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Hi, all. I am starting a federal clerkship after graduation this August. I had a couple of questions about pay. For reference, I’m clerking in an area that is the “Rest of the US.”

1. My judge (last year) told me my pay would be around $64,000, but the JP11 pay now is $67,000. I assume that there was a pay raise given the inflation, so should I just assume I’ll get the $67,000?

2. How often do these inflation raises (if that’s what they are, or otherwise) occur? Should I expect a bump between now and August?

3. I have about $80k in student loan debt. If I go with IBR (please tell me if I should do otherwise), what would my estimated monthly payment be?

Thanks!

Yes, you should expect to get the higher salary. Cost-of-living adjustments happen in January, so you shouldn’t anticipate one before August.

For IBR, there are plenty of calculators online to evaluate your options and plenty of wiser folks to give you advice on that front!

Agreed with the above. Also, as for IBR, as long as you qualify with you debt to income ratio (and you will), the payment is based on your income, and has nothing to do with the amount of debt you have. The calculators suggested above are very straightforward.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 20, 2022 11:00 am

Hi, all. I am starting a federal clerkship after graduation this August. I had a couple of questions about pay. For reference, I’m clerking in an area that is the “Rest of the US.”

1. My judge (last year) told me my pay would be around $64,000, but the JP11 pay now is $67,000. I assume that there was a pay raise given the inflation, so should I just assume I’ll get the $67,000?

2. How often do these inflation raises (if that’s what they are, or otherwise) occur? Should I expect a bump between now and August?

3. I have about $80k in student loan debt. If I go with IBR (please tell me if I should do otherwise), what would my estimated monthly payment be?

Thanks!

1. You can assume it will be slightly higher that $67k after the pay bump in January.

2. There aren't really inflation raises. Salary gets reevaluated every year and there's usually a nominal increase that is effective each January. I think this year it may have been a total of 3.5% including locality pay, but I can't remember the exact percentage. The issue is that while congress takes into account inflation, the pay increase will definitely not keep pace with inflation as it is right now.

3. What are your post-clerkship plans? If you're going into biglaw, REPAYE is probably your best bet (maybe not if you're married though). It'll provide a small interest subsidy and lower your monthly payment so you can live comfortably during your clerkship. Then after you start in biglaw you can just pay down your loans quickly. If you don't do a payment plan, you can probably afford the $900/mo for your loans, but you may just have to be more frugal.
If you're going to government/non-profit work and are considering PSLF, definitely do one of the repayment programs (which one is best for you will depend on your specific situation).