NALP Bulletin, August 2015
The overall employment rate for the Class of 2014 was 86.7% of graduates for whom employment status was known, the first year that the rate has increased since 2007. (See the table entitled "Employment Trends — 1985-2014.")
Despite the increase of more than 2 percentage points compared to the prior year, the overall employment rate remains more than 5 percentage points below the 91.9% reached in 2007, which stands as the highest rate in 26 years. The rate of employment in jobs requiring bar passage also increased for the first time since 2007. However, these positive indicators are tempered by several factors. First, the number of graduates declined after reaching a record high in 2013, and was down by almost 3,000 according to the ABA. Second, the number of jobs found by graduates was down by about 1,200. Thus the employment rate could increase even as the number of jobs declined. Third, the timing of the report was changed from February 15 to March 15 (from 9 months to 10 months following the typical May graduation). Almost by definition this had to decrease the number of grads who were still seeking work, though by how much is not known, since some grads could have moved from seeking to employed, but others could have moved from one job to another — and some may have even moved from being employed to not being employed.
Just under 51% of employed graduates obtained a job in private practice, very close to the 2013 figure, and well above the trough of 2011, but nonetheless below the prevailing levels of 55-64% of jobs for the 25 years prior to 2010. As shown in the table entitled "Law Firm Jobs by Firm Size — Classes of 1982-2014," the distribution of these jobs by firm size has changed over the years. For many years, jobs in firms of 2-10 lawyers outnumbered those in firms of more than 100 lawyers. In 1998, the pattern reversed, and up until the Class of 2010 the number of jobs taken in firms of more than 100 lawyers outnumbered those taken in firms of 2-10 lawyers.
Starting with the Class of 2010 there was a sharp reversal, with jobs in small firms outnumbering those in firms of more than 100 lawyers for the first time since 1997. The difference grew wider with the Class of 2011, but has shrunk in the three most recent years as large firm hiring rebounded some. It remains the case, however, that the proportion of jobs in either very small or large firms has accounted for at least 70% of law firm jobs since 2000. Finally, the percentage of law firm jobs reported as solo practice has decreased since 2011. Nonetheless, the rate of solo practice remains higher than in non-recessionary periods such as the late 1980s and the early 2000s.
| OF THOSE FOR WHOM EMPLOYMENT STATUS WAS KNOWN | ||||||||
| Year | % Employed | % Employed Legal Full-Time |
% Employed Legal Part-Time |
% Employed Other Full-Time |
% Employed Other Part-Time |
% Not Working |
% Continuing Studies | % of Jobs in Law Firms |
| 1985 | 91.5% | 81.6% | 2.6% | 6.7% | 0.8% | 7.0% | 1.5% | 60.6% |
| 1986 | 91.3 | 81.8 | 2.5 | 6.2 | 0.8 | 7.2 | 1.5 | 62.3 |
| 1987 | 92.2 | 84.1 | 2.0 | 5.6 | 0.5 | 6.6 | 1.2 | 63.5 |
| 1988 | 92.0 | 84.5 | 2.0 | 4.9 | 0.5 | 6.9 | 1.1 | 64.3 |
| 1989 | 90.8 | 82.7 | 2.2 | 5.2 | 0.5 | 7.9 | 1.3 | 62.4 |
| 1990 | 90.3 | 82.1 | 2.4 | 5.2 | 0.7 | 8.2 | 1.4 | 62.9 |
| 1991 | 85.9 | 76.1 | 3.3 | 5.6 | 0.9 | 12.6 | 1.5 | 60.8 |
| 1992 | 83.5 | 72.5 | 4.0 | 5.9 | 1.1 | 14.5 | 1.9 | 59.0 |
| 1993 | 83.4 | 70.3 | 4.6 | 7.0 | 1.5 | 14.6 | 2.0 | 57.1 |
| 1994 | 84.7 | 69.6 | 5.2 | 8.1 | 1.8 | 13.1 | 2.2 | 55.0 |
