Superior Qualifications and Special Needs Pay-Setting Authority Forum

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone had any experience with the Court Administration using the Superior Qualifications and Special Needs Pay-Setting Authority to augment a federal term clerks salary? Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous User]

To be clear, I don’t have relevant experience, but I would be shocked if this was viable, just given the state of the clerkship market. There’s a serious over-supply of qualified clerks. I can see that if someone applied after working for a while (more than a few years) they’d arguably have superior qualifications (especially if you worked as a career clerk), but I highly doubt they’d fulfill special needs and I don’t think most of the factors that support a higher pay rate would apply.

You may well be dealing with special circumstances that make this appropriate that I’m just not creative enough to think of. And if your judge has suggested it, then obviously go with what they say. But if it’s just “I worked biglaw for a few years and this is a massive pay cut,” I’d be really really surprised if it was possible. I could just be too negative so if someone has actual experience, obviously that’s more pertinent and ignore me. But I’ve never heard of this happening and I would be surprised.

[Anonymous User]

No, the guide to judiciary policy expressly prohibits it for chambers law clerks. Your judge would have to petition the judicial conference for an exception, which won’t happen. Given the budget crunch they are trying to lower chambers costs, not raise them.

[Anonymous User]

“Judicial Conference policy permits only one grade 14 law clerk per chambers.”

https://oscar.uscourts.gov/qualificatio ... its#salary

To even qualify at grade 14, one needs in addition to 3 years of legal work post grad experience - with “at least two years as a judicial law clerk, staff attorney, pro se law clerk, death penalty law clerk, or bankruptcy appellate panel law clerk in the federal judiciary; or with one of those two years serving as a Supreme Court Fellow.”