Three recent ABA Journal articles paint a bleak picture for new law grads looking to use their degrees to - ahem - practice law.
The most recent article points to a study done by Law School Transparency, which indicates that only 55.2 percent of 2011 law school grads were able to find full-time, long-term employment practicing law. Another 26.2 percent were considered "underemployed," which the study defined as "unemployed and seeking work, pursuing an additional advanced degree, in a nonprofessional job, or employed in a short-term or part-time job."
This appears to jibe with the Journal's recent article about an NALP study showing that just less than two thirds of all 2011 law grads landed jobs as lawyers, a record low. Of those, less than 50 percent got jobs in private practice, and just under 17 percent landed with big firms, down significantly from recent years.
And just before that, the Journal posted an article about a law firm that got more than 50 applications for an attorney position paying only $10,000 per year. Needless to say, the story made headlines.
On the flip side, record high numbers of lawyers are being hired for jobs outside the practice of law. In other words, whether this is an aberration or a trend, a law degree still appears to open doors, which is good news.
Posted by SBM staff
