Biglaw, Clerkships, Money, Skaddenfreude

Skaddenfreude: A Clerkship Bonus Special Report

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This is the rather belated update to our earlier report on the clerkship bonus policies of large law firms. We apologize for the delay, and we thank you for your patience and your tips.
A summary of our findings:

1. No large law firm has matched the new Sullivan & Cromwell clerkship bonus of $50,000 for one clerkship, at least as far as we’ve been able to confirm.

(a) But if you have two years of clerkship experience, think about Weil Gotshal. They would pay you a bonus of $70,000 ($35,000 x 2).

(b) In saying that no big firm has matched S&C, we aren’t counting Kellogg Huber, which pays a $100,000 clerkship bonus, and Susman Godfrey, which pays a $50,000 clerkship bonus, since they’re really boutiques.

(c) We aren’t counting intellectual property firms, some of whom pay $70,000 bonuses for Federal Circuit clerkships, because they are a world unto themselves.

2. Any firm worth its salt should offer a clerkship bonus of at least $35,000. This is what numerous big firms already do, and it should be considered the “market” rate. A bonus of anything less than $35K is chintzy and lame.

A firm-by-firm rundown, after the jump.


Some explanations, caveats, and qualifications:

1. If you see any errors, or if you have additional information to add, please email us (subject line: “Clerkship Bonus”).

2. The source for the information is indicated parenthetically or with links.

3. Unless specifically indicated, the table below does not address whether or not a particular firm’s clerkship bonus is “flat” — i.e., a flat bonus for any qualifying clerkship experience, but without increases for the number of clerkships or duration.

If you have multiple clerkships or years of clerking experience under your belt, you should make specific inquiries to each firm you have an offer from.

4. Firms vary on what seniority credit they will give you, in terms of your base salary and partnership track progress, for a clerkship or clerkships. Most will give you full credit, with respect to both your base salary and partnership track progress, for a one-year clerkship. But for multiple clerkships or years of clerking, firm policies are more variable.

5. Firms differ, but generally not by much, in what constitutes a “qualifying” clerkship experience. Federal district or circuit clerkships, state supreme court clerkships, and Delaware Chancery Court clerkships are usually qualifying experiences.

(We didn’t get into the nitty gritty of this — e.g., federal magistrate clerkships, bankruptcy court clerkships, clerkships with lower state courts, etc. If you’re serious enough about a firm to be curious about this, you should call them yourself, and not rely upon what you read on a random blog.)

6. As one tipster notes: “Firms vary in whether they’re willing to pay clerkship bonuses to attorneys who have done clerkships after one or more year of private practice. At Paul Hastings, for example, they only pay clerkship bonuses to attorneys who went to a clerkship directly out of law school — attorneys with private practice experience were not eligible for the bonus. I know this is different from other firms, as I have friends who have received bonuses from firms after working in private practice prior to the clerkship.”

7. Obviously, U.S. Supreme Court clerkships are a different kettle of fish.

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LAW FIRMS AND CLERKSHIP BONUS POLICIES (as of April 17, 2007)
Arent Fox: $20,000 (firm website).
Arnold & Porter: $15,000 (tipster w/offers).
Baker Botts: From the firm website: “The firm awards a judicial clerkship bonus of $35,000 for associates completing a Federal District or Circuit Court clerkship.”
Interesting aside, from a tipster:

“If your Judge allows it, Baker Botts will give your bonus before you even start the clerkship, which besides the time value of the money, has a big tax advantage. (Better to get the bonus in the tax year in which you are a 3L for 9 months, and low-paid law clerk for 3 months.)”

“Judges can allow this according to the guide to the federal judiciary (‘the Guide,’ available at j-net, volume 2, chapter 4, published opinion 83), if the clerk accepts with the firm and recieves the bonus before starting with their judge. The clerk then obviously has to be screened from any matters involving that firm.”

“I don’t know why more firms do not do it this way. It tightens the relationship (nothing says we own you like 35 large), and allows the firm to give a larger bonus in real terms.”

Sponsored

Ballard Spahr: $ 10,000 (tipster w/offers).
Cahill, Gordon & Reindel: $15,000 for one year, $30,000 for two years (commenter).
Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft: “To learn more about our summer associate program, please visit www.cadwalader.com/realdeal” (recruiting).
(Uh, thanks… The benefits section of the CWT website says nothing about a clerkship bonus.)
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton: $15,000 per year of clerkship (recruiting).
Cooley Godward: $25,000 (tipster w/offers).
Covington & Burling: $35,000 in Washington and San Francisco. In New York, $15,000.
Cravath Swaine & Moore: $15,000 (firm website; see this comment for navigation info). According to a commenter, Cravath will pay you another $15K for a second clerkship (“$15K per clerkship, up to two”).
Davis Polk: From the firm website: “Class credit is given in the salary scale for up to two years of clerkship at a U.S. federal or state court or Canadian court, and upon arrival at the firm, former clerks receive a bonus of $15,000 for each year, up to two years, of an eligible clerkship.”
Dechert LLP (Philadelphia): $20,000 for any federal clerkship, but with no doubling for two federal clerkships (tipster w/offers).
DLA Piper: $10,000 for a federal district court clerkship; $35,000 for a federal circuit court clerkship.
Drinker Biddle: $10,000, “but negotiable” (tipster w/offers).
Fried Frank: $15,000 (tipster w/offers).
Fulbright & Jaworski: $35,000 (tipster w/offers). Also a signing bonus of $9500 (“not sure if this is for all new hires or just clerks”).
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher: $35,000 (tipster w/offers).
Greenberg Traurig (Atlanta): none (tipster w/offers).
Hogan & Hartson (New York): $25,000 (recruiting). [Ed. note: Is this accurate? Hogan in D.C. pays $35,000, as noted below.]
Hogan & Hartson (Washington, DC): $35,000 (tipster w/offers).
Jenner & Block (Chicago): $20,000 (tipster w/offers), but with multiple bonuses for multiple clerkships:

