Alternative Career Paths for Crown Prosecutor

[TheBigShort]

Hello,

I will be articling with the Crown next year, and I intend to build my career as a prosecutor (assuming that a permanent and/or contract position is available somewhere in the province after articling). However, I was wondering if anyone has experience moving from a Crown position into private practice/other government roles?

I am only inquiring about this for future reference, as it is always possible that I will burnout and/or decide that a change is necessary for a variety of reasons. I am not articling with the Crown in anticipation that I will be able to turn around and land a spot as an associate at a private firm, and I do not plan to do so (if ever) for a very long time. I want to be a Crown, and that is what I will be focused on going forward. However, I am curious to know what type of transferable skills a Crown would have in the legal market. 

1. If a student who articles with the Crown does not obtain any sort of full-time contract after articling, where would their skills be sought after? What opportunities would potentially be available, either in public or private practice? 
 

2. What opportunities would be available to an experienced Crown (ex. 8-10 yr call), either in private or public practice? I tend to think that white-collar/corporate defense work could be a potential avenue of employment, though I could be completely wrong. 
 

Thank you in advance!

 

Edited July 4, 2023 by SuperJudo123

[JackyC]

I articled in private practice, worked a few years, then went to the Crown.

I don’t think you’d have too much trouble pitching yourself to small firms looking for junior litigation associates, even more so for mainly criminal firms (though unfortunately not many those are hiring first year associates). 
 

In terms of exit options in 8-10 years, hard to say. Federal Crown would be nice. Other than that, it’ll likely be what you make of it. I’ve seen a few colleagues go solo criminal defence and do okay.

[Phaedrus]

In larger metropolitan areas it's not uncommon for senior Crowns to hop to criminal (non-corporate) defence side. Their experience as a Crown is invaluable because they've worked with police and investigators for a long time, and usually have an established network of PIs. 

Other shifts include joining special prosecutions, appeals, or regional/departmental oversight.

I know plenty of senior Crowns that stay where they're at because they enjoy the day-to-day grind. There's comfort in staying in the trenches and avoiding office politics. 

[Ramesses]

I know two litigators that used to be Crown. They both focus on regulatory and compliance litigation work.

[GoBigOrGoHome]

I don't know where you are going, but if you are not hired back or want a change, I have very regularly seen the City of Vancouver hire for lawyers that take on bylaw-related work that needs to be enforced in the court. 

Court experience is required, and a former Crown would be perfect, there are also policy positions you could hang out in for a while if you want to stay in government (if you are a BC Crown, and have BC student loans, you want to sign up for the Pacific Leaders Program right away to have them pay off a 3rd each year). 

As soon as you have access to the internal systems, start looking, and about 6 months in, start applying. Just to caution with BC - you can screen into legal positions with MAG for other areas of law, but they nearly always have a written assignment related to that substantive area of law that they are hiring for. It makes it very difficult for people who don't have experience in that area to move. If you ever decide to attempt this, you will likely benefit from having been a policy analyst to get familiar with the respective legislation (and even then you might not become familiar with the legislation dependent on which policy team you end up with in a larger ministry).