NALP Bulletin, April 2003
NALP's employment data for the Class of 2001 show that more than half (57.8%) of employed graduates took jobs in law firms. This translates to 18,008 jobs. Not quite half of these jobs were located in the 20 cities providing the most jobs to the Class of 2001 (see table below, Distribution of Law Firm Jobs by Race/Ethnicity in 20 Cities). 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 54.4% of law firm jobs taken by minority graduates in these cities) than are non-minorities, 43% of whom obtained their firm job in one of these cities.
A look at specific racial/ethnic categories reveals further differences. Asian/Pacific Islander graduates were most likely to take a law firm job in one of the 20 cities, and Native American graduates were least likely to do so.
Finally, a city by city look at distribution of jobs by race/ethnicity reveals many differences, as the table at left shows. For example, 90% or more of the law firm jobs in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, and Minneapolis/St. Paul were obtained by non-minorities. Asian/Pacific Islander representation was highest in Palo Alto, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Atlanta had the largest proportion of African-American graduates taking law firm jobs, and over one-third of law firm jobs taken in Miami were taken by Hispanics.
Geographic Distribution of Law Firm Jobs Taken by the Class of 2001
| Law firm jobs taken by: | % in 20 largest cities | % in other locations | # of jobs |
| All graduates | 45.5% | 54.5% | 18,008 |
| All minorities | 54.4 | 45.6 | 2,948 |
| Non-minorities | 43.1 | 56.9 | 14,022 |
| Native American | 33.0 | 67.0 | 88 |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 61.3 | 38.7 | 1,150 |
| African-American | 54.0 | 46.0 | 835 |
| Multi-racial | 43.1 | 56.9 | 72 |
| Hispanic | 48.3 | 51.7 | 803 |
Note: All counts, except the overall count, exclude law firm jobs taken by graduates for whom race/ethnicity was not reported. The Asian/Pacific Islander category includes East Indian/Pakistani graduates.
Distribution of Law Firm Jobs by Race/Ethnicity in 20 Cities — Class of 2001
| PERCENT OF JOBS TAKEN BY GRADUATES WHO WERE: | # of jobs | ||||||
| Native American |
Asian/ P. Islander |
African- American |
Hispanic | Multi- racial |
Caucasian | ||
| Atlanta | 0.00% | 4.69% | 12.24% | 0.52% | 0.78% | 81.77% | 384 |
| Boston | 0.40 | 7.23 | 3.61 | 2.41 | 0.20 | 86.14 | 498 |
| Chicago | 0.12 | 6.81 | 3.96 | 2.97 | 0.37 | 85.77 | 808 |
| Cleveland | 0.00 | 0.58 | 8.09 | 0.58 | 0.00 | 90.75 | 173 |
| Columbus | 0.00 | 3.20 | 4.00 | 1.60 | 0.00 | 91.20 | 125 |
| Dallas | 0.82 | 4.08 | 1.90 | 5.43 | 0.27 | 87.50 | 368 |
| Houston | 0.23 | 7.83 | 7.37 | 8.76 | 0.23 | 75.58 | 434 |
| Indianapolis | 0.00 | 0.79 | 3.97 | 0.79 | 0.79 | 93.65 | 126 |
| Los Angeles | 0.64 | 18.95 | 5.25 | 8.12 | 0.80 | 66.24 | 628 |
| Miami | 0.47 | 2.37 | 6.64 | 38.86 | 1.42 | 50.24 | 211 |
| Minneapolis/St. Paul | 0.47 | 3.76 | 1.88 | 2.35 | 0.00 | 91.55 | 213 |
| New York City | 0.08 | 11.18 | 7.27 | 4.73 | 0.16 | 76.57 | 1,225 |
| Palo Alto | 0.91 | 27.85 | 3.20 | 4.11 | 0.00 | 63.93 | 219 |
| Philadelphia | 0.33 | 5.35 | 7.36 | 2.01 | 0.00 | 84.95 | 299 |
| Pittsburgh | 0.00 | 3.89 | 2.78 | 1.67 | 0.00 | 91.67 | 180 |
| San Diego | 1.68 | 7.26 | 2.79 | 8.38 | 1.12 | 78.77 | 179 |
| San Francisco | 0.00 | 20.00 | 3.95 | 5.79 | 0.79 | 69.47 | 380 |
| Seattle | 1.29 | 12.90 | 1.94 | 3.23 | 0.00 | 80.65 | 155 |
| St. Louis | 0.00 | 2.41 | 6.63 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 90.96 | 166 |
| Washington, DC | 0.80 | 8.59 | 9.51 | 3.67 | 0.69 | 76.75 | 873 |
Note: Law firm jobs taken by graduates for whom race/ethnicity was not reported are excluded from this table. The Asian/Pacific Islander category includes East Indian/Pakistani graduates.
