5 career insights from a former federal prosecutor

Matthew Yelovich began his legal career at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in their white-collar crime practice group, where he worked for approximately three years. Unlike the traditional path taken by many law graduates who clerk immediately after law school, Yelovich moved to a federal clerkship after his time in private practice, serving under the Honorable Reena Raggi of the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit from 2013-2014.

During his clerkship year, when a multi-year federal government hiring freeze suddenly lifted across all U.S. Attorney's Offices, Yelovich seized the opportunity to apply for Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) positions. He was hired by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Sacramento (in the Eastern District of California), where he served in the white-collar crime unit for five years, conducting grand jury investigations, trials, hearings, and appeals.

He subsequently moved to the Northern District of California (San Francisco), where he took on several roles, including Chief of Appeals for approximately three years, overseeing all briefing and argument at the 9th Circuit. He was later promoted to Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, where he helped oversee approximately 100 federal criminal prosecutors and 15 supervisors.

In 2024, after nearly ten years as a federal prosecutor, Yelovich joined Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP as a partner.

Yelovich recently chatted with Cal Lawyer about his career and his advice for new attorneys, and you can check out an edited video of that interview above. If you're short on time here are his top tips:

Keep an open mind about career paths

"I would give to law students is to keep an open mind, or to new graduates, keep an open mind about the different sort of forks in the road that you might be presented with." Yelovich emphasizes that a legal career offers many opportunities for varied work. Rather than viewing career decisions as permanent, consider each choice as the next chapter in your professional story.

Become the master of each case

When assigned to a new matter, strive to fully understand not just the legal issues but the broader context. "I would encourage particularly junior lawyers on matters to be the master of that case, master of the facts, master of the law and master of the context." This approach builds expertise that extends beyond individual cases and develops a valuable knowledge base throughout your career.

There's no such thing as over-preparation

Trial work demands thorough preparation. As Yelovich notes about his first trial experience: "The real learning happened in the preparation because the thing you learn having gone through a trial is that you can never be too prepared for basically any part of it." Anticipate as much as possible, knowing that trials inevitably involve unexpected developments.

Find your authentic style

While learning from mentors is valuable, authenticity is crucial in the courtroom. "The through line of all my jury trials and hearings is you really have to be yourself. You have to learn your own comfortable style and just own it in the courtroom." Observe others and incorporate techniques that resonate with you, but develop a presentation style that feels natural.

Seek out great teachers

In law school, "find the professors who you want to learn from, either because of reputation that they're excellent teachers or excellent practitioners, or just have had careers that you're really interested in and would love to mirror and take their classes." The teacher often matters more than the subject, as their approach can make any topic engaging and relevant to your future practice.

This summary was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools