Ann Israel is the legal profession's Dear Abby. A New York legal recruiter since 1979, Ann is a past president of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants. Advice for the Lawlorn is updated every week.

Q: I was offered a first-year associate position at a major law firm. However, I was not offered a signing bonus. What is the appropriate way to bring this up with the hiring partner?

City: Palo Alto

Dear California Dreaming: In the minds of many new attorneys out there, you most definitely were offered a signing bonus and it came in the form of a job offer. I have to wonder who put the idea of receiving a signing award bonus into your head.

Once again I must ask the question: are you aware of what is going on in the job market? Do you know how many attorneys are out of work? Have you heard about all of the layoffs in the legal community? Do you read the legal papers in which the headlines blare news of first-year associates with their start dates being deferred until 2010 and even into 2011?

I know, so many of you are busy this summer and don't have time to listen to the news or pick up a newspaper. But I encourage you to enter the real world now that you have graduated from law school and start paying attention to what is happening around you.

Here you are, clearly one of the chosen few, and I mean that without any sarcasm intended whatsoever. You have been offered a first-year associate position at a major law firm with what appears to be no caveats at all -- no deferred start date, no drop in salary, no major issues.

My advice to you, my very fortunate friend, is to tell you that there is no appropriate way to bring up a signing bonus to the hiring partner at this very interesting time in our lives. My suggestion is that you should be extremely thankful that you are starting the practice of law at a major law firm this September and when you sit down at your desk, you should do everything necessary to be the best associate you can possibly be.

Since you wrote that you were starting as a first-year associate, I am assuming that you are not coming in after doing a Supreme Court clerkship -- or any clerkship, for that matter. Had you mentioned something out of the ordinary such as a Supreme Court clerkship I suspect the firm might have offered some type of special bonus to begin with as a competitive measure to insure securing your employment against other firms trying to hire you.

However, unless there is something very compelling about your background that has caused many firms to put themselves into a bidding war type of position to hire you as a first-year associate, I can't imagine any firm offering signing bonuses these days. The way things are going, law school grads are very, very lucky to have a job offer and actually be starting at that job this year.

Be appreciative for what you have -- a big salary at a major law firm and hopefully if all goes well, a nice bonus at the end of your first year. I can't even imagine what a partner would think should you ask for a signing bonus with so many deserving law school grads sitting on deferred start dates from major law firms. Good luck!

Sincerely,
Ann M. Israel
President, Ann Israel & Associates