Clerkship bonus jumps, who will follow?

All around the clerkship circuit, people are buzzing about the fact that S&C have upped their clerkship bonus to $50k (details as to what type of clerkship qualifies remains unknown). Regardless, it seems inevitable that the rest of the big firms will follow and up their ante from the $10-25k range to somewhere in the $35k ballpark. If the rest of the big law firms follow to $35k, that will at least be around $21k after taxes, so it's something, and it's not something to sniff at.

Someone pointed out on Above the Law, and I agree, that the giant clerkship bonus, while great for the clerks, is even better for 1Ls who are going to be applying to these firms in the next few months. A fair question to ask is whether and to what extent they expect/desire their associates to clerk. And when it does come out that Firm SC pays $50k, Firm Sk pays $35k, and Firm X pays $10 or $15k, I would naturally wonder where the incentive would be to first give up $100k+ in salary for the grunt work of a clerkship for a year and then go to Firm X for a $10 or $15k pittance in exchange for the insider knowledge the clerk now possesses. Obviously some firms do value the experience more than others, and this will undoubtedly have a ripple effect across the board.

So, if Firms X don't want to lose 1Ls to these more generous firms, they will have to match these amounts or at least put themselves in striking distance. (Which is great for those who will become the greedy associates they may have never thought they would be). I could take a holier-than-thou stance on this whole thing and say that any bonus is a great bonus, and there is not much difference once you're past $100k (or $20 to $35 or $35 to $50), but that would not be entirely true. I'll take a doubling of my clerkship salary anyday. I look at it as either a new car or a fat check to the student loan corporation.

Tags: clerkship bonus