Clerkship Bonus Raises: Three Is A Trend

Raising clerkship bonuses in the wake of the Biglaw base salary raises makes a lot of sense.

gavel moneyHere’s a question we recently received from a law student reader:

Obviously everyone who is at these firms is thrilled about associate salary raises. Any indication that they will also affect clerkship bonuses though? I realize it’s kind of a niche issue, but if clerkship bonuses stay the same then the opportunity cost of clerking just increased by $20K, which is nothing to shake a stick at when you have six figures of debt.

A very good point — and one apparently recognized by Susman Godfrey, one of the nation’s top litigation boutiques (in fact, the top litigation boutique, according to Vault). From a press release the firm just issued:

National litigation boutique Susman Godfrey LLP has announced that it will be paying larger bonuses to lawyers for federal judicial clerkships. Effective immediately (and applying retroactively to all lawyers who start at the firm this Fall), Susman Godfrey will pay incoming lawyers an $80,000 clerkship bonus if they clerked for one federal judge, and a total of $100,000 in bonuses if they clerked for more than one federal judge.

That $80,000 clerkship bonus is one of the highest around. It beats the $50,000 that’s the standard rate for most Biglaw firms, as well as the $75,000 that Quinn Emanuel announced in January.

This is, by the way, the third clerkship bonus hike that we’ve covered this year. In addition to Quinn Emanuel, the Denver-based litigation boutique of Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP raised to $60,000 in April. So as we’ve said before, both in the compensation context and outside of it, three makes a trend.

Why is Susman making this move? From their press release:

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The firm, which currently has nine former Supreme Court clerks, only hires lawyers who have clerked for federal judges. Firm founder Steve Susman states, “Requiring our new lawyers to have completed a federal clerkship assures that they have unique insight into how judges work and are able to make smart decisions in deciding what cases to take on.”

Co-Managing Partner Neal Manne adds, “These increased clerkship bonuses reflect our continuing commitment to hiring and retaining the best, brightest and most capable young lawyers.”

The enhanced clerkship bonuses definitely increase the allure of Susman to lawyers coming out of clerkships. Other attractions: cutting-edge work, brilliant colleagues, big bonuses, and a short partnership track.

Of course, as we’ve noted before, it’s not easy to get a job at Susman. The firm hires only former federal law clerks.[1] And a federal clerkship is necessary but not sufficient to get a job at the firm; Susman is looking for candidates who really stand out.

Will this series of recent clerkship bonus hikes, combined with the raises in base salaries, cause a major Biglaw firm to go beyond $50,000? That’s surely the hope among the many law students and young lawyers who want to perform the public service of clerking but have huge student loans.

We expect that a large firm will make a move before too long. If and when you hear of a firm raising its clerkship bonus — or bonuses, plural, for multiple clerkships — please email us (subject line: “Clerkship Bonus Watch: [Firm Name]”) or text us (646-820-8477). Thanks.

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P.S. What about those gigantic bonuses for Supreme Court clerks? Per its press release, “Susman Godfrey will continue to pay the going bonus rate to lawyers who clerk for the United States Supreme Court.” What is that going rate? We’ve heard that $330,000, which was slowly gaining traction two years ago, is now standard. If you can provide us with (anonymous) information on which firms now pay $330K (or more), please reach out (subject line: “SCOTUS Clerk Bonuses”).

(Flip to the next page to read the complete Susman Godfrey press release.)

[1] Susman’s requirement of at least one year of clerkship experience is why its base salary scale is effectively a Cravath match. As noted in the update to our post about their recent raises, a “first-year” at Susman is a “second-year” elsewhere.

Earlier: Clerkship Bonus Watch: Will $75K Become The New Standard?
Another Firm Raises Its Clerkship Bonus; Is This A Trend In The Making?
Prestigious Litigation Boutique Announces Nationwide Salary Raises To $190K!!!


David Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at dlat@abovethelaw.com.


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