Pres. Trump’s assault on the Department of Justice has real-world consequences. Some 5,500 employees, including lawyers and support staff, have left or been fired from DOJ since January. That is out of a total staff of about 10,000. That means there are widespread vacancies across the country in DOJ. But, recruiting at law schools is down. Law schools report that persons at the top ranked law schools are avoiding DOJ.
The Department of Justice has long recruited the top ranked student at the top ranked law schools. But, after all the the unjustified terminations, the best and the brightest have little incentive to work there. On Fox News, the US Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro, said her office lacked 90 lawyers and encouraged any lawyer listening to apply. In Chicago, the US Attorney, Andrew Boutros emailed former DOJ lawyers inviting them back.
William Treanor, former dean at Georgetown University Law Center, said traditionally, Georgetown students had great interest in working at DOJ. It was an ultra-competitive place of employment. But, now he says virtually no one is applying. See ABA Bar Journal report here for more information.
The precipitous drop is not surprising. DOJ lawyers are routinely being asked to risk their law license in advancing false statements of law and facts. It is an exceedingly difficult place for any attorney to work.