NALP Bulletin+
February 2023
Since the Class of 2015, the percentage of law graduates working in law firms, and in particular, large law firms, has been increasing according to analyses from NALP's annual Employment Report and Salary Survey. However, just a small fraction of those law firm jobs — typically less than 1% — are found in public interest law firms. While a public interest law firm is defined as a private and for-profit firm, it is distinguished from other private firms in that a majority of its practice involves clients that are typically underrepresented, or groups that advocate for community, rather than corporate interests. Sliding fee cases and contingent fee cases are common. Typical areas of practice for public interest law firms include plaintiff's employment discrimination, civil rights, environmental law, and union representation. The characteristics of these jobs are often quite different as compared to the private practice sector overall.
Table 1 displays demographic information on law graduates working in public interest firms for the 5 most recent graduating classes. The majority of graduates employed in public interest law firms are women, with percentages similar to the public interest sector. In contrast, there are no discernable patterns in the data by race/ethnicity where figures vary considerably from year to year.
Table 2 shows trend information on public interest law firm jobs by firm size. Except for 2019, more than 90% of public interest law firm jobs were typically found in firms of 50 or fewer lawyers, with the majority in firms of 1-10 lawyers. For comparison, nearly half of all law firm jobs taken by the Class of 2021 were in firms of more than 50 lawyers.
That small-size firm orientation, in addition to the low-bono nature of public interest firms, contributes to lower salaries as compared to the private practice sector overall, but salaries are typically higher as compared to public interest jobs in the nonprofit sector. For example, for the Class of 2021 the median salary for public interest law firm employment was $75,000 — that falls in between the medians of $131,500 and $58,000 in private practice and public interest, respectively. However, comparisons by firm size are much more akin to the class overall. For example, for the Class of 2021 the overall median salary for a graduate working in a law firm of 1-10 lawyers was $65,000. For public interest firms of 1-10 lawyers, the median salary was actually slightly higher, at $67,500. (See Chart 1.)
Similar patterns are evident with average salaries as well. For the Class of 2021, the average public interest law firm salary of $81,120 fell in between the public interest and private practice averages of approximately $59,440 and $137,840, respectively. As with median salaries, comparisons by firm size between law firms overall and public interest law firms are much more analogous. The average salary for public interest firms of 1-10 lawyers was $70,750; that compares to an average salary of approximately $69,670 for all law firms of this size. In general, public interest law firm salaries increase in tandem with firm size, although the median and average figures may be more subject to fluctuation from year-to-year due to the relatively small number of jobs and changes in the composition of firms hiring each year. (See Chart 2.)
As the data illustrate, public interest law firm employment — jobs that offer a hybrid of both private and public aspirations — provide law graduates the opportunity to work in a smaller firm setting, with salaries that are competitive with other law firms of a similar size.
Additional data on employment and salary outcomes are available in Jobs & JDs: Employment and Salaries of New Graduates, Class of 2021 — available now from the NALP Bookstore.
| Graduate Demographics | Percentage* of Graduates Who Were: | ||||
| 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| By Gender: | |||||
| Men | 37.8% | 32.4% | 35.1% | 42.0% | 34.5% |
| Women | 60.6% | 66.9% | 63.2% | 57.0% | 64.7% |
| Non-binary | 1.6% | 0.7% | 1.8% | 1.0% | 0.8% |
| By Race/Ethnicity: | |||||
| Asian | 6.6% | 3.6% | 5.7% | 4.1% | 6.1% |
| Black or African American | 4.9% | 9.4% | 6.7% | 6.1% | 12.3% |
| Latinx | 7.4% | 9.4% | 17.1% | 11.2% | 18.4% |
| Multiracial | 9.0% | 7.3% | 4.8% | 2.0% | 3.5% |
| Native American or Alaska Native | 0.8% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.0% | 1.8% |
| Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander | 0.0% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| White/Caucasian | 71.3% | 69.6% | 65.7% | 75.5% | 57.9% |
| Total Number of Graduates | 136 | 144 | 115 | 103 | 122 |
* Percentages are based on the total number of graduates reporting the corresponding demographic information, which may be less than the total number of graduates employed in a public interest law firm in the final row of the table.
Source: NALP's Employment Report and Salary Survey, Classes of 2017-2021.
Table 2. Public Interest Law Firm Employment by Firm Size, Classes of 2017-2021 (in percentages)
| Firm Size | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Solo Practitioner | 2.9% | 6.3% | 4.3% | 6.8% | 8.2% |
| 1-10 Lawyers | 52.2% | 56.9% | 53.0% | 49.5% | 58.2% |
| 11-25 Lawyers | 23.5% | 21.5% | 16.5% | 24.3% | 16.4% |
| 26-50 Lawyers | 14.7% | 10.4% | 8.7% | 10.7% | 12.3% |
| 51+ Lawyers | 5.9% | 4.2% | 12.2% | 8.7% | 3.3% |
| Firm Size Unknown | 0.7% | 0.7% | 5.2% | 0.0% | 1.6% |
| Total Number of Jobs | 136 | 144 | 115 | 103 | 122 |
Source: NALP's Employment Report and Salary Survey, Classes of 2017-2021.
Note: Salaries for firms of 51 or more lawyers are not shown due to the small number of graduates working in public interest firms of this size.
Source: NALP's Employment Report and Salary Survey, Classes of 2017-2021.
Note: Salaries for firms of 51 or more lawyers are not shown due to the small number of graduates working in public interest firms of this size. Average salaries have been rounded to the nearest $10.
Source: NALP's Employment Report and Salary Survey, Classes of 2017-2021.
