U.S. Attorney advocates public service

Lawyers learn trial skills and aid others, O’Brien says

— By Lori Craig

Public service lawyers — prosecutors and public defenders alike — gain valuable time in the courtroom that helps them the rest of their careers, United States Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien told USC Law students Nov. 7.

More importantly, O’Brien said, public service lawyers make a difference.

“You have an impact on people’s lives like nobody’s business,” said O'Brien (pictured right). “It’s an extremely rewarding career.”

O’Brien is one month into his new post as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, having been appointed by President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The Central District of California is the largest federal prosecutorial district in the country, with 230 attorneys who handle cases in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.

A U.S. Naval Academy graduate, O’Brien said he decided to go to law school after completing his service because he was looking for a job. He clerked for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office in the wake of the Watts Riots and experienced the challenge of prosecuting commercial burglaries that might involve as many as 25 defendants.

“I got a chance to really look at what the criminal justice system is all about,” O’Brien said. “I really fell in love with being a prosecutor.”

O’Brien continued to work as a prosecutor and eventually joined the L.A. County D.A. Office’s Hardcore Gang Unit. There, he prosecuted 35 murder trials before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, where he most recently was head of the Criminal Division.

“In the land of chaos you try to instill as much order as you possibly can,” O’Brien said. “I’ve got a real passion for this job and I love it.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office doesn’t hire lawyers directly out of law school. Typically, attorneys will clerk and work in a law firm for a couple years before becoming a federal prosecutor, O’Brien said.

“I want someone who has enthusiasm,” he said, adding that he is looking to make a number of new hires.

Prosecutors who leave the office have joined large firms or become professors or state or federal judges, O’Brien said.

The lunchtime talk was sponsored by USC Street Law.