As I have been told by my mentor attorney, it doesn't matter where you get experience as long as you get paid for it. Let me ask you this, are you trying to climb the ladder and be a partner and work the 40-90 hours a week it takes to be a partner over the next few years or do you prefer a more relaxed schedule? I imagine you could guess which choice would go with which desire. Also, are you worried about "messing up" or do you feel confident you will succeed anywhere? If you want a bit more mentoring and more of a transition into becoming an attorney, I'd go for the clerkship because if you f*** up the 120k job, it will be difficult for you for awhile especially since this sounds like big law and trust me, they are mostly as cutthroat as the rumors say. Again, however, if you are Mr. or Ms. Succeed Anywhere, the 120K is obviously desirable if you want to be a partner someday and make lots of dough..