Law Schools

Job Market For Law School Grads Is 'Best Since The Recession,' Bolstered By Biglaw Hiring

Exciting news that must be tempered with some cold, hard facts.

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In times like these, you’ll probably get one!

It’s been years since we’ve seen a truly positive law school jobs report, but now that we’re about a decade out from the nation’s financial turmoil that wreaked havoc upon the legal profession, we’re staring down the “best employment outcomes since the recession.”

According to the latest entry-level employment figures from the National Association of Law Placement (NALP), the class of 2017’s employment outcomes were “surprisingly strong.” Not only did overall graduate employment increase to 88.6 percent (one percent over the class of 2016), but the number of graduates employed in jobs that require bar passage within 10 months of graduation increased by more than 4 percent to 71.8 percent. On top of that, at 68.8 percent, the measure of graduates in full-time, long-term jobs where bar passage was actually higher than the rate measured before the recession. Here’s what James Leipold, NALP’s executive director, had to say about the latest employment figures:

Some cautious optimism seems in order. Barring another economic slowdown or interruption and barring a significant jump in law school enrollment as a result of rising applications, the employment outlook for recent law school graduates looks brighter (if not exactly rosy) than it has at any time since 2008, and that is good news.

In fact, much of the class of 2017’s success in the job market was thanks to Biglaw employment. About 370 more associates were hired at firms with more than 500 lawyers than in 2016, such that 25.5 percent of 2017 graduates employed in law firm jobs were employed at Biglaw firms. According to Leipold, Biglaw firms “hired more law school graduates than at any time since the recession.”

Before you get too excited, please allow us to temper it with some cold, hard facts about the class of 2017. From a press release about the latest NALP numbers:

• For the third year in a row the actual number of jobs obtained was flat or went down in virtually every sector except the largest law firms of more than 500 lawyers. Members of this class secured just 16,390 jobs in law firms of any size, down by more than 4,000 since the number of those jobs peaked for the Class of 2007. And while the largest law firms of more than 500 lawyers hired more law school graduates than at any time since the recession, the number of entry-level jobs at those firms is still off by nearly 600 positions compared with the peak hiring measured with the Class of 2008.

• The size of the 2017 graduating class was smaller, with just 34,922 graduates entering the job market compared to the historically large Class of 2013 that produced 46,776 job seekers; this represents a contraction of more than 25% over four years.

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And from Karen Sloan’s intrepid reporting at Law.com:

[F]or the fourth straight year, employment gains in the entry-level job market were the result of fewer law graduates vying for jobs and not from an actual increase in jobs.

For instance, the class of 2017 was 2,200 smaller than the class of 2016 and 25 percent smaller than the historically large class of 2013.

In terms of actual jobs, the class of 2017 secured 1,200 fewer positions than the previous graduating class, even though their employment rate was higher.

Per Leipold, the startling drop in law school enrollment that has occurred over the past few years “provided the correction that was needed, and we are closer than at any time since the recession to having the number of law school graduates more closely match the number and kind of jobs available.” Counter this with the fact that law school applications are now surging. Will law schools continue to enroll smaller classes to ensure that their graduates will be able to find jobs, or will they take students’ nondischargeable student loan dollars and run?

If we take past as precedent, current and prospective law students will have to seriously evaluate their commitment to law school, because as Jim Leipold notes, “the unemployment rate ten months after graduation still remains much higher than it should be.” How much higher are we talking here? It’s actually more than three percentage points higher than it was before the recession.

Leipold cautions that “this elevated unemployment rate remains an important marker of the current job market for new law school graduates.” Yes, law school may be less of a risky investment now than it was at any time over the course of the past 10 years, but it’s still a risk. Always remember that and be sure to do your research before you enroll — but in the meantime, law school graduates can enjoy all of their sweet Biglaw cash.

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Employment for the Class of 2017 – Selected Findings [NALP]
Job Market for Law Grads ‘Surprisingly Strong,’ NALP Finds [Law.com]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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