Clerkship Bonus Watch: Davis Polk Joins the $70K Club
Here’s a topic we haven’t written about in a while: clerkship bonuses. But we’re guessing it’s of interest to at least some of you, judging from the robust discussion on the recent Community post an ATL reader started about law firms hiring — or not hiring — judicial law clerks.
A source passes along this information about Davis Polk & Wardwell:
The firm is amending its clerkship bonus policy to pay $50,000 for a one-year clerkship and a $70,000 clerkship bonus for a two-year clerkship or two one-year clerkships. As you know, Cravath, Debevoise, Paul Weiss, Shearman, Skadden and S&C have this policy in place.
The full clerkship bonus policy of DPW, after the jump.
DAVIS POLK & WARDWELL — CLERKSHIP BONUS POLICY
Any student who clerks for a U.S. federal or state or Canadian court directly after graduating from law school and taking the bar exam will be eligible to receive a bonus of $50,000 for a one-year clerkship or $70,000 for a two-year clerkship or two one-year clerkships and will remain with his or her class for compensation purposes (assuming he or she arrives at the firm within 6 months of the end of the clerkship).
Any associate who works in our litigation department and who is considered to be in good standing prior to beginning a U.S. federal or state clerkship will be eligible to receive an offer to return to the firm following his/her clerkship. Upon return to the firm (assuming he or she returns within 3 months of the end of the clerkship), he or she will remain with his or her class for compensation purposes, be eligible to receive a clerkship bonus, as explained above, and will receive credit for time spent at the firm as an associate prior to leaving for the clerkship for purposes of office allocation and annual bonus payments. Associates will receive a pro-rated bonus payment for the year in which they left the firm to clerk in December of the year that they return to the firm, along with a pro-rated bonus payment for that year. Total bonus payments for the two years will be capped at the amount of the full current year bonus. Any associate who received a bonus with respect to a clerkship completed prior to joining the firm will not be eligible for a second clerkship bonus upon returning to the firm after a subsequent clerkship.
Any associate who works in our corporate, tax or trust & estates departments and accepts a clerkship for a time period beginning after employment as an associate is encouraged to reapply near the end of his or her clerkship (regardless of the length of clerkship). Seniority and compensation would be discussed at the time of an offer.
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What do these firms give as bonuses for career clerks or clerks who have more than two years of tenure in the federal courts? If someone clerks for 3+ years, do firms give the 2 year bonus + class bump up?
This policy makes a ton of sense -- including the way that they handle the bonus. It does a good job aligning the interests of the firm and the interests of clerks.
I had a friend who clerked three years, they would not give him a class bump, not sure about the bonus. It actually can be difficult to get a job at a firm with three or more years of clerking (with some obvious exceptions), you cost the firm a lot of money, you don't have any firm experience, and you likely will have to leave the firm soon unless you plan to go for partner.
9:30: What if you already have firm experience prior to clerking?
Yawn. Williams and Connolly gives 90k for 2 years
Guys in my high school use to clerk and receive 70K bonuses all the time, it's no big deal.
what took them so long?
This is a mere chimera.
A smoke-screen!
Same policy at Latham. $50K for one year, $70K for two.
GULC to 190.
GULC to 190.
RIP Above the Law
2006 - 2008
We knew ye well in yer' olden days; O! a drop of sense will fare thee well in thine devilish new javascriptin' ways.
There doesn't seem to be any restriction of the type of federal or state court clerkship that would get you a bonus. How common is this in other firms? I was under the impression that most firms require an Article III or state supreme court clerkship for a bonus.
I know that people w/ Davis Polk-type credentials won't be clerking at low-level state courts, but I was curious about stuff like the Tax Court, DE Chancery, or even a magistrate judge.
The end.
NY to 190K - it's gonna happen real soon!
Yeah, 10:22. NY to 190 is about as likely as NY to complete viral death a la "I am Legend"
NO predefined clerkship bonus for corporate associates? I don't think this is a common practice, is it?
Can we get a survey on whether other firms have different compensation incentives for clerks going to different practice groups and whether Davis's practice is TTT.
10:22: It would be nice, and it *should* happen. Financially, it *could* happen . . . meaning BigLaw can afford it. But, if it hasn't happened by now, it's not going to. I would think April, marking the end of the first quarter, would be the absolute latest such an announcement would take place. I think NY is stuck at 160k for quite some time. The economic slowdown is their perfect excuse.
For what its worth, I went to UVA and I make 190.
So you could clerk for a state traffic judge in South Dakota and get a $70k bonus?
Does anyone have any information on clerkship bonuses at Hunton & Williams?
10:22 - this would be a perfect time for the truly elite law firms to separate themselves from the pack. that said, I don't see this happening - perhaps 175K or 180K?
DPW is lame.
To 11:06:
How many former South Dakota traffic court clerks do you think Davis Polk hires? My guess is that they don't hire very many people from clerkship other than Article III courts and state courts of final review. Their expansive policy will mean that they give a bonus to one BK court or state intermediate court clerk every few years. At most. DPW's website allows you to search attorneys by clerkship. They apparently have zero clerks from intermediate or trial level state courts and zero bankruptcy court clerks. There's one tax court clerk, one court of international trade and a bunch of foreign Supreme Courts. Everyone else is Article III or state high court.
Hunton & Williams only pays a $15k clerkship bonus.
court of international trade is article iii.
Has WilmerHale caught up with the others yet?
and Cleary! Cleary's had this policy since last yr
9:34 - My friend actually did have prior experience at a firm (he worked for one year before clerking for three). Granted, he did not try to go back to his old firm, maybe they would have given him credit. At any rate, he found it surprising that most of the NY V-10 firms were hesistant to hire him due to his peculiar situation.
9:30
anyone know Akin Gump DC? I hear it's 30K
Does anybody know about DPW in Menlo Park? Strengths, how competitive it is to get a job there, good place to work, etc.?
Is DPW matching $300k for SCt clerks, or do they not want any?
I donno about hard it is to get a job in Menlo Park at DPW, but they definitely do a lot of good work there. They also do a lot of work there. i guess that's par for the course though.
Argh.
- 2 yr clerk who joined DPW last fall
Can someone clarify what the Boston market rate for one year of clerking is for the top firms? ATL's chart makes it look like Wilmer and Goodwin are paying $50k while Ropes is paying only $35k. That seems odd.
You arent going to see a market jump in 2008. I think we may see it in 09. But you're smoking something wonderful if you think they're going to raise 1st year baseline by $30,000. I think 15-20 isn't out of the question. NY 09, slow filter across grumbling firms, with a ubiquitous 175-180k base throughout US as market by 2010.
This is pretty late in the game if you ask me.