The Department of Justice is desperate to fill an onslaught of vacancies nationwide.
In various U.S. attorneys' offices around the country, the federal government is lowering its standards for new prosecutors as it tries to staff up after a talent drain under the Trump administration. In some cases, applicants are not required to have any work experience as a lawyer.
El Chapo, Timothy McVeigh, the Family Secrets mob trial in Chicago, Al Capone, Rod Blagojevich, George Ryan, Mike Madigan, were all tried and convicted by expert assistant U.S. attorneys at the Department of Justice."The attrition rate now is such, and the recruitment rate is so slow, that those things are meeting in a very sticky, difficult place," said Juliet Sorensen, director of the Rule of Law Institute at Loyola University Chicago. Professor Sorensen is a former assistant U.S. attorney. She says the role of a federal prosecutor has been one of the most prestigious in the criminal justice system. Now, the Department of Justice is desperate to fill an onslaught of vacancies nationwide. They recently lowered hiring standards in some jurisdictions. A law degree and passing the bar is still required, but once mandatory work experience as an attorney was eliminated in several districts. "Not only does it undercut the reputation of the DOJ, but it undercuts the court system and the rule of law in our federal courts," Sorensen told the I-Team. That change hasn't happened yet here in the Northern District, which still requires two years of experience post-law degree. But in Minnesota, where double-digit numbers of attorneys quit after the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in Arizona and elsewhere, you can be hired to one of the most important positions in U.S. Justice with no experience as a lawyer. "We can be talking about people who haven't clerked for a judge, haven't practiced at a large or small law firm, have never represented a client, and now you're representing the United States as your client," said Sorensen. She says early clerking and experience in trial court is vital for new AUSAs stepping into a role with the most important client in the nation. But as the I-Team has previously reported, mid-level AUSAs with subject matter expertise are in high demand. "It's at the more senior ranks, and this won't do anything to help that problem," said ABC7 chief legal analyst, Gil Soffer. "An assistant U.S. attorney position has long been one of the most coveted jobs in the federal government, but certainly in legal circles, and the idea that there would be an urgent need to pull in prosecutors from the junior most ranks, is not something I ever expected to see." Professor Sorensen recommends any new attorney applying for an AUSA position should go into the application process with an understanding of where the department stands right now and with their eyes open. The U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District confirmed to the I-Team, none of their longstanding hiring requirements have changed.
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