clerks cashing in

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Finishing a year as a law clerk for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in the summer of 2005, Joshua Klein had his pick of high-powered jobs. The firm he settled on, Baker & Botts, offered him a congenial atmosphere and an opportunity to get trial experience. It didn't hurt that there was a hefty signing bonus, too.

"Around $200,000" was considered "market rate," Klein says.

Now, as the current court term winds down, the justices' brilliant and industrious aides can once again expect to be wined and dined by major law firms seeking to hire them -- and to be offered bonuses near the $203,000 an associate justice earns each year on the high court, according to several lawyers familiar with Supreme Court clerk recruitment. The "law clerk bonus," as it's known, is on the rise. Compared with judges' salaries, which Congress refuses to bump up, the soaring clerk bonus "devalues the position of the judiciary," Justice Anthony M. Kennedy complained at a recent congressional hearing.

The clerks are benefiting from the realities of the legal marketplace. Each year, there are multiple firms and multiple jobs -- and only three dozen clerks. Law firms pursuing top-flight appellate practices in Washington and other cities will pay a premium for the ability -- and cachet -- that Supreme Court clerks bring. "It's very competitive to recruit the very best young lawyers," says David Ogden, a partner at Wilmer Hale who is involved in the recruitment process. "The process that selects out Supreme Court clerks tends to pick who the best young lawyers are likely to be. There's a limited number of them."

At major Washington firms, the signing bonus comes on top of a salary of about $150,000 per year, as well as any other annual bonuses a firm pays.

i think i'd be lucky if i saw a quarter of that after my clerkship...

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