Now known as NALP, The National Association for Law Placement® was founded in 1971, during a period of rapid change in both the legal profession and legal education, in response to a perceived need by many law schools and legal employers for a common forum to discuss issues involving placement and recruitment.

NALP is dedicated to facilitating legal career counseling and planning, recruitment and retention, and the professional development of law students and lawyers.

The Administrative Office

As NALP grew during the 1970's many of its leaders recognized that its organizational mission could never be achieved with an all-volunteer association. President Ann Kendrick called for establishment of a national office in 1976 at the annual meeting.

In 1987, the NALP Executive Committee accepted the recommendation of the Long Range Planning Committee and created the position of Executive Director. NALP's current Executive Director is Nikia L. Gray, who joined the staff in 2022, after serving as Office Managing Partner and Director of Legal Recruiting for the D.C. office of Quarles & Brady.. The first Executive Director was Jamienne S. Studley, Associate Dean at Yale Law School, who served in that position until 1990. Lujuana Wolfe Treadwell, who had served as Director of Career Services at Boalt Hall and was 1989-90 NALP President, served as NALP's second Executive Director from 1990 until 1992. Paula Patton followed Treadwell as Executive Director, serving in the post for more than a decade, before assuming staff leadership of The NALP Foundation for Law Career Research and Education as CEO/President. James G. Leipold, who came to NALP from the Law School Admission Council, served as Executive Director from 2004-2022.

Charter Members

The organizational meeting of the National Association for Law Placement was held at the University of Pennsylvania Law School August 12-13, 1971. Participants are listed below, along with their affiliations at the time of the organizational meeting:

John P. Finan, University of Akron School of Law
Irene Econome, Albany Law School of Union University
Anita Allan, American University, Washington College of Law
Ernest M. Haddad, Boston University School of Law
Vernon Miller, The Catholic University, American School of Law
Mildred H. Crane, Salmon P. Chase College School of Law
Thomas E. Murphy, University of Cincinnati College of Law
Alex C. Jamieson, Cleveland-Marshall Law School
Mildred P. Danielson, University of Colorado School of Law
Charles C. Turner, University of Denver College of Law
Jaye Howes, De Paul University College of Law
Urey W. Alexander, Dickinson School of Law
Jeanne Q. Svikhart, George Washington University, National Law Center
Arvilla Seligman, Golden Gate College School of Law
William Robie, U.S. Army The Judge Advocate General's Office
Ruth J. Squire, McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific
Helen M. Thatcher, John Marshall Law School
LaFrances Johnson, Howard University School of Law
Gerald B. Jaski, University of Miami School of Law
Robert A. Melott, University of North Carolina School of Law
Edward H. Palmer, Northwestern University School of Law
Daniel S. Guy, Ohio Northern University College of Law
Helena F. Clark, University of Pennsylvania Law School
William B. Hazlett, University of Pittsburgh School of Law
Peter R. Bent, Rutgers University Camden School of Law
Helen Hoffman, Rutgers University Newark School of Law
Isabel Crawford, St. John's University School of Law
William G. Walston, St. Mary's University of San Antonio School of Law
Mary Ivary, University of Santa Clara School of Law
Anthony J. DeVico, Suffolk University School of Law
Mettie R. Brown, University of Texas School of Law
Helen Edwards, University of Utah College of Law
Christine White-Wiesner, Villanova University School of Law
Sheila D. Brown, Davis Polk & Wardwell
Wendy L. Wilson, Bar Association of the District of Columbia

