Elite Law Firm Will Offer $150,000 In Clerkship Bonuses

// All the best law firms want attorneys with the best experience. That makes folks with federal clerkships under their belt incredibly well sought after. That’s why the high end of bonuses for federal clerks who decide to join law firms post-clerkship reaches six figures.

Elite law firm — seriously, they’ve been ranked as the #1 litigation boutique for 11 consecutive years by Vault — Susman Godfrey announced today that they’re upping their clerkship bonuses:

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Associates who join the firm after clerking for one year at the federal district or appellate level will receive a $125,000 clerkship bonus. Associates who join the firm immediately after completing two or more federal clerkships will receive a bonus of $150,000. United States Supreme Court clerks will receive an additional bonus and credit toward partnership.

Nice. Plus the firm will advance up to $25,000 of the bonus to an incoming associate, with the balance to be paid once they start at the firm. Susman Godfrey has long been on the cutting edge of clerkship bonuses, so it’s no surprise they’ve upped the ante again.

Managing Partners Kalpana Srinivasan and Vineet Bhatia had this to say about the decision to up the clerkship bonuses:

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“We recruit top tier talent and to get top tier talent, we are willing to pay top tier bonuses. We are proud that we can increase our clerkship bonuses as our litigation practice thrives and we experience growing demand for exceptional lawyers.”

While the co-chairs of the firm’s Employment Committee, Davida Brook and Ryan Caughey, said:

“The increased bonuses reflect our continued commitment to hiring the best, brightest and most capable young lawyers in the nation.”

So, which other firms are offering six-figure bonuses to former clerks? There’s  California plaintiffs firm Dovel & Luner, which offers an impressive $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 additional $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. Hueston Hennigan pays $125,000 to former clerks. And 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!

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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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