ABA Says Only 55% of JDs Found Jobs in 2011
When it rains, it pours. According to the American Bar Association in a recent article by Debra Cassens Weiss, only 55.2% of law graduates found full-time, long-term legal jobs in 2011. More than one quarter (26.2%) reported as “underemployed,” meaning they are either unemployed, seeking work or an additional degree, or in a non-legal, part-time or unpaid position. Top programs in terms of placing students in full-time long term jobs were Columbia, Harvard, New York University, Stanford, and the University of Virginia. Those with the lowest job placement rates were Golden Gate University, the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke, and Whittier.
Unfortunately for many, the bad news doesn’t end there. Weiss goes on to say that “among law grads whose employment status was known, only 65.4% were in any kind of jobs requiring bar passage, the lowest percentage ever measured by the group. The overall employment rate nine months after graduation was 85.6%, the lowest it has been since 1994.” Sadly for young law grads and those considering law school, the outlook for finding a good legal job is becoming less likely. One has to wonder how much longer this will take to set in and translate into dwindling law school enrollment.