NALP Annual Conferences

1971 Philadelphia, PA, University of Pennsylvania (organizational)
1972 Boulder, CO, University of Colorado
1973 Houston, TX, Shamrock Hilton
1974 Washington, DC, Key Bridge Marriott
1975 San Francisco, CA, Stanford Court
1976 Chicago, IL, Hyatt Regency-Chicago
1977 New Orleans, LA, Royal Sonesta
1978 Buck Hill Falls, PA, Buck Hill Inn
1979 San Diego, CA, Hotel del Coronado
1980 Vail, CO, The Lodge at Vail
1981 Boston, MA, Copley Plaza
1982 St. Petersburg Beach, FL, Don Ce Sar Hotel
1983 San Antonio, TX, St. Anthony Intercontinental
1984 Minneapolis, MN, Amfac, Minneapolis
1985 San Francisco, CA, Sheraton Palace
1986 Alexandria, VA, Radisson Mark Plaza
1987 New Orleans, LA, Westin Canal Place
1988 Tucson, AZ, Westin La Paloma
1989 Palm Beach, FL, The Breakers
1990 Chicago, IL, The Drake
1991 Keystone, CO, The Keystone Resort
1992 Boston, MA, The Westin Hotel, Copley Place
1993 Seattle, WA, The Westin Hotel
1994 Orlando, FL, The Peabody Hotel
1995 Cleveland, OH, The Stouffer Renaissance Hotel and The Ritz Carlton
1996 Palm Springs, CA, The Westin Mission Hills Resort
1997 Atlanta, GA, The Westin Peachtree Plaza
1998 San Francisco, CA, The Westin St. Francis
1999 San Antonio, TX, Hyatt Regency San Antonio
2000 Boston, MA, Park Plaza Hotel
2001 Phoenix, AZ, Pointe Resort South Mountain
2002 Kansas City, MO, Hyatt Regency Crown Center
2003 Orlando, FL, Hilton at Walt Disney World Village
2004 Salt Lake City, UT, The Grand America Hotel
2005 Chicago, IL, Hyatt Regency
2006 San Diego, CA, Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina
2007 Keystone, CO, Keystone Resort
2008 Toronto, Ontario, Westin Harbour Castle
2009 Washington, DC Omni Shoreham Hotel
2010 San Juan, PR, Caribe Hilton
2011 Desert Springs JW Marriott, Palm Springs, CA
2012 Hilton Austin, Austin, TX
2013 Tampa, FL, Tampa Convention Center
2014 Seattle,WA, Washington State Convention Center & Sheraton Seattle
2015 Chicago, IL, Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers
2016 Boston, MA, Hynes Convention Center & Sheraton Boston Hotel
2017 San Francisco, Hilton San Francisco
2018 Hollywood, FL, Diplomat Resort Hollywood
2019 San Diego, CA, Hilton San Diego Bayfront
2020 CANCELED - some sessions held virtually
2021 Virtual
2022 New Orleans, LA, Sheraton New Orleans

NALP Presidents (Affiliations listed are at the time of presidency.)

1971-72 Helen Hoffman, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey School of Law, Newark
1972-73 Mettie Brown, University of Texas School of Law
1973-74 Albert C. Neimeth, Cornell Law School
1974-75 Helena F. Clark, University of Pennsylvania Law School
1975-76 Ann Kendrick, Lewis & Clark University School of Law
1976-77 Richard Badger, University of Chicago Law School
1977-78 Gary A. Munneke, University of Texas School of Law
1978-79 Peter N. Kutulakis, Dickinson School of Law
1979-80 Nick A. LaPlaca, McGeorge School of Law
1980-81 Michael K. Magness, New York University School of Law
1981-82 Mary Dee Pifer, Boston University School of Law
1982-83 L. Wayne Greenberg, Tulane Law School
1983-84 Carroll D. Stevens, University of Kentucky College of Law
1984-85 Stephen T. Yandle, Northwestern University School of Law
1985-86 Lynn Strudler, New York University School of Law
1986-87 Abbie Willard, Georgetown University Law Center
1987-88 Susan Sullivan, Washington University School of Law
1988-89 Maureen Provost-Ryan, Fordham University School of Law
1989-90 Lujuana Wolfe Treadwell, University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall)
1990-91 Robert C. Sullivan, University of Akron School of Law
1991-92 Judith O. Saunders, Chicago-Kent College of Law
1992-93 Linda North, California Western School of Law
1993-94 Gail Peshel, Valparaiso University School of Law
1994-95 Cynthia L. Rold, University of Illinois College of Law
1995-96 Kathleen Brady, Fordham University School of Law
1996-97 Pam Malone, Vanderbilt University School of Law
1997-98 Elizabeth Armour, Boston University School of Law
1998-99 Kelly Toole, Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington
1999-2000 Patricia Bass, Mercer University School of Law
2000-2001 Gina Sauer, William Mitchell College of Law
2001-2002 Irena McGrath, Wiley, Rein & Fielding
2002-2003 Mayhugh H. "Skip" Horne III, Santa Clara University School of Law
2003-2004 Karen Britton, The University of Tennessee College of Law
2004-2005 Cherie Conrad, Kirkland & Ellis, LLP
2005-2006 Bonnie Hurry, Davis Polk & Wardwell
2006-2007 Lisa Dickinson, University of San Francisco School of Law
2007-2008 Gihan Fernando, Georgetown University Law Center
2008-2009 Michael Gotham, Perkins Coie LLP
2009-2010 LeaNora Ruffin, Widener University School of Law
2010-2011 Carol Sprague, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP
2011-2012 Marcy Cox, University of Miami School of Law
2012-2013 Charlotte Wager, Jenner & Block LLP
2013-2014 Stacey Kielbasa, Chapman and Cutler LLP
2014-2015 Terrence Galligan, University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall)
2015-2016 Jean Durling, Fox Rothschild LLP
2016-2017 Mina Jones Jefferson, University of Cincinnati College of Law
2017-2018 David Montoya, The University of Texas School of Law
2018-2019 Melissa Lennon, Temple University Beasley School of Law
2019-2020 Georgia Emery Gray, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
2020-2021 Elizabeth Moeller, UCLA School of Law
2021-2022 Traci Mundy Jenkins, Venable LLP
2022-2023 Karl Riehl, Epstein Becker Green, P.C.