NALP Bulletin, May 2019
In anticipation of NALP's upcoming Summit on Emerging Careers for Law Grads, this column takes a look at recent changes in the mix of jobs taken by law school graduates for the last half dozen years for which data are available, as well as a more detailed look at JD Advantage jobs taken by the Class of 2017. Key findings are:
Additional findings, with a focus on JD Advantage jobs in business, a sector which has typically accounted for 45-50% of the JD Advantage jobs taken by law school graduates over the past decade, are presented in Tables 4-6.
A previous column on this topic was published in November of 2017: What Do We Know About JD Advantage Jobs?
Table 1. JD Advantage Jobs: 2012-2017
2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
% of graduates for whom employment status was known who took JD Advantage jobs | 13.3% | 13.8% | 14.8% | 14.5% | 14.8% | 12.3% |
Total # of jobs taken | 37,538 | 37,730 | 36,350 | 33,469 | 31,354 | 30,104 |
Total # of JD Advantage jobs taken | 5,877 | 6,154 | 6,228 | 5,592 | 5,311 | 4,193 |
% of jobs that are JD Advantage | 15.7% | 16.3% | 17.0% | 16.7% | 16.9% | 13.9% |
# of JD Advantage jobs taken in business | 2,628 | 2,936 | 3,118 | 2,816 | 2,537 | 2,075 |
Law School Graduating Class of: | ||||||
2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
All Jobs | ||||||
% of jobs that are BPR | 76.3% | 76.3% | 76.5% | 77.0% | 77.4% | 81.0% |
% of jobs that are JDA | 15.7 | 16.3 | 17.1 | 16.7 | 16.9 | 13.9 |
Education | ||||||
% of jobs that are BPR | 17.9 | 19.1 | 20.8 | 15.0 | 14.4 | 17.1 |
% of jobs that are JDA | 49.0 | 54.8 | 50.4 | 49.2 | 47.4 | 53.3 |
Business | ||||||
% of jobs that are BPR | 29.2 | 28.4 | 27.3 | 26.1 | 24.0 | 26.5 |
% of jobs that are JDA | 39.3 | 42.4 | 47.4 | 48.9 | 51.9 | 49.7 |
Private Practice | ||||||
% of jobs that are BPR | 93.2 | 93.2 | 93.1 | 92.7 | 91.8 | 94.3 |
% of jobs that are JDA | 6.2 | 6.3 | 6.6 | 6.7 | 7.7 | 5.2 |
Government | ||||||
% of jobs that are BPR | 71.0 | 71.8 | 71.9 | 72.8 | 72.4 | 74.8 |
% of jobs that are JDA | 22.8 | 21.6 | 22.3 | 21.1 | 21.7 | 18.9 |
Public Interest | ||||||
% of jobs that are BPR | 76.9 | 77.4 | 77.5 | 77.9 | 78.7 | 82.6 |
% of jobs that are JDA | 18.4 | 18.9 | 18.0 | 17.7 | 17.5 | 14.7 |
Table 3. Characteristics of JD Advantage Jobs by Employer Setting — Class of 2017
Percent of JD Advantage Jobs in Each Sector Which Were: | ||||
Full-time and Long-Term | Part-time and Long-Term | Full-time and Short-term | Part-Time and Short-Term | |
All JD Advantage jobs | 75.8% | 8.3% | 8.5% | 7.4% |
JD Advantage jobs in business | 85.0 | 4.5 | 7.4 | 3.1 |
JD Advantage jobs in law firms | 53.8 | 21.7 | 9.1 | 15.4 |
JD Advantage jobs in government | 83.3 | 4.5 | 9.2 | 2.9 |
JD Advantage jobs in public interest | 67.8 | 7.3 | 12.3 | 12.6 |
JD Advantage jobs in education | 64.5 | 7.3 | 8.5 | 19.7 |
The most common settings and job characteristics for JD Advantage Jobs are: | And accounted for: |
In business and full-time, long-term | 42.1% of JD Advantage jobs |
In government and full-time, long-term | 13.5% of JD Advantage jobs |
In private practice and full-time, long-term | 10.9% of JD Advantage jobs |
In public interest and full-time, long-term | 5.1% of JD Advantage jobs |
In private practice and part-time, long-term | 4.4% of JD Advantage jobs |
In education and full-time, long-term | 4.0% of JD Advantage jobs |
In business and full-time, short-term | 3.6% of JD Advantage jobs |
Note: Percentages are based on all JD Advantage jobs reported for the Class of 2017. However, not all possible combinations are shown in the table above, and thus percentages do not add to 100%. The combinations shown above each accounted for at least 150 jobs and together accounted for 84% of all JD Advantage jobs.
Table 5. Top Job Types for JD Advantage Jobs in Business
Type of Business Job | # of Jobs | % of All JD Advantage Jobs in Business |
Compliance | 363 | 17.5% |
Consulting | 223 | 10.7 |
Management | 171 | 8.2 |
Law clerk or Paralegal | 123 | 5.9 |
Tax associate | 111 | 5.3 |
Business development/Marketing | 100 | 4.8 |
Note: Percentages are based on all JD Advantage jobs taken in business reported for the Class of 2017, a total of 2,075 jobs. The category of "other" job in business accounts for the largest share of JD Advantage jobs in business, at 39%, and is not shown above. Other categories shown above each accounted for at least 100 jobs.
Table 6. Top Employment Sectors for JD Advantage Jobs in Business
Kind of Business Employer | # of Jobs | % of All JD Advantage Jobs in Business |
Banking/Finance | 359 | 17.3% |
Technology/Legal Technology | 212 | 10.2 |
Accounting | 157 | 7.6 |
Healthcare | 128 | 6.2 |
Real Estate | 109 | 5.3 |
Management Consulting | 102 | 4.9 |
Note: Percentages are based on all JD Advantage jobs taken in business reported for the Class of 2017, a total of 2,075 jobs. The category of "other" employment sector in business accounts for the largest share of JD Advantage jobs in business, at 29%, and is not shown above. Categories shown above each accounted for at least 100 jobs.