Anyone have any experience in/exposure to the Maricopa County AZ County Attorney's Office (same as DA elsewhere)? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I have prosecutorial experience (1-2 years' worth with ample felony trial experience accumulated) and am considering sitting for the AZ bar at attempting a move, largely for family reasons as pretty much all family/friends I have left at this point are in Phoenix.

I've already perused the Glassdoor and Indeed reviews for what they are worth, and am never sure how much stock to put into them. While I love the people/management in my current role, I feel that given the nature of the office I work in I already have a huge caseload, so I am inclined to be less scared of those complaints, but I have only ever worked in this one DA's office, so I don't have much to compare it to.

Not necessarily looking for any non-anonymous connections, just trying to get an impression at this point from anyone who has experience in or with that office.

[Anonymous User]

Hopeful bump.

[Anonymous User]

I interned at MCAO one summer. My experience obviously was very different than an actual line prosecutor, but since no one else has responded I thought I'd give my 2 cents.

The office is huge - I believe when I was there the talking point was that it was the 3rd or 4th largest prosecutorial agency in the country (I assume behind NYC, LA, and Chicago). With that comes a lot of 1. diverse opportunities/interesting specialties 2. bureaucracy.

Speaking for #1, I know a lot of prosecutors who were given very interesting work very early on in their careers. I also know prosecutors with really interesting specialties: felonies against animals, internet crimes against children, Sonoran Cartel crimes, etc. Bill Montgomery (the current County Attorney - more on that below) has the idea that "all crimes are prosecuted the same way" - so the MCAO is very willing to let prosecutors move around the different bureaus to try new things.

As to #2, I knew a lot of prosecutors who absolutely loved their jobs, a lot that loved their jobs but were frustrated at the "current state of things", and some that absolutely hated the MCAO and wanted out ASAP. This seemed to heavily depend on the Division and/or Bureau the prosecutor was assigned to (especially in the context of caseload - I know some bureaus where prosecutors have ~30 cases at a time, and some where they have 70+). I also know that, being in Maricopa County, the office is not on the forefront of liberal prosecutorial policy and is not a trail blazer for criminal law reform. I can think of a handful of instances when younger prosecutors wanted to try something new, and superiors quickly stopped that - oftentimes resulting in stiffer plea bargaining, charging, etc.

Finally, Bill Montgomery. His reception as County Attorney has been mixed (at best), both in the office and in the general public. He is actually running to be an AZ Supreme Court Justice, so he may be gone sooner rather than later. His exit will probably bring about significant changes to the office.


I hope this gives you some insight!

[Anonymous User]

Very useful, thanks!

The critical things I have read on the likes of indeed and other employer review sites seemed to focus on largely those who you named who hate the MCAO based on the bureau they were in... so it's disappointing but not surprising to hear that here. Food for thought.

As to the caseload, I have (/looks over at bookshelf) around 30 cases right now myself, so that's not totally out of left field for me, hah.

[Anonymous User]

Yeah. Those sites usually skew negative anyway - people tend to only write reviews when they are mad, not happy.

I also want to mention that Phoenix, in general, is an awesome place for government legal work.

If you ended up in a bureau that you didn’t mesh with, or you just don’t end up liking MCAO, there are a ton of MCAO prosecutors who move to different prosecuting agencies - the AZ Attorney General mainly, but I know for a fact that the USAO in Phx regularly hires (for now) MCAO prosecutors, and is not as focused on biglaw hiring. Some prosecutors have even left to city level prosecutorial agencies (Scottsdale, Phoenix, Tempe), which are said to have better qualities of life.

With so many different agencies all within a couple of blocks from each other, if you’re interested in government work, especially prosecution, PHX is a pretty good place to be.

[Anonymous User]

MCAO is a great organization. It’s a great place to be a prosecutor. You have lots of opportunities to move up and try different types of cases. Workloads do vary a bit by the group you work in, but they are manageable. Bill Montgomery is a class act and straightforward boss, meaning he does not play games or let politics get in the way of actually prosecuting our cases. He will be missed if appointed to the Arizona Supreme Court.