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I'm trying to do some financial planning, and had a question I was hoping someone could answer from experience. I understand there may be variation among firms. I'm just trying to get a sense of the various likelihoods if that's the case.

If you clerk for a year, and then go to a firm that gives class credit, what end-of-year bonus should you plan for in the year that you join the firm? (assuming in the fall, post-clerkship) Is it correct to assume that you'll be paid a prorated "true" first-year associate bonus? (i.e., this year, approximately $2,500) Or is it possible that you would get paid "with" your class year and therefore get a full "true" first-year associate bonus, i.e., $10,000?

I'm sure this is something that varies firm-to-firm. However, if you're going to a lockstep firm, I think you'd probably get the full bonus with your class (even if its lockstep with a minimum hour requirement that you couldn't possibly meet in your stub year). If you're at a firm with merit bonuses, who knows.

I'm familiar with the practices of a couple of firms. Both firms treat clerks as if they are new associates with no experience for the purposes of the stub year bonus, even though those same clerks are paid as second-year associates during their first full year.