Law Clerk Salary Forum

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whereskyle

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Re: Law Clerk Salary

Post by whereskyle » Wed Dec 20, 2017 11:50 am

Thanks, A. Nony Mouse

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Re: Law Clerk Salary

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Mar 24, 2018 2:02 pm

If I will be 3 years out of law school by the time I clerk in EDNY, any idea what that is on the GS pay scale? I am seeing conflicting info!

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anon sequitur

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Re: Law Clerk Salary

Post by anon sequitur » Sat Mar 24, 2018 2:14 pm

you are eligible for gs-14 after three years of post-grad legal experience. However, judges are limited to one gs-14 clerk at a time (usually a career clerk, but not necessarily). If your judge already has a gs-14 clerk, they most they can give you is gs-13. I think, but I'm not sure, that you have to start at step 1.

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Re: Law Clerk Salary

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Mar 24, 2018 2:59 pm

anon sequitur wrote:you are eligible for gs-14 after three years of post-grad legal experience. However, judges are limited to one gs-14 clerk at a time (usually a career clerk, but not necessarily). If your judge already has a gs-14 clerk, they most they can give you is gs-13. I think, but I'm not sure, that you have to start at step 1.

I don't believe that is correct. Law clerks are on the JSP scale and to get JSP-14 you need two years of federal judiciary service in addition to three years of post-JD work. You'll be a JSP-13

Quichelorraine

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Re: Law Clerk Salary

Post by Quichelorraine » Sat Mar 24, 2018 3:01 pm

anon sequitur wrote:you are eligible for gs-14 after three years of post-grad legal experience. However, judges are limited to one gs-14 clerk at a time (usually a career clerk, but not necessarily). If your judge already has a gs-14 clerk, they most they can give you is gs-13. I think, but I'm not sure, that you have to start at step 1.
You won't be on the GS payscale; you're on the JSP payscale. Different beast.

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Re: Law Clerk Salary

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Mar 24, 2018 3:36 pm

He doesn’t have a career clerk, so it’s possible that I’d get gs-14, then?!

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Re: Law Clerk Salary

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Mar 24, 2018 3:37 pm

He doesn’t have a career clerk, so it’s possible that I’d get gs-14, then?!

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Re: Law Clerk Salary

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Mar 24, 2018 4:14 pm

Anonymous User wrote:He doesn’t have a career clerk, so it’s possible that I’d get gs-14, then?!

Sorry, I meant JSP, but 13 and 14 is very different so wondering which it is. I’m trying to buy a house. :)

ExperssioUnius

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Re: Law Clerk Salary

Post by ExperssioUnius » Sat Mar 24, 2018 4:40 pm

You can only get JSP-14 if you have at least two years of service within the federal judiciary.

Here is a link to the overview on the rules
https://oscar.uscourts.gov/qualificatio ... y_benefits

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Re: Law Clerk Salary

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Mar 24, 2018 5:40 pm

So that means even if I have 3 years of experience, I can’t be JPS 14?

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Re: Law Clerk Salary

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Mar 24, 2018 6:29 pm

Correct. Unless two of your three years of experience are with the federal judiciary, you cannot get JSP 14.

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anon sequitur

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Re: Law Clerk Salary

Post by anon sequitur » Sat Mar 24, 2018 7:35 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
anon sequitur wrote:you are eligible for gs-14 after three years of post-grad legal experience. However, judges are limited to one gs-14 clerk at a time (usually a career clerk, but not necessarily). If your judge already has a gs-14 clerk, they most they can give you is gs-13. I think, but I'm not sure, that you have to start at step 1.

I don't believe that is correct. Law clerks are on the JSP scale and to get JSP-14 you need two years of federal judiciary service in addition to three years of post-JD work. You'll be a JSP-13
Ah yeah, I forgot about the two years of fed judiciary service you need for jsp-14. Though to be fair, jsp and gs scales are identical in terms of pay, they're just different letters.

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fozzie

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Re: Law Clerk Salary

Post by fozzie » Sun Mar 25, 2018 1:15 am

How broad a category is "legal work experience"? I can't seem to find a definition. Is it up to the judge to decide? In my case, I'm doing a one-year academic fellowship after graduation (think Bigelow or Climenko or the like), then clerking. I wasn't in a rush to take the bar, but if bar + fellowship bump me up to JS12 to start, I'd have to rethink things.

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anon sequitur

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Re: Law Clerk Salary

Post by anon sequitur » Sun Mar 25, 2018 4:22 am

The below is from Oscar. Looks like it's the judge's call. I personally came from a fellowship with a federal agency and they gave me jsp-12 as soon as I was eligible without any questions.
The hiring judge, as the appointing authority, assigns a selectee's grade and step, and thus sets the salary, at the time of appointment. A law clerk’s salary depends upon legal work experience subsequent to graduation from law school, bar membership, and applicable locality pay adjustments:

JSP-11, step 1 – Law school graduates with academic excellence and no legal work experience.
JSP-12, step 1 – One or more years of post-graduate legal work experience and bar membership of a state, territory, or federal court of general jurisdiction.

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Re: Law Clerk Salary

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:49 pm

Reviving the thread since my question's on the topic:

I'm clerking on WDVA next year. Which table should I be looking at for JSP11? I'm confused about whether I should look at table DCB, RCH, VB, or the rest of the country. The city where I'm clerking isn't named on the VA tables.

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Re: Law Clerk Salary

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:54 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:49 pm
Reviving the thread since my question's on the topic:

I'm clerking on WDVA next year. Which table should I be looking at for JSP11? I'm confused about whether I should look at table DCB, RCH, VB, or the rest of the country. The city where I'm clerking isn't named on the VA tables.
probably rest of country.

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Re: Law Clerk Salary

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Mar 25, 2023 12:30 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:54 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:49 pm
Reviving the thread since my question's on the topic:

I'm clerking on WDVA next year. Which table should I be looking at for JSP11? I'm confused about whether I should look at table DCB, RCH, VB, or the rest of the country. The city where I'm clerking isn't named on the VA tables.
probably rest of country.
Yeah, it'll probably be rest of the country, but it's determined by county and there's more detail about which counties count for which localities here: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversig ... finitions/ (the locality determinations are the same regardless of payscale).

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Anonymous User
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Re: Law Clerk Salary

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Mar 25, 2023 9:02 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Sat Mar 25, 2023 12:30 am
Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:54 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:49 pm
Reviving the thread since my question's on the topic:

I'm clerking on WDVA next year. Which table should I be looking at for JSP11? I'm confused about whether I should look at table DCB, RCH, VB, or the rest of the country. The city where I'm clerking isn't named on the VA tables.
probably rest of country.
Yeah, it'll probably be rest of the country, but it's determined by county and there's more detail about which counties count for which localities here: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversig ... finitions/ (the locality determinations are the same regardless of payscale).
Thanks for sharing the link, it was helpful! I was able to check counties and WDVA is rest of the country. It's not a big difference, but it would've been nice to get paid the same as EDVA

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