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I attended CUNY Law School in NYC. My grades were mediocre (mostly B's, two A's, three D's, four C's). I graduated in December 2013. I took the NY Bar twice (February 2014 and July 2014) and I was curb stomped each time. I then took the NJ Bar (February 2015) and failed. I passed the July 2015 NJ Bar exam.

I tried to get a clerkship in NJ, but by the time the bar results were released (November 2015), most of the positions were filled. I'm currently volunteering at a legal aid organization in Newark (I also have a non-legal side job). I didn't take the criminal law clinic while I attended CUNY. Instead, I took community economic development. I never intended to practice in NJ, but I simply can't pass the NY Bar (the MPT and NY multiple choiced killed me). And even if I did, since everyone wants to work in NYC, the job market is very competitive.

I'm interested in being a public defender in NJ. Is it possible for me to do so? If not, are there any other viable options?

NJ public defender's office is very competitive, unfortunately. Without experience you are aren't likely to get anywhere. If you are volunteering at a legal aid / legal services office, you should look for jobs in that field.

As an alternative, you could apply to work as a "pool attorney" for NJ OPD. You would basically have to set up a private practice and apply to work as a pool attorney, which are conflict cases from the public defender's office that get assigned to private counsel. That would get you some income, and also some experience that might set you up to actually be hired as a public defender.

L_William_W wrote:I attended CUNY Law School in NYC. My grades were mediocre (mostly B's, two A's, three D's, four C's). I graduated in December 2013. I took the NY Bar twice (February 2014 and July 2014) and I was curb stomped each time. I then took the NJ Bar (February 2015) and failed. I passed the July 2015 NJ Bar exam.

I tried to get a clerkship in NJ, but by the time the bar results were released (November 2015), most of the positions were filled. I'm currently volunteering at a legal aid organization in Newark (I also have a non-legal side job). I didn't take the criminal law clinic while I attended CUNY. Instead, I took community economic development. I never intended to practice in NJ, but I simply can't pass the NY Bar (the MPT and NY multiple choiced killed me). And even if I did, since everyone wants to work in NYC, the job market is very competitive.

I'm interested in being a public defender in NJ. Is it possible for me to do so? If not, are there any other viable options?

Are you fluent in a second language, particularly, Spanish?