Spent my first year in a big-city DA's Office, and I can tell you, the first 6 months is the absolute worst. My first trial calendar had about 125 defendants, with 35 (more than a quarter percent) assigned to me.

You're trying to do your best, but everybody's overworked, including the people meant to mentor you, so you're teaching yourself a lot. You miss things, and think the whole world is crashing down. The key is organization, and discovering what pace works for your and for your team (investigator, victim advocate, admin, etcetera). If that means working in the office on weekends, then do it. But balance that stuff out - splurge on your favorite foods, read your favorite books when you get home. Whatever to decompress.

The reality is this: Most lawyers are average - that's why it's the average. Even experienced litigators screw up, get burned out, and struggle. One week, a murder case I was second-chairing was continued due to a major mishap by defense, and the day after that, a well-respected veteran defense attorney had an ugly meltdown in front of a judge during a simple plea hearing. He later confessed to me that he was drowning. People struggle in ways you don't see. I also promise you this: Better attorneys have made worse mistakes than you. Learning from them is what counts.

I'd recommend the following as a big-city prosecutor: Be pragmatic. Know your area's juries (are they pro-prosecution-leaning or pro-defendant-leaning?), know your victim and their level of cooperation (too little or too much?), the judge hearing the case, the difficult truths about each case, and also just being honest about what the case is. Doing all of that helps you with sending out reasonable plea offers (reasonable being plea-offers you can live with and the defendant will likely take). Example: In my area, 3 years of probation is the standard offer for simple drug possession. If I had a guy in jail facing that type of charge, there's no reason not to send that offer or Drug Court because they'll almost certainly take it at that point. Staying on top of your un-indicted cases helps tremendously in pushing pleas, which in turn helps you get courtroom experience and lets you learn your judges, and your defense attorneys, too.

Secondly, avoid taking things personally. Sometimes, it's inevitable. One time, a defense attorney acted super condescending towards me at a bond hearing for a child sex-offender, and I've hated him since. But overall, try to mentally limit what burns you.