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curious how accepting one of these for a year will affect my career path. I'm a rising 3L and have a clerkship offer on the table from a family friend if I want it for postgrad.

The problem is - i want to be a PD. my resume is entirely PD and I cannot imagine doing anything else. But on the flip side, I know the bloodbath that is PD hiring and I feel that I will be kicking myself if I end up turning down this clerkship offer and not getting a PD offer.

Born and raised in NJ and would be thrilled to end up at the NJ PD but also have no geographical restrictions. Anyone weigh in with an opinion?

Not a clerk, but I have been told that NJ PD seldom does 3L hiring, and only takes people who have passed the bar. If you want to end up at NJ PD, sounds like a smart path.

I'm an NJ clerk.

A trial clerkship is a decent option to land a PD job in NJ. Make sure to verify which court the judge is sitting in; NJ divides its trial court into four parts (Civil, Family, Equity, and Criminal). A criminal judge would be best to get a PD position, but if your resume screams PD it's likely you'll at least get an interview with the PD. They do most of their hiring out of clerkships.

Are you a 3L? If not, consider applying to the Appellate Division (NJ's intermediate court) or the NJ Supreme Court. Either of those will help you a bit more in the job search.

Also, what county is the judge in? The PD hiring system in NJ is centralized through their main office in Trenton, but if you express an interest in your home county or where your judge is located, or in one of the less desirable counties as far as quality of life (think Essex, Hudson) you're more likely to get a shot.

the Judge sits in family court so that is why I'm slightly hesitant. However it is in one the distant counties (next to the county that I am originally from) and I would not be opposed to working as a PD in one of those less desirable counties.

On an unrelated note - does anyone have any sense how this would affect my ability to relocate geographically following the clerkship? I plan to apply to PDs offices nationwide, but I can't imagine spending one year in a regional clerkship would make my application any less attractive to PD offices outside of NJ?

It certainly would not make your application less attractive, especially since there are criminal (juvenile) cases on the family docket. The clerkship has the best chance of helping you, of course, in NJ, and to a lesser extent NY. I know a person or two are heading to PD's offices next year. As for NJ, it's centralized, so be sure to send in an application some time in November during the year you're clerking and they'll handle geographical stuff from there.