiring a GS-14 or 15 slot (which, BTW, has not happened for 4-5 years and won't for the foreseeable future in my office) wouldn't help unless you had just what we needed (for ex., employment/EEO law in one case; specific statutory expertise in others).

I know you didn't mean it this way, but as a fed attorney, I always find these posts a bit laughable and bit offensive. If you have been practicing for seven years, you know that the attorney field is as varied as the medical doctor field. What skills and experience do you have? If you have practiced in national security law, look at those agencies. If you have practices patent law, look at PTO. If you have federal court experience, look at DOJ. No federal agency is going to hire you for any position based on seven years simply being an attorney. Focus your search on positions that you are qualified for.

General lit, some reorganization experience.

What is your specialty?

I assume almost all government jobs are on hold right now with the shutdown.

I'm a seventh year associate at a mid sized firm and just had my second kid. I'm not going to make partner and I need to get out. Does anyone know of any agencies hiring attorneys right now? Long shot, I know.