NALP Bulletin, October 2002
In the 28 years that NALP has compiled graduate employment statistics, over half of employed graduates have obtained their first job in a law firm. In most of these years, jobs at firms of 2-10 attorneys outnumbered jobs at the largest firms of more than 100 attorneys. However, in 1989, 1990, and since 1998, this has not been the case. In the last two years, the percentage of jobs taken in the largest firms equaled or exceeded that of jobs taken in the two smallest categories — 2-10 and 11-25 — combined.
Law Firm Jobs by Firm Size — Classes of 1982-2001
(percent of law firm
jobs taken in each size firm)
|
Year |
SIZE OF FIRM (NUMBER OF ATTORNEYS) | |||||
|
Solo |
2-10 |
11-25 |
26-50 |
51-100 |
101 or more | |
|
1982 |
7.6 |
40.3 |
14.8 |
11.1 |
10.7 |
15.6 |
|
1983 |
7.1 |
41.1 |
15.1 |
11.2 |
10.1 |
15.4 |
|
1984 |
6.6 |
39.7 |
15.0 |
11.1 |
10.4 |
17.2 |
|
1985 |
5.0 |
35.7 |
15.1 |
11.7 |
12.0 |
20.6 |
|
1986 |
4.3 |
32.4 |
15.6 |
12.0 |
12.5 |
23.2 |
|
1987 |
3.3 |
31.6 |
15.3 |
12.9 |
12.8 |
24.1 |
|
1988 |
2.7 |
28.6 |
14.5 |
12.2 |
13.4 |
28.6 |
|
1989 |
2.8 |
24.6 |
15.0 |
12.6 |
14.8 |
30.2 |
|
1990 |
3.6 |
28.7 |
13.1 |
11.6 |
12.2 |
30.8 |
|
1991 |
5.2 |
33.1 |
12.5 |
10.3 |
10.0 |
28.9 |
|
1992 |
6.8 |
38.0 |
13.5 |
9.1 |
9.1 |
23.6 |
|
1993 |
7.5 |
41.5 |
13.1 |
7.8 |
7.9 |
22.2 |
|
1994 |
6.2 |
41.0 |
12.2 |
7.6 |
8.1 |
24.9 |
|
1995 |
6.0 |
40.9 |
12.3 |
7.5 |
7.5 |
25.8 |
|
1996 |
6.1 |
39.3 |
11.8 |
7.4 |
7.5 |
27.9 |
|
1997 |
5.7 |
36.4 |
12.0 |
7.7 |
7.6 |
30.6 |
|
1998 |
3.8 |
33.5 |
11.5 |
7.7 |
8.0 |
35.5 |
|
1999 |
3.2 |
31.4 |
11.1 |
7.4 |
7.7 |
39.1 |
|
2000 |
2.7 |
30.2 |
10.8 |
7.7 |
7.6 |
41.0 |
|
2001 |
2.8 |
29.9 |
10.3 |
6.9 |
7.4 |
42.6 |
Note: Figures for 1989 and 1990 reflect only full-time law firm jobs; for all other years figures reflect all law firm jobs acquired by graduates. Figures in this table differ slightly from those published in earlier Employment Report & Salary Survey/Jobs & J.D.’s reports or Bulletin columns because law firm jobs for which firm size was not reported are excluded from the base.