| 1995 | 86.7 | 70.7 | 5.4 | 9.0 | 1.6 | 11.2 | 2.1 | 56.1 |
| 1996 | 87.4 | 71.4 | 4.7 | 9.7 | 1.6 | 10.5 | 2.1 | 55.7 |
| 1997 | 89.2 | 73.6 | 4.4 | 9.9 | 1.5 | 8.6 | 2.2 | 55.6 |
| 1998 | 89.9 | 74.9 | 3.7 | 10.0 | 1.4 | 7.9 | 2.2 | 55.0 |
| 1999 | 90.3 | 75.5 | 2.9 | 9.8 | 1.1 | 7.8 | 1.9 | 55.1 |
| 2000 | 91.5 | 77.3 | 2.5 | 9.6 | 1.0 | 6.4 | 2.1 | 54.8 |
| % Employed in Positions Requiring Bar Passage | % Employed in Positions Where JD Is an Advantage | % Employed in Other Professional Positions | % Employed in Non-Professional Positions | |||||
| 2001 | 90.0 | 75.9 | 6.0 | 5.5 | 1.5 | 7.6 | 2.4 | 57.8 |
| 2002 | 89.0 | 75.3 | 5.2 | 5.8 | 1.6 | 8.5 | 2.5 | 58.1 |
| 2003 | 88.9 | 73.7 | 6.5 | 5.7 | 1.6 | 8.4 | 2.7 | 57.8 |
| 2004 | 88.9 | 73.2 | 7.5 | 5.3 | 1.4 | 8.6 | 2.5 | 56.2 |
| 2005 | 89.6 | 74.4 | 7.5 | 5.1 | 1.4 | 8.2 | 2.2 | 55.8 |
| 2006 | 90.7 | 75.3 | 7.9 | 5.1 | 1.3 | 7.0 | 2.2 | 55.8 |
| 2007 | 91.9 | 76.9 | 7.7 | 5.1 | 1.3 | 5.8 | 2.3 | 55.5 |
| 2008 | 89.9 | 74.7 | 8.1 | 4.9 | 1.3 | 7.7 | 2.4 | 56.2 |
| 2009 | 88.3 | 70.8 | 9.2 | 5.4 | 1.8 | 8.7 | 3.1 | 55.9 |
| 2010 | 87.6 | 68.4 | 10.7 | 5.6 | 1.9 | 9.4 | 2.9 | 50.9 |
| 2011 | 85.6 | 65.4 | 12.5 | 5.3 | 1.9 | 12.1 | 3.0 | 45.9 |
| 2012 | 84.7 | 64.4 | 13.3 | 4.9 | 1.8 | 13.2 | 2.1 | 50.7 |
| 2013 | 84.5 | 64.4 | 13.8 | 4.7 | 1.6 | 13.6 | 1.8 | 51.1 |
| 2014 | 86.7 | 66.3 | 14.8 | 4.2 | 1.4 | 11.7 | 1.6 | 50.9 |
Note: Overall employment rates for 1990-1998 are based on all graduates for whom employment status was known, excluding a small number known to be employed but for whom basic job type was not known. Overall rates for all other years include such graduates, and thus may not necessarily be obtained by adding up figures for individual job types. Also, in 1985 and 1986, multiple jobs held by one person were reported separately; hence legal and other employment percentages for these years reflect positions taken rather than individuals and cannot be added to obtain the overall employment rate. The percentage not working includes graduates seeking employment as well as those neither working in any capacity nor actively seeking a job. Starting in 2011, the figure includes graduates who had accepted an offer of employment but had not started the job as of February 15 (class years 2011-2013) and March 15 (class year 2014). New job classifications effective with the Class of 2001 preclude direct comparisons of job types with prior years.
Law Firm Jobs by Firm Size — Classes of 1982-2014
(percent of law firm jobs taken in each size firm)
| Year | SIZE OF FIRM (NUMBER OF LAWYERS) | |||||
| 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 |
| 2002 | 2.4 | 31.4 | 10.7 | 7.0 | 7.3 | 41.2 |
| 2003 | 3.3 | 34.5 | 11.6 | 7.2 | 6.8 | 36.6 |
| 2004 | 3.6 | 34.9 | 11.5 | 7.2 | 6.4 | 36.4 |
| 2005 | 3.2 | 36.0 | 10.7 | 6.8 | 6.0 | 37.3 |
| 2006 | 2.9 | 34.3 | 10.4 | 6.9 | 5.9 | 39.5 |
| 2007 | 3.0 | 33.2 | 9.6 | 6.1 | 5.8 | 42.3 |
| 2008 | 3.5 | 33.0 | 8.8 | 6.3 | 5.2 | 43.2 |
| 2009 | 5.5 | 35.1 | 7.9 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 41.7 |
| 2010 | 5.9 | 41.1 | 9.3 | 5.6 | 4.4 | 33.7 |
| 2011 | 6.1 | 44.0 | 10.7 | 6.3 | 5.2 | 27.7 |
| 2012 | 5.2 | 43.8 | 10.1 | 5.8 | 4.6 | 30.5 |
| 2013 | 4.9 | 42.6 | 10.1 | 5.7 | 4.6 | 32.1 |
| 2014 | 4.4 | 41.8 | 10.2 | 5.7 | 4.3 | 33.5 |
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 national reports (Employment Report & Salary Survey/Jobs & JDs) because law firm jobs for which firm size was not reported are excluded from the base.
