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Hello,

Hoping someone has a definitive answer from a firm website or from personal experience, but will an attorney who worked for 3+ years for the government, then clerks for an Art. III judge, receive a "clerkship bonus" when joining a firm? I read a post from another thread that stated "a friend was treated like a lateral and didn't receive a clerkship bonus after taking this untraditional approach," but I'm hoping this is the minority position. Any insight from other folks? When I review various firm's websites, it seems to simply indicate those coming directly from an Art. III clerkship will receive a bonus, without distinguishing between experienced laterals and entry level attorneys. I understand I should qualify for "class credit," but I was looking forward to that clerkship and signing bonus having been a "public servant" for a while.

I have a feeling that the answer is simply: it depends on the firm and you'll have to negotiate.

Yeah, there's an element of negotiation in the terms of clerkship hiring, but my impression is that "market" would be for you to get a clerkship bonus. I think things get trickier as you get more senior (in terms of maybe giving up class years, clerkship bonus) but I don't think you're that far out yet. I'd be surprised if you didn't get the bonus—I've known plenty of people who went back to biglaw (having been associates for 1-4 years) after clerking for a year or two and who got the market clerkship bonus ($50k for one, $70k for two years).

BlackAndOrange84 wrote:Yeah, there's an element of negotiation in the terms of clerkship hiring, but my impression is that "market" would be for you to get a clerkship bonus. I think things get trickier as you get more senior (in terms of maybe giving up class years, clerkship bonus) but I don't think you're that far out yet. I'd be surprised if you didn't get the bonus—I've known plenty of people who went back to biglaw (having been associates for 1-4 years) after clerking for a year or two and who got the market clerkship bonus ($50k for one, $70k for two years).

Has anyone heard of laterals managing to negotiate 70k if their clerkships were non-consecutive (e.g., clerk out of LS, two years in biglaw, clerk again, back to biglaw with 70k bonus?). This would be a bit unfair, given that you're essentially getting paid twice for the first clerkship, but wondering if it's something I could plausibly ask for.

Anonymous User wrote:

BlackAndOrange84 wrote:Yeah, there's an element of negotiation in the terms of clerkship hiring, but my impression is that "market" would be for you to get a clerkship bonus. I think things get trickier as you get more senior (in terms of maybe giving up class years, clerkship bonus) but I don't think you're that far out yet. I'd be surprised if you didn't get the bonus—I've known plenty of people who went back to biglaw (having been associates for 1-4 years) after clerking for a year or two and who got the market clerkship bonus ($50k for one, $70k for two years).

Has anyone heard of laterals managing to negotiate 70k if their clerkships were non-consecutive (e.g., clerk out of LS, two years in biglaw, clerk again, back to biglaw with 70k bonus?). This would be a bit unfair, given that you're essentially getting paid twice for the first clerkship, but wondering if it's something I could plausibly ask for.

Same firm? Unlikely but possible.
Different firms? Probably.

Anonymous User wrote:

BlackAndOrange84 wrote:Yeah, there's an element of negotiation in the terms of clerkship hiring, but my impression is that "market" would be for you to get a clerkship bonus. I think things get trickier as you get more senior (in terms of maybe giving up class years, clerkship bonus) but I don't think you're that far out yet. I'd be surprised if you didn't get the bonus—I've known plenty of people who went back to biglaw (having been associates for 1-4 years) after clerking for a year or two and who got the market clerkship bonus ($50k for one, $70k for two years).

Has anyone heard of laterals managing to negotiate 70k if their clerkships were non-consecutive (e.g., clerk out of LS, two years in biglaw, clerk again, back to biglaw with 70k bonus?). This would be a bit unfair, given that you're essentially getting paid twice for the first clerkship, but wondering if it's something I could plausibly ask for.

I know someone who managed to do this, so, yes, possible. But with different firms.