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HIRING
Presently the Office has over 300 lawyers on staff. Each year the Office hires approximately 25 recent law school graduates (or judicial law clerks) for its incoming Fall class. Interviews for permanent hires for the incoming Fall class begin and conclude in early/mid December. Final offers are generally made by the end of December.
We hire lateral attorneys, i.e. law school graduates who are members of the Pennsylvania Bar, on an as-needed basis throughout the year.
TRAINING PROGRAM
New attorneys join the Office as law clerks and participate in an intense three week training and orientation program in August. Appointment as an Assistant District Attorney cannot occur until passage of the Pennsylvania Bar Examination. The training program consists of lectures, seminars, courtroom and other observations designed to familiarize the new Assistant District Attorney with the Philadelphia criminal justice system as well as the Office of the District Attorney. The program concludes with a videotaped advocacy program. Training continues throughout the Assistant District Attorney's first two years as a prosecutor. Additionally, a full Continuing Legal Education program is available to the entire legal staff.
HOW TO APPLY
Mail a hard copy of your resume and a cover letter to:
The District Attorney's Office
Three South Penn Square
Philadelphia , PA 19107
Attn: Hiring Coordinator
*Deadline is November 1st for 3L applicants*
*Rolling application process for lateral applicants*
ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY HIRING FAQ'S
Where do I send my resume and cover letter?
Resumes and cover letters should be sent to:
Philadelphia District Attorney's Office
Three South Penn Square
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Attn: Hiring Coordinator
What else should I include with my resume and cover letter?
The initial application does not require anything else be submitted. You will be asked for additional information as the hiring process moves forward.
What is the hiring process for permanent hires as Assistant District Attorneys?
The hiring process consists of two steps.
Step One - Prescreen Interview
First, you submit a resume and cover letter to the Hiring Coordinator. If you are selected, you will be contacted by an individual Assistant District Attorney to schedule a "prescreen" interview. Following the initial prescreen interview, a decision is made whether or not to refer the candidate for a full committee interview.
Step Two - Full Committee Interview
The full committee interview is a 20-minute interview with at least five members of the Hiring Committee. You will be asked to bring 6 copies of your resume, an official transcript, a photograph and a writing sample. The candidate should come to the interview prepared with all of these items. (If you order your transcript from your law school and the institution intends to forward it directly to us, please bring an unofficial copy to the interview).
What type of writing sample should I submit?
The writing sample need not be a criminal law issue. It should be writing that is 100% your work product, i.e., not edited by anyone other than you. It should also demonstrate an advocate's tone. The writing sample should be persuasive writing, rather than a bench memo, etc. A good example is a brief that you submitted for a law school course.
What are the time lines for interviews/offers for permanent hiring?
Interviews for permanent hires for the incoming fall class begin in late August and conclude in early/mid December. Final offers are generally made by the end of December; however, a few early permanent offers are made to our summer intern class by the end of October.
How many offers are extended each year?
Each year we hire approximately 25 recent law school graduates (or judicial law clerks) for our fall class.
Do you hire lateral candidates?
Yes. We interview lateral or interim hires throughout the year on an as-needed basis due to openings that are created by normal attrition. All lateral applicants must be Pennsylvania Bar members before they can apply. We retain an eligible pool of applicants and make offers when necessary. Historically, the summer months through early winter is not a good time for lateral hiring, because of the influx of interns and the new hires in the fall class.
If I still have questions, whom should I contact?
If you have a procedural question (such as: "Did you get my resume"; "What is my status"; "I have to change my interview time"; "Can I get directions to the office"; "I need my work/study records", etc.), please contact the Hiring Coordinator, Catherine Schuler at 215-686-8704 or catherine.schuler@phila.gov. If your question is more substantive (such as: "I have another offer and need to get back to someone"; " I need an extension on my offer response time", etc.), then contact the Hiring Chair, Kathleen McDonnell at 215-686-9936 or kathleen.mcdonnell@phila.gov.
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