How much are federal clerkship bonuses in 2027?
Three firms pay $180,000 for a single federal clerkship. Here's what each firm publishes: Susman Godfrey and Hueston Hennigan pay $180,000. Munger Tolles & Olson pays $180,000 too (for associates joining on or after July 1, 2027). Susman and Munger Tolles pay $200,000 for two clerkships. Quinn Emanuel pays $175,000 for one and $200,000 for two. Cravath pays $125,000, or $150,000 for two years of clerking. First-years are at $235,000 at firms on the Milbank scale; some large firms, Cravath among them, still list $225,000. See the firm-by-firm table below.
Robins Kaplan announced a $100,000 federal clerkship bonus in September 2020, for lawyers joining after at least one year of clerking. The highest single-clerkship figure in the table below is now $180,000.
| Firm | One clerkship | Two clerkships |
|---|---|---|
| Susman Godfrey (opens the firm's page in a new tab) | $180,000 | $200,000 |
| Munger, Tolles & Olson (opens the firm's page in a new tab)Note 1 | $180,000 | $200,000 |
| Hueston Hennigan (opens the firm's page in a new tab) | $180,000 | Not published |
| Quinn Emanuel (opens the firm's page in a new tab) | $175,000 | $200,000 |
| Boies Schiller Flexner (opens the firm's page in a new tab) | $150,000 | $175,000 |
| Cravath (opens the firm's page in a new tab) | $125,000 | $150,000 |
| Paul, Weiss (opens the firm's page in a new tab) | $125,000 | $150,000 |
| Patterson Belknap (opens the firm's page in a new tab) | $125,000 | $150,000 |
| Selendy Gay (opens the firm's page in a new tab) | $100,000 | $125,000 |
| Robins Kaplan (opens the firm's page in a new tab) | $100,000 | Not published |
| White & Case (opens the firm's page in a new tab) | $50,000 to $100,000 | Not published |
| Bass, Berry & Sims (opens the firm's page in a new tab) | $20,000 | $30,000 |
1For associates joining on or after July 1, 2027.
These firms don't publish a dollar amount: Covington, Latham, Skadden, Kirkland, WilmerHale, Davis Polk, Debevoise, Gibson Dunn, Jones Day, Simpson Thacher, Cooley, Orrick, Wilson Sonsini, Cleary.
Amounts are each firm's own published figure; firms can change them at any time.
How is the clerkship bonus race different from past cycles?
Earlier salary cycles moved the whole associate class, including the 2016 and 2018 market-wide salary moves. This bonus race doesn't. It targets former federal clerks headed to top litigation practices, so firms use money to pull those clerks away from each other.
Three firms publish $200,000 for two clerkships: Susman Godfrey, Munger Tolles & Olson and Quinn Emanuel. A competing offer has to clear that figure.
| Date | Firm | One clerkship |
|---|---|---|
| September 2020 | Robins Kaplan | $100,000 |
| April 2022 | Susman Godfrey | $125,000 |
| March 2024 | Cravath | $125,000 |
| December 2024 | Boies Schiller Flexner | $150,000 |
| March 2025 | Hueston Hennigan | $180,000 |
| March 2025 | Quinn Emanuel | $175,000 |
| March 2026 | Susman Godfrey | $180,000, up from $125,000 |
| October 2026 | Munger, Tolles & Olson (For associates joining on or after July 1, 2027) | $180,000 |
Dates are when each change was announced or first reported. Sources: each firm's announcement as reported.
Source links
- Robins Kaplan, September 2020 (opens in a new tab)
- Susman Godfrey, April 2022 (opens in a new tab)
- Cravath, March 2024 (opens in a new tab)
- Boies Schiller Flexner, December 2024 (opens in a new tab)
- Hueston Hennigan, March 2025 (opens in a new tab)
- Quinn Emanuel, March 2025 (opens in a new tab)
- Susman Godfrey, March 2026 (opens in a new tab)
- Munger, Tolles & Olson, October 2026 (opens in a new tab). For associates joining on or after July 1, 2027.
Can firms paying under $150,000 still recruit former clerks?
A firm paying $125,000 for a single clerkship isn't technically out of market, but it is out of the conversation once a candidate has a Susman or Quinn offer in hand. In my view, a firm paying under $150,000 for a single federal clerkship isn't a credible destination for top lateral litigation associates coming out of a clerkship.
Deciding whether to compete for that candidate is a strategy call. A firm can sit it out, which is fine if it decides it on purpose. The risk is drifting into that choice because the firm's comp committee hasn't revisited the number since 2023.
Do Big Law firms pay 1L signing bonuses?
Sidley, for one, offers a $50,000 signing bonus to students who commit to its 2027 2L summer program and spend their 1L summer in qualifying public service. Details vary by office, and its Texas offices follow a different model. I read these as a way to get ahead of the 2L recruiting cycle.
A firm that pays 1L signing bonuses and also funds clerkship bonuses should check what it now spends per top attorney.
Is the biggest clerkship bonus worth taking?
A $180,000 clerkship bonus is a signal about what the firm expects to extract in return. In my experience, a few of the clerks I've placed at the highest-paying firms told me they billed more and faced tighter reviews.
I tell clerks to weigh that trade before signing. If you take the biggest offer and wash out in 14 months, you've done worse than if you took 60% of that offer and stayed four years. Ask the partners how many former clerks in the litigation group stayed four years.