Every September comes with new beginnings. Whether you're changing wardrobes as the weather cools, or frantically rushing kids out the door for school, September is a time of transition. But there's another great shift in the legal community that often goes unnoticed—nearly 480 new judicial law clerks start their careers in the Judiciary. 

New Jersey is unique when it comes to our law clerks. In many other jurisdictions a judicial clerkship is a full-time position, but in our state the Judiciary hires new law clerks annually for a period of one year of service. Many of these law clerks are young attorneys, oftentimes right out of law school, and they are thrown into the thick of it as if they'd been there all along. 

A judicial clerkship gives a young attorney more professional experience in one year than some other positions can provide in several. A law clerk will see what goes on behind the scenes of the judicial process while developing relationships with every person that is a part of it. The law clerks themselves become as much a part of the process as everyone else because their Judges rely on them for legal research, writing, and everything else necessary for the movement of cases. From September to September, it is likely that the law clerk will have affected in some way a majority of the judge's docket.