All numbers on this page include jobs from school-funded employment programs that exploded in popularity after the Great Recession. Please note that the employment information presented is self-reported by UBalt Law School graduates. UBalt`s Law Career Development Office regularly collects employment information from the latest promotion in accordance with guidelines from the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) and the American Bar Association (ABA). Employment statistics change every year according to market fluctuations. There can be no assurance that employment prospects will match annual employment data. Demand for legal talent at major law firms pushed law school employment and salary numbers in 2021 to all-time highs, according to new data released Thursday. These changes appear to reflect decisions to manage law school enrolment, rather than the demand for new lawyers. Between 1976 and 2000, law schools enrolled between ~40,000 and ~44,000 new students each year. From 1976 to 1987, the average was 40,973. From 1988 to 2000, the average was 43,497, just over 6% higher. But between 2000 and 2002, enrolment in law schools increased by 11.2 per cent in the first year. In the following years, enrolments increased steadily, with minor ebbs and flows, reaching a peak of 52,404 in 2010. The number of jobs, on the other hand, is much more stable.

Between 1985 and 2010, the number of new full-time positions generally remained between 27,000 and 30,000. Increased enrolment and a steady number of jobs mean a lower employment rate for law school graduates. Although the legal employment rate has improved, the entry market has weakened structurally. Since 2015, the number of full-time legal positions has fluctuated between 24,000 and 25,000 jobs. The following employment statistics provide an overview of our graduates and include data on full-time, part-time, temporary, legal and non-legal positions. Jobs in large law firms are not evenly distributed among all law schools. Graduates of the top 20 law schools (through internships at large companies) consistently get more than half of these jobs. In 2021, by contrast, 89 schools (45.4%) had less than 10% of their graduation class employed by a large law firm (in each job), with the majority of these schools having less than 5%. The overall employment rate for 2021 law school graduates reached 91.9 percent, a record last set by the class of 2007, according to figures from the National Association for Law Placement. In addition, below are the three most recent summary reports from the Faculty of Law`s National Association for Law Placement (NALP).

The NAP summary reports for the previous year`s class are provided to NAP member schools each fall. Our previously published report for 2017 is available. New graduates accepting jobs requiring passing the bar exam increased from 74.6% to 78.2% for the class of 2020, marking a record high since NALP began using its current classifications in 2001. While the market for all full-time entry-level jobs peaked in 2007, the peak for large law firms was reached a year later. Jobs in large law firms (>100 lawyers) pay the highest salaries, which is becoming increasingly important for servicing below-average debt. Since 2015, the number of jobs in large companies has steadily increased to 6,000. Leipold also pointed to several rounds of significant salary increases at law firms last year, spurred by competition for talent. The percentage of a class of graduates in jobs requiring a legal permit is sensitive to two different supply figures: the total number of graduates and the total number of jobs available. For example, if graduates increase and the number of jobs remains the same, the percentage decreases. The percentage of graduates who obtained full-time positions in law was quite high in the 1980s, peaking at 84.5% in 1988. The average rate was 82.9% in the mid to late 1980s. The next two decades (90s and 00s) each had a ten-point lower average, 73.7% in the 90s and 71.4% in the 00s.

In 10 years, the average was 65.4%, which is almost eight points lower. Tip In the left paneAt the top of the page, you can edit the data pane to view jobs from different angles. Strong employment results have been driven by hiring activity from top law firms, said James Leipold, executive director of NALP. There is “pent-up demand” for transactional work after early COVID-19 closures, resulting in fast-tracked and “super competitive” hiring for entry-level and other lawyer positions, he said. Sara Merken reports on data protection and security as well as the legal economy, including legal innovations and key players in the legal services industry. sara.merken@thomsonreuters.com Leipold said in a statement from the report that he expects the legal labor market to remain strong for law students graduating in 2022 and 2023 due to factors such as relatively stable class sizes and active recruitment of summer partners at law firms. But, he said in the statement, the class of 2023 could “start facing headwinds” if the U.S. enters recession. Large law firms are already facing rising costs and some drop in demand, he said. The overall average salary of law graduates in 2021 for all types of employment was a record $80,000, up from $75,000 for the class of 2020. The 2021 figure represents a 3.5 percentage point increase from a pandemic-related decline to an employment rate of 88.4% for the class of 2020. The average salary for lawyers from law firms of all sizes was $131,500 for the class of 2021, surpassing the previous record of $130,000 set in 2009.

Law firm job numbers include any position in a law firm, regardless of responsibilities or classification, such as long-term or short-term and full-time or part-time work. The David A. Clarke School of Law at the University of the District of Columbia collects and reports information on graduate employment outcomes in accordance with American Bar Association standards.