Agency Capture: Advice

You may be a toddler in attorney years, but you can still give practical advice about career planning.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about the past, from a career perspective. A few times now I’ve found myself pondering how I got here, the kind of attorney I was a few years ago, the kind of attorney I am now, and what that might mean for the future.

This is probably because this year, and particularly the spring of this year, carries some milestones for me. A few weeks ago was the fifth “anniversary” of me starting my current job. And a few weeks ago I also received a postcard in the mail asking if I plan on attending the class of 2005’s ten-year college reunion.

Not too long ago, a good friend of mine suggested I do a column on advice for younger lawyers considering a career in government practice. My immediate reaction was something along the lines of “Who, me? What do I know about career planning and the long-term consequences of choices made early on? I’m 32! I’m practically a toddler in attorney years. Where do I get off trying to guide other people?”

But then: a work anniversary, and a double-digit college reunion only a few weeks away. These milestones I’ve identified mark nothing more than the mere passage of time, of course. But I think encountering both of them in quick succession made me realize that I have in fact been doing this work for a non-negligible amount of time. Maybe I am in a position to say something useful to those coming up behind me who are considering a stint, or maybe even a career, as a government attorney.

Let’s start at the beginning: law school. Recognize that the market is still tight, and that means agency positions are still generally pretty competitive, so it definitely matters how well you do. Beyond that, different offices are looking for different things. My experience is most offices in the Department of Justice in D.C. tend to be looking for the traditional résumé markers, such as excellent grades and a federal clerkship.

Other offices might place a higher emphasis on specific subject matter knowledge or experience. If you know there’s a particular area of law you’re interested in, you should research that specific area as early as possible in order to see if the relevant offices have a reputation of preferring heavy specialization among the people they hire. If they don’t, or if you’re unable to tell one way or the other, my estimation is you probably don’t need to specialize heavily in a particular substantive area in law school but some marker of your interest on your résumé is probably helpful. Additionally, some offices might like to see some indication of an interest in public service on your résumé. This might be particularly helpful if your coursework otherwise has a distinctly corporate flavor.

Okay, fast-forward a few years: you’ve graduated law school, and passed the bar, maybe gotten a year or two of work experience in Biglaw or elsewhere. You’re deciding what offices to apply to, or perhaps choosing among a few job offers. Here, my advice is to think about the long-term options you’re opening up, and foreclosing, with each job choice.

Sponsored

This is impossible to nail down with any real precision, of course, because the market changes over time. But I think it is fair to say that some jobs will leave you with more future options than others. One of my courses in college centered around strategic thought, and the professor was fond of saying that an option that leads to an array of future options is generally superior to an option that forces you to down a path with minimal options to react to changed circumstances. So it goes with career choices. Because part of the point of government is to discharge functions that are important to the public welfare but that no private actor has a sufficient incentive to take care of, some agencies have relatively specialized missions. The more specialized the substance of your work is, the more difficult it might be to market yourself to Moneydollars LLP down the road. Private clients don’t have any reason to pay for all the specialized knowledge you have in areas that simply don’t affect them. Similarly, some jobs will set you up very well in the event you want to transition to the private sector down the road. White-collar criminal defense practices hiring former prosecutors is probably the classic example, but there are others.

This is not to say you should avoid highly specialized offices, or only consider those that have a clear exit path to the private sector. When choosing any job, there are far more fundamental things to consider than what job, public or private, it sets you up for down the road. Will you enjoy the work? Does it pay enough? But it is important to be aware of this dynamic when assessing the cost-benefit proposition of accepting an agency job.

I’ll try to continue this discussion in a future column.


Brian D. Griffin began his legal career as an associate in the New York office of a Biglaw firm, focusing mostly on litigation. He is currently a staff attorney in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of General Counsel. His duties include litigation, rulemaking, and programmatic legal advice. Brian attended New York University School of Law and Georgetown University for undergraduate, majoring in Government. You can reach him at BGriffin8134@gmail.com.

Sponsored

DISCLAIMER: The statements and views expressed in this column are entirely Griffin’s own. They do not represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States.