Boutique Law Firms

Elite Firm Now Offering $125,000 Clerkship Bonus

That's a lot of money on the table for former clerks.

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Money illustration. Big stack of dollars and golden coins. Wealth and success.Federal clerkships are incredibly prestigious, and many high-end law firms really want people with that experience to work for them. That’s why the high end of bonuses for federal clerks who decide to join law firms post-clerkship reaches six figures.

The latest firm to up the ante for clerkship bonuses is litigation boutique Hueston Hennigan. Sources at Hueston Hennigan report the prestigious boutique is stepping up and offering $125,000 to former clerks — up from the already above-market $105,000. Astute observers of the legal market probably aren’t surprised by that news — Hueston Hennigan has a reputation of being generous with its bonuses.

While impressive, it’s not the very top of clerkship bonuses — that honor goes to California plaintiffs firm Dovel & Luner who offer a jaw-dropping $140,000 as a clerkship bonus. And Quinn Emanuel has a clerkship bonus of $105,000 and folks with only a single year of clerkship experience are eligible for that bonus, with an addition $20,000 if the applicant completes a second qualifying clerkship. Robins Kaplan offers $100,000 bonuses to former federal clerks. Fish & Richardson made headlines with an impressive number to former clerks ($115,000), but that only applies to folks with Federal Circuit experience and it requires two years of service as a clerk. Munger Tolles pays a bonus of $80,000 for a single federal clerkship, and $105,000 for those with two federal clerkships under their belt. Boies Schiller recently announced a $110,000 signing bonus to federal law clerks.

Despite this good news, most Biglaw clerkship bonuses are still in the $50,000 – $75,000 range. So what are the other firms waiting for? If you have information about any firm’s clerkship bonuses, you should email us or text us (646-820-8477) with all the details. Thanks!

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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