A decade of detailed information on law firm opportunities for new law graduates reveals many differences for the 40 cities shown in the table. The cities included are a mix of those traditionally supplying a lot of jobs to new graduates (e.g., Boston and New York), growing cities (e.g., Salt Lake City and San Antonio), and cities for which substantial law firm growth has been suggested (e.g., Boulder, Charlotte, Jacksonville, Kansas City, and Las Vegas). Nationwide figures are provided as a benchmark.

• Among the cities traditionally supplying a large number of jobs to new graduates, Boston has led the way, with a 49% increase from 1991-2000, followed by Washington, D.C., and New York. Population in Boston and Washington, D.C., has decreased or at best held relatively constant. Population has increased modestly in Los Angeles and San Francisco, but the law firm entry-level job market has contracted rather dramatically in Los Angeles and also declined in San Francisco.

• Some cities, such as Baltimore, Hartford, and Philadelphia, have been both losing population and offering fewer law firm opportunities to new graduates.

• In contrast, Cleveland, a city losing population, is offering far more opportunities to new graduates. Detroit and Pittsburgh are also losing population but offering more opportunities.

• With the number of jobs about doubling and tripling respectively, Salt Lake City and Palo Alto lead the way in law firm job growth.

• Population growth in cities such as Raleigh, Phoenix, and Houston has not been accompanied by commensurate job growth. Other growing cities, such as Charlotte, Las Vegas, and Salt Lake City, while not offering large numbers of jobs, nonetheless are offering far more jobs than was the case ten years ago.

• Sunbelt cities have experienced population growth to varying degrees. Some, such as Austin, Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, and San Antonio, have also experienced notable growth in law firm opportunities. Austin offers perhaps the most dramatic example. In many of these cities, this increase has been achieved despite slower growth after 1995. Both Austin and Jacksonville have been identified as potential law firm growth hotspots. Charlotte has also been identified as a growth city and, after a fairly stable market through the mid ‘90s, experienced a 65% increase from 1995 to 2000. Opportunities in Raleigh have grown more modestly.

• Finally, these data provide some perspective on the impact of the recession of the early ‘90s. In some cities, such as Los Angeles and Philadelphia, opportunities decreased in that time and have not recovered to their 1991 levels. In cities such as Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C., the earlier declines have been more than overcome. Some cities, such as Austin, Jacksonville, and Orlando appear to have defied the downturn, while Baltimore and Hartford are on an overall downward trend.

Because NALP employment survey coverage in general has been increasing, and participating schools vary slightly from year to year, figures and percentages are not precise. They are, however, indicative of the contrasts from city to city.
Source for population figures: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 PHC-T-5. Ranking Tables for Incorporated Places of 100,000 or More: 1990 and 2000.
*Figures for Palo Alto and West Palm Beach reflect change from April 1, 1990 to July 1, 1999. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, SU-99-3. Internet release date, October 20, 2000.