Which Law Firm Won The SCOTUS Clerk Sweepstakes?
You can probably guess the firm, but can you guess the number of SCOTUS clerks it picked up?
It should come as no surprise that Jones Day has, for at least the fourth year in a row, hired more outgoing Supreme Court law clerks than any other law firm in the country. What will surprise you, though, is the sheer number of clerks that the firm picked up: a whopping ten, or more than a quarter of the 39 clerks to the sitting and retired justices in October Term 2014. The news comes to us from Tony Mauro of the National Law Journal:
Ten U.S. Supreme Court law clerks from last term have joined Jones Day as associates, the firm announced Monday, topping its record-breaking number of seven clerk hires last year.
Beth Heifetz, who heads Jones Day’s issues and appeals practice and clerk hiring, confirmed that the firm “pays the market” in hiring bonuses for former clerks, which is now $300,000 or more. That would mean at least $3 million in bonuses alone for the new associates at the firm.
As we mentioned last year, a handful of firms pay $330,000 signing bonuses. Have any more firms joined that club? And do any firms pay even more than $330,000? If you have info to share, please drop us a line.
Happy Lawyers, Better Results The Key To Thriving In Tough Times
The ten new hires bring Jones Day’s total number of ex-SCOTUS clerks to a whopping 45 firm-wide. Is that a problem? Some observers raised concerns to Mauro:
“Ten Supreme Court clerks from one term going to a single law firm is unquestionably a stunningly large number,” Harvard Law School professor Richard Lazarus told The National Law Journal…. “[W]hen the numbers get so high—in terms of the bonus itself and the numbers of hires going to one firm—it unavoidably raises concerns about what is being purchased and the meaning of public service.”
Seth Waxman, a former U.S. solicitor general who heads the appellate and Supreme Court practice at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, questioned how any firm could provide enough work to such a large number of associates in a way that would grow their talents and keep them at the firm.
“In our practice, we’re looking to mentor and train associates with the intention that they be our colleagues for a long period of time,” Waxman said. “I am skeptical that any law firm could provide that kind of mentoring and commitment” to such a large number of former law clerks.
Beth Heifetz — Jones Day’s SCOTUS clerk wrangler, as head of its issues and appeals practice — refuted the critics. She noted that the clerks are happy with their work, the clients are happy with the clerks, and the retention rate for clerks at the firm is high. Per the NLJ, of the 19 former SCOTUS clerks hired by JD over the past three Terms, only two have left the firm.
In defense of Jones Day (and nobody would accuse Above the Law of being in the tank for the firm), it seems perfectly plausible for the firm to have enough interesting work and solid mentors to keep its SCOTUS clerks happy. The clerks can’t work on Supreme Court cases for two years after their clerkships, but they can work on appellate cases in other courts, as well as law-heavy work in trial courts (e.g., summary judgment motions). Jones Day’s vaunted issues and appeals group has tons of such work, and JD is a huge firm — the #10 firm in the world by revenue and the #7 firm in the world by headcount, per Am Law’s latest Global 100 rankings. So Jones Day doesn’t suffer from a dearth of resources (even if might lack a sense of humor; please note that I have refrained from calling the clerks pictured above “trim, perky and adorable,” to avoid getting a nastygram from JD).
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What other firms picked up SCOTUS clerks this fall? According to Mauro, Gibson Dunn got two (Kathryn Cherry and Samuel Eckman), and Orrick got one.
In addition, up here in New York City, litigation powerhouse Susman Godfrey snagged two (Michael Gervais, starting at the firm in a few weeks, and Mark Musico, who worked at Susman prior to his clerkship). With Gervais and Musico, almost a third of Susman’s NYC office, or six out of 19 full-time lawyers, are former Supreme Court clerks. That’s an impressive statistic, especially since Susman is a trial-focused litigation boutique, not an appellate shop, and not based in Washington, the usual stomping grounds of ex-SCOTUS clerks.
Congratulations to the clerks on their new firms, and to the firms on their new clerks. If you have SCOTUS clerkship bonus news for us, or information about any new clerk hires by the justices — it has been more than two months since our last clerk hiring round-up — please email us or text us (646-820-8477). Please be sure to include the words “SCOTUS Clerk Hiring” somewhere in your email or text, so we can we find these messages in our inundated inboxes. Thanks!
Record Number 10 Supreme Court Clerks Head to Jones Day [National Law Journal]
Earlier: Which Law Firm Won The SCOTUS Clerk Sweepstakes (Again)?
Which Law Firm Won The SCOTUS Clerk Sweepstakes?
Jones Day Does Not Have A Sense Of Humor
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