One of the many benefits of having a federal clerkship is the extra bonus you’ll receive if you decide to head to a Biglaw firm post-clerkship. Many elite firms really want people with highly demanding clerkship experience to work for them, and that’s why the high end of bonuses for federal clerks who decide to join some Biglaw and boutique firms post-clerkship can reach six figures. To that end, we’ve got exciting news about yet another litigation powerhouse that’s boosted its clerkship signing bonus.
Munger Tolles & Olson — a firm that recently decided to shorten its summer associate program in an effort to make life less “stressful” for law students — announced this week that it will increase its signing bonus to to $180,000 for one qualifying clerkship and $200,000 for two or more qualifying clerkships. Eighty percent of litigators at the firm clerked before joining MTO.
As the firm noted in its announcement, “This change reflects our ongoing commitment to paying market-leading salaries and clerkship bonuses so we can continue attracting the very best lawyers—the foundation of the exceptional service and results we deliver for our clients.”
So, which other firms are offering six-figure bonuses to former clerks? Munger Tolles now joins Susman Godfrey and Hueston Hennigan in offering a market-leading $180,000 bonus to federal clerks who join the firm. Quinn Emanuel offers an impressive $175,000 bonus for a single year of clerkship experience, with an additional $25,000 if the applicant completes a second qualifying clerkship. Boies Schiller offers a $150,000 bonus for all federal clerkships, or $175,000 for those who have completed multiple clerkships. Plaintiffs firm Dovel & Luner offers $140,000 as a clerkship bonus. Cravath offers clerkship bonuses of $125,000, while those who have completed a clerkship of two years or two one-year clerkships will receive a bonus of $150,000. Fish & Richardson offers a $115,000 clerkship bonus, but that only applies to folks with Federal Circuit experience and it requires two years of service as a clerk. Robins Kaplan offers $100,000 bonuses to former federal clerks.
With the rush on top talent in a still hot lateral market, what are the other firms waiting for? Don’t they want to capture some of the magic that former federal clerks can offer? If you have information about any firm’s clerkship bonuses, you should email us or text us (646-820-8477) with all the details. Thanks.
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.