ADA Career Opportunities

The Nassau County District Attorney's Office is one of the largest district attorney’s offices in the country with more than 175 lawyers and a total staff in excess of 370.  Situated on Long Island, immediately to the east of New York City, the office is committed to hiring the most qualified trial, investigative and appellate attorneys.

The DA's Office is now accepting applications for the 2012 fall hiring class.

APPLYING FOR AN ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY POSITION - REQUIRED MATERIALS

• Cover Letter
• Resume
• Statement of Interest indicating why you want to work as a prosecutor, and specifically, the Nassau County District Attorney's Office
• Transcript from your law school containing your most recent class rank. If your law school does not rank, a transcript with your grades is still necessary. An unofficial transcript may be submitted for the initial application review. (Admitted attorneys practicing for more than three (3) years do not need to submit a transcript.)
• Applicant Packet. Read, complete, and sign the attached forms:

 

• Conditions of Employment
• Applicant Questionnaire
• Applicant Information Sheet
• Three-Year Commitment/Political Activity by ADAs/Gun Ownership

PLEASE NOTE:

• Materials may be submitted by mail, emailed to ADAResumes@NassauDA.org, or faxed to (516) 571-2266.
• OCI applicants must submit all required materials, as listed above, to be considered for on-campus interviewing. If you are unable to upload them to Symplicity, please forward directly to our office.

INTERVIEWING

Interviews are conducted from September to the end of April each year.  In addition to inviting candidates to the office, interviewers are sent to law schools in various parts of the country to recruit promising attorneys. All hiring is based on merit.

Due to the number of applicants and the limited number of openings, we cannot offer positions to many qualified candidates.  The interviewing process has three (3) stages:

• Stage 1 - Consists of an interview with an assistant district attorney.
• Stage 2 - Consists of a panel interview with two senior assistant district attorneys.
• Stage 3 - Consists of an interview with the District Attorney. If the District Attorney extends an offer of employment to you and you accept it, we will conduct a complete investigation of your background. The offer is contingent on the results of that investigation.

Within approximately 30 days of each interview stage, you will receive a notification letter of advancement to the next interviewing stage, or a rejection letter. If we do not receive a response to our advancement letter within 30 days, your application will be considered withdrawn and you will be removed from the interview process.

ADVANCEMENT THROUGH THE INTERVIEW PROCESS:

Upon notification of advancement to any of the following stages of the interview process, all required material must be submitted to this office no less than one (1) week prior to your interview for review.

Interviews will not be conducted without the prior submission of any required materials.

• Stage 1 (Initial) interview - Originals and Certified Transcript required. Upon notification of advancement to the first stage of the interview process, a certified law school transcript must be sent to this office. Also, if you had previously faxed or emailed your materials, the original signed Applicant Packet must be submitted.
• Stage 2 (Panel) interview - Writing Sample required. (In addition, admitted attorneys must submit a Certificate of Good Standing along with the writing sample.) Upon notification of advancement to the second stage of the interview process, you are required to provide a writing sample. Choose a current issue in the criminal justice system about which you feel strongly and prepare a writing sample presenting your position on that issue. This is neither a research paper nor a legal brief, but a sample of your ability to
  1. Recognize a significant issue in the criminal justice system;
  2. Adopt a specific, reasoned position on that issue;
  3. Articulate that position in a logical and persuasive manner.
  4. This writing sample must be an original position paper and not an abstraction or adaptation of earlier research from law school assignments. Submissions should be limited to three (3) double-spaced pages.

• Stage 3 (Final) interview - No additional materials required unless specifically requested by this office.

Please direct all inquiries regarding our hiring process or the status of your application to our recruitment office at (516) 571-3387, or email to ADAResumes@NassauDA.org.

TRAINING

The Nassau County District Attorney's Office has been designated by the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board as an Accredited Continuing Legal Education Provider. In that regard, and in conjunction with the office's commitment to excellence, all new attorneys are given the benefit of an extensive training course before being asked to appear in court. The course runs for a full month and is conducted by members of the staff who are also professors of law and published authors in the field of criminal trial practice. The curriculum for the course includes lectures, demonstrations and participation in investigation, case preparation, jury selection, opening statements, direct examination, cross-examination, summation, pre-trial suppression hearings and constitutional criminal law. This training program far exceeds the requirements of the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board for newly admitted attorneys.

CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION

As an Accredited Continuing Legal Education Provider, the office presents live and videotaped lectures throughout the year on a wide variety of current legal topics, for the benefit of newly admitted and experienced attorneys. These lectures meet or exceed the individual Continuing Legal Education requirements of New York State and are open to all current members of the office at no charge.

DISTRICT ATTORNEY CAREER AND SALARY PLAN

There are yearly salary increases determined by budgetary ability.  These increases are based on merit and responsibility.

JOB BENEFITS

Assistant district attorneys are entitled to the following benefits:

• 13 paid holidays each year.
• 10 vacation days each year (13 days after 2 years).
• 10 personal days each year.
• 10 sick days each year (13 days after 3 years).
• Additional bonus vacation and sick days based upon years of service.
• Attorneys hired after January 1, 2002 have a choice of 4 contributory medical plans. Coverage becomes effective within 1 month of service.
• Availability of deferred compensation plans.
• Availability of tax-free flex benefits plan (for medical and child-care expenses).
• Availability of childcare leave.
• Availability of County Credit Union.

THE COMMUNITY

Nassau is an affluent county of 1.4 million residents, situated on Long Island, immediately to the east of New York City, approximately one hour from midtown Manhattan. Together with the neighboring county of Suffolk, the area ranks 11th in population among the nation's 50 largest metropolitan areas. The Long Island region in general is responsible for 25% of all registered voters in the State of New York.

Despite its metropolitan potential, however, Nassau remains a suburban community. It is divided into the three towns of Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay, and the two cities of Long Beach and Glen Cove. Each of these communities has its own park system for the benefit of its residents. In addition, Nassau is bordered on the north by Long Island Sound and on the south by Jones Beach and the Atlantic Ocean. Thus, sailing, boating and swimming are frequent recreational activities. Nassau is also the home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the New York Islanders hockey team, the New York Saints lacrosse team and Hofstra University, the training camp of the New York Jets football team.