Re:Law firms pay Supreme Court clerks $400k bonuses – what a...
by rayiner on Sunday September 27, 2020 @07:50PM
(#24611253)
The study is very well done, and I suspect the conclusion that former clerks have an edge in understanding justices’ idiosyncratic views is correct.
That said, the connection between clerkship bonuses and those margins is not demonstrated at all. The time between a clerk being hired and being allowed to argue before the Court in a major case can be decades. The “billion dollar” cases are argued by established lawyers, not new clerks.
The reason for the bonuses is simpler: there are 36 or so clerks every year and clients are impressed with them, even with non Supreme Court work. (Most clerks don’t end up practicing before the Supreme Court anyway.)
That said, the connection between clerkship bonuses and those margins is not demonstrated at all. The time between a clerk being hired and being allowed to argue before the Court in a major case can be decades. The “billion dollar” cases are argued by established lawyers, not new clerks.
The reason for the bonuses is simpler: there are 36 or so clerks every year and clients are impressed with them, even with non Supreme Court work. (Most clerks don’t end up practicing before the Supreme Court anyway.)