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As a general matter, people who clerk or pursue elite fellowships for one or two years directly after graduation receive class credit and enter as second or third year associates (in line with their graduating class). A lot of people start as first years at firms and then go to clerk or do a fellowship after, though, and then if they return to the same firm they receive class credit for the years spent away.

For three or more years, it becomes far less certain and many firms will not award more than two years of class credit. This will vary from firm to firm.

They pay you as a second or third year (depending on how many years you clerked), but don't expect to be treated like other second/third years that have been there from the start.

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misterjames wrote:

jimmythecatdied6 wrote:They pay you as a second or third year (depending on how many years you clerked), but don't expect to be treated like other second/third years that have been there from the start.

well a transition period is kind of expected but this almost sounds malicious, you mind expanding?

Regardless of what your clerkship/fellowship was, two years of that will not prepare you to come in and start working as a third year. He doesn't mean you'll be treated poorly or something (I don't think), just that you won't be staffed as a third-year. Example scenario - clerk on delaware chancery court starts at firm in corporate. Yes, that is valuable experience. No, you won't know enough about transactional work to start off doing the same work as other corporate second years.

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unlicensedpotato wrote:

misterjames wrote:

jimmythecatdied6 wrote:They pay you as a second or third year (depending on how many years you clerked), but don't expect to be treated like other second/third years that have been there from the start.

well a transition period is kind of expected but this almost sounds malicious, you mind expanding?

Regardless of what your clerkship/fellowship was, two years of that will not prepare you to come in and start working as a third year. He doesn't mean you'll be treated poorly or something (I don't think), just that you won't be staffed as a third-year. Example scenario - clerk on delaware chancery court starts at firm in corporate. Yes, that is valuable experience. No, you won't know enough about transactional work to start off doing the same work as other corporate second years.

^ This is what I meant. That said, there are definitely junior associates who didn't clerk and who make it a point to let you know that they are "real" second or third years. This lends itself to a pretty shitty inferiority complex to have to deal with in terms of big law drudgery.

I've heard clerks referred to a lot as e.g., "She's a second year but she actually gets paid like a 3rd yr," rather than considering them a 3rd who has only been working 2 yrs

The whole clerkship thing almost seems like a cult to people that either had no interest in clerking or had nowhere near the credentials necessary to clerk out of LS