Top Law Schools

I was a summer associate in 2017 at a V20 and I received an offer. I had already accepted a federal clerkship, which I told them before accepting the offer. I never asked anything about a a clerkship bonus, and they never mentioned it.

Now I'm clerking and wondering whether (and when) I should reach out to them about the clerkship bonus. My understanding is that they pay a market bonus (based on reports online, but I'm a little uneasy because I didn't discuss with them it either way. The firm covered my bar-related expenses, so I wouldn't really be able to back out now without repaying that. Any insight or suggestions would be great.

Anonymous User wrote:I was a summer associate in 2017 at a V20 and I received an offer. I had already accepted a federal clerkship, which I told them before accepting the offer. I never asked anything about a a clerkship bonus, and they never mentioned it.

Now I'm clerking and wondering whether (and when) I should reach out to them about the clerkship bonus. My understanding is that they pay a market bonus (based on reports online, but I'm a little uneasy because I didn't discuss with them it either way. The firm covered my bar-related expenses, so I wouldn't really be able to back out now without repaying that. Any insight or suggestions would be great.

At big firms like that it will be the market bonus. They're not going to negotiate on that (but they also won't not pay it out just because it wasn't made explicit beforehand).

Anonymous User wrote:I was a summer associate in 2017 at a V20 and I received an offer. I had already accepted a federal clerkship, which I told them before accepting the offer. I never asked anything about a a clerkship bonus, and they never mentioned it.

Now I'm clerking and wondering whether (and when) I should reach out to them about the clerkship bonus. My understanding is that they pay a market bonus (based on reports online, but I'm a little uneasy because I didn't discuss with them it either way. The firm covered my bar-related expenses, so I wouldn't really be able to back out now without repaying that. Any insight or suggestions would be great.

I’m a little unclear on the timing but I see no harm in confirming the bonus. If they pay a market bonus, you will receive it as a matter of firm policy.