“At Jenner & Block, clerkship bonuses are 20k each, payable by check on your first day – two clerkships is 40k and so forth. It’s sort of ‘contingent’ upon your staying with the firm for at least a year.”

Katten Muchin Rosenman: $10,000 (tipster w/offers). A little more detail:

“They’re still telling candidates that the bonus is $10K. Other candidates have had success negotiating higher bonuses, but I don’t know they’ve gotten the firm up to $35K. Also, Katten only gives one year of partnership track credit for a two-year clerkship (with the possibility of ‘re-evaluating’ that decision after a few months of work).”

Kilpatrick Stockton (Atlanta): $5,000 (tipster w/offers).
King & Spalding (Atlanta): $10,000 (tipster w/offers).
Kirkland & Ellis: $35,000 (tipster w/offers). From the K&E letter: “The current clerkship bonus is $35,000…. It will be paid on with your first check. ”
Kramer Levin: From a commenter: “Kramer Levin pays $20k per year of clerkship and gives you credit for your class year, even if you clerk after coming to the firm first and then going to a clerkship.”
Latham & Watkins (national): $35,000 (tipster w/offers).
Mayer Brown (Chicago, D.C.): $35,000 (tipster w/offers).
McDermott Will & Emery (Chicago): $35,000 (tipster w/offers).
Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy: $15,000 per year of a one or two year clerkship (recruiting).
Morgan Lewis & Bockius: $20,000 for district court, $25,000 for circuit court (tipsters w/offers).
Morrison & Foerster: $35,000 (tipster w/offers).
Munger Tolles & Olson: $35,000 (tipster w/offers).
O’Melveny & Myers (national): $35,000 (tipster w/offers).
Paul Hastings: $35,000 (firm website). Also, as noted supra, “at Paul Hastings they only pay clerkship bonuses to attorneys who went to a clerkship directly out of law school. Attorneys with private practice experience [who then went to clerk] were not eligible for the bonus.”
Paul Weiss: According to the firm website: “Paul, Weiss lawyers who join the firm after completing a one-year judicial clerkship receive a bonus of $15,000. Those who complete a clerkship of two years receive a bonus of $30,000.”
Quinn Emanuel: $35,000 (tipster w/offers).
Reed Smith (Philadelphia): $20,000 (tipster w/offers).
Ropes & Gray: From the firm website:

Sponsored

“Lawyers who do federal appellate or district court or state supreme court clerkships immediately following law school and who then join Ropes & Gray are treated as members of their law school class for purposes of seniority and compensation, and they receive a bonus of $20,000 for each year that they clerked. Approximately 20% of the entry-level associates who joined the firm in the last three years did so after having clerked for one or two years.”

Schander Harrison (Philadelphia): $10,000 (tipster w/offers).
Shearman & Sterling: $15,000 (recruiting).
Sidley Austin (Chicago): $35,000, for all federal and state supreme court clerkships (tipster w/offers).
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett: $15,000 (commenter).
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom (New York): $35,000 (tipster w/offers).
Skadden Arps (DC): $20,000 for one year, $35,000 for two years (tipster w/offers).
[Ed. note: Is this Skadden info correct? We’d expect them to pay the same clerkship bonus across offices. Please contact us by email if you know more.]
Smith Gambrell (Atlanta): none (tipster w/offers).
Sutherland Asbill: $10,000 (tipster w/offers).
Wachtell Lipton: none (but with compensation like this, don’t get greedy).
Weil Gotshal & Manges: According to a firm spokesman: “Weil offers 35K for a one-year clerkship and 70K for a two-year bonus.”
White & Case: $15,000 (commenter).
Wiley Rein & Fielding: $25,000 (tipster w/offers).
Williams & Connolly: $25,000 (tipster w/offers; and “no D.C. circuit exception as another commenter suggested”).
Willkie Farr & Gallagher: $15,000 (recruiting).
WilmerHale: $20,000 (tipster w/offers; also a commenter).
Winston & Strawn: $15,000 (tipster w/offers) $35,000 (firm website).
We repeat: these are preliminary findings. If you see mistakes, or if you have additional information to add, please email us (subject line: “Clerkship Bonus”). Thanks!
Earlier: Skaddenfreude: Clerkship Bonus Information, Please

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