If you’re considering applying to law school, it can be very helpful to study law school employment outcomes for a variety of reasons:
- You’ll learn what law school grads tend to do after graduation.
LawHub, an educational resource from the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), has a page that summarizes law school graduate outcomes aggregated by type and school.
If you click on the individual school and then click on the “jobs” tab, you’ll see (under “jobs by employer type”) the percentage of graduates who are working in a national law firm, judicial clerkship, public service, and other types of jobs. This is an excellent jumping-off point for your research. - You can view law schools’ salary data.
Since law school can be expensive, it is good to have a sense of how much you can expect to earn after graduation.
Law School Transparency has a page dedicated to each school’s salary data, where you can view the median earnings for the first year after graduation, as well as earnings over time.
The National Association for Law Placement (NALP) has a wealth of information pertaining to law school employment outcomes. On this page, the National Summary Report and Selected Findings Report are excellent references. - You can determine which law schools have high job placement rates in the states/regions you’re interested in.
Law School Transparency has an interactive map that you can use to see which schools have a high placement rate in a given state. It’s then easy to compare these schools by job outcomes, environment, and financials (includes cost of living, earnings, and debt).
In addition to these resources, some law schools have a dedicated employment statistics page on their website that provides more insight into their program’s unique outcomes.
As you are weighing this decision and crafting your potential school list, you’re welcome to schedule a meeting with a pre-law advisor via Handshake to discuss further!