NALP Bulletin, July 2001
NALP’s employment data for the Class of 2000 show that just over half (54.8%) of employed graduates took jobs in law firms. This translates to 17,383 jobs. As the table at right shows, almost half of these jobs were in the 20 cities providing the most jobs to the Class of 2000. A comparison of minorities and non-minorities taking law firm jobs, however, reveals that minorities as a whole are more likely to obtain their law firm job in one of the 20 largest cities (with 57.3% of law firm jobs in these cities), than are non-minorities, 46% of whom obtained their firm job in one of these cities.
A look at specific racial/ethnic categories reveals further differences, with Asian/Pacific Islander graduates taking law firm jobs most likely to do so in one of the 20 cities. In contrast, the distribution of law firm jobs for Native American graduates mirrors that of non-minorities.
Finally, a city-by-city look at the distribution of jobs by race/ethnicity reveals many differences, as the table at right shows. For example, 90% or more of the law firm jobs in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Austin were obtained by non-minority white graduates. Asian/Pacific Islander representation was highest, not surprisingly, in Los Angeles and San Francisco; Atlanta had by far the largest proportion of African-American graduates taking law firm jobs. Hispanics were most prevalent in Miami and Denver.
Geographic Distribution of Law Firm Jobs Taken by the Class of 2000
| Law Firm Jobs Taken by: |
% in 20 Largest Cities |
% in Other Locations |
# of Jobs |
| All graduates |
48.4% |
51.6% |
17,383 |
| Non-minorities |
46.0 |
54.0 |
13,631 |
| All minorities |
57.3 |
42.7 |
2,784 |
| Native American |
46.2 |
53.8 |
145 |
| Asian/P. Islander |
62.4 |
37.6 |
1,041 |
| African-American |
55.2 |
44.8 |
814 |
| Hispanic |
54.7 |
45.3 |
784 |
Note: All counts, except the overall count, exclude law firm jobs taken by graduates for whom race/ethnicity was not reported.
Distribution of Law Firm Jobs by Race/Ethnicity in 20 Cities — Class of 2000
|
|
PERCENT OF JOBS TAKEN BY: |
# of Jobs | ||||
|
Native American |
Asian/ |
African-American |
Hispanic |
White | ||
|
Boston |
0.2% |
5.1% |
4.6% |
2.7% |
87.4% |
475 |
|
New York City |
0.7 |
10.9 |
6.2 |
4.5 |
77.6 |
1,764 |
|
Philadelphia |
0.3 |
4.4 |
8.1 |
1.4 |
85.8 |
296 |
|
Pittsburgh |
0.0 |
2.3 |
5.1 |
1.1 |
91.4 |
175 |
|
Chicago |
0.8 |
6.7 |
4.3 |
2.8 |
85.4 |
772 |
|
Cleveland |
0.0 |
4.8 |
4.8 |
0.5 |
90.0 |
210 |
|
Columbus |
0.0 |
4.3 |
3.5 |
1.7 |
90.4 |
115 |
|
Minneapolis/St. Paul |
0.5 |
5.4 |
2.5 |
2.0 |
89.7 |
203 |
|
St. Louis |
0.0 |
3.9 |
3.9 |
3.3 |
88.8 |
152 |
|
Washington, DC |
1.7 |
9.1 |
9.1 |
3.1 |
77.0 |
890 |
|
Miami |
0.5 |
2.7 |
6.4 |
35.1 |
55.3 |
188 |
|
Atlanta |
1.0 |
4.2 |
11.4 |
3.1 |
80.3 |
385 |
|
Austin |
0.7 |
2.9 |
0.7 |
5.8 |
89.8 |
137 |
|
Dallas |
0.6 |
4.3 |
4.0 |
5.5 |
85.5 |
325 |
|
Houston |
0.8 |
6.3 |
6.0 |
9.5 |
77.4 |
367 |
|
Denver |
2.6 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
17.9 |
75.5 |
151 |
|
Los Angeles |
0.8 |
15.7 |
4.3 |
10.0 |
69.3 |
632 |
|
San Diego |
3.3 |
7.9 |
2.6 |
6.0 |
80.1 |
151 |
|
San Francisco |
0.3 |
16.7 |
4.2 |
6.7 |
72.1 |
330 |
|
Seattle |
2.7 |
13.3 |
4.0 |
5.3 |
74.7 |
150 |
