Overall Legal Job Placement for the Class of 2013: On April 9th, the ABA Journal posted Mark Hansen’s piece, “Job outlook for new lawyers still bleak, data shows.” From the opening:
“Fifty-seven percent of all 2013 law school graduates were employed in full-time, long-term legal jobs requiring bar passage as of Feb. 15, according to data released Wednesday by the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.
Still, that’s up slightly from last year, when 56.2 percent of all 2012 law school graduates were reported to be in full-time, long-term legal jobs requiring a law license nine months after graduation.
Another 10.1 percent of all 2013 graduates were employed in long-term, full-time jobs in which a law degree is preferred, which was also up slightly from the class of 2012, when 9.5 percent of all graduates held such jobs.
However, the percentage of 2013 graduates reported as unemployed and seeking work also rose slightly to 11.2 percent this year from last year, when 10.6 percent of 2012 graduates were reported as unemployed and seeking work.
The percentage of positions funded by law schools also increased incrementally this year from last year, from 3.9 percent for all 2012 graduates to 4 percent for the class of 2013.” [Emphasis mine]
Could you imagine if dental and medical school graduates faced such odds of entering their chosen field?!?! They would raise hell, on all fronts. In contrast, JDs seem to have passively accepted this arrangement.
http://www.post-gazette.com/business/legal/2014/04/29/Legal-Job-Market-Still-Tough-for-Law-Schools-Graduates/stories/201404290005
Pennsylvania’s Lawyer Job Market: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published an article from Zack Needles, entitled “Legal job market still tough for law school graduates.” Check out his strong opening:
“Nine months after graduation, area law schools — with the exception of the University of Pennsylvania Law School — were lucky if more than half of their graduating classes had found full-time, long-term employment that required bar passage, according to data recently released by the American Bar Association.
Those numbers were more or less in line with the national average.
As Legal Intelligencer affiliate The National Law Journal reported, only 57 percent of 2013 graduates nationwide were able to obtain long-term, full-time jobs that required bar passage. The single outlier among area schools was Penn Law, which ranked fourth nationally in that metric.
Of Penn Law’s 259 graduates, 222, or 85.7 percent, were able to secure full-time, long-term jobs that required bar passage and were not funded by the school itself, according to the ABA.” [Emphasis mine]
Yes, even the University of Pennsylvania Law School – rated as the 7th best law school in the nation, according to US “News” & World Report– could not place 14.3% of its 2013 Class into real legal jobs. What a thriving "profession," huh? Remember, this is the type of school that attracts the best applicants and students. If many of them are in this boat, then how are YOU going to fare with your TTT law degree?!?!
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/the-jobs-crisis-at-our-best-law-schools-is-much-much-worse-than-you-think/274795/
This Was the Case Last Year, As Well: Back on April 9, 2013, Jordan Weissmann’s piece, “The Jobs Crisis at Our Best Law Schools is Much, Much Worse Than You Think,” appeared in the Atlantic. Take a look at this portion:
“The barren job market for law school grads has become a familiar reality by now. But here's something that tends to get lost in the story: The problem isn't just about no-name law schools churning out JD's nobody wants to hire. Even graduates at some of the country's top programs are struggling.
At this point, it seems, there are only a small handful of schools that could reasonably be called safe bets.
The American Bar Association recently released its annual collection of jobs placement data from all 202 accredited law schools, and the big picture was, as expected, dreadful. Nine months after graduation, just 56 percent of the class of 2012 had found stable jobs in law -- meaning full-time, long-term employment in a position requiring bar passage, or a judicial clerkship, i.e. the sorts of jobs people go to law school for in the first place. The figure had improved just 1 percent compared to the class of 2011.
Meanwhile, a full 27.7 percent were underemployed, meaning they were either in short-term or part-time jobs, jobless and hunting for work, or enrolled (read: burning cash) in another degree program.
At some of the most prestigious law schools in the country, the numbers were only marginally better. Below, I've listed the top 25 programs in the U.S. News rankings, along with their underemployment score as calculated by Law School Transparency. Past the top 9, underemployment hits double digits. Outside of the top 15, it mostly hovers around 20 percent[.]” [Emphasis mine]
“Higher education” pays off for the academic thieves. The pigs view their victims as mere student loan conduits. Again, the “professors” and deans are paid up front, in you – while you are chained down with outrageous debt totals.
Conclusion: Look at the student debt figures again, people. The U.S. lawyer job market is shrinking, thanks to outsourcing, LPOs, software, greater access to case law and statutes, etc. Wait until predictive coding goes into full effect. At this point in time, you should only consider law school if you fall into one of the following three categories: preferred, protected and seriously connected. Otherwise, you will likely incur an additional $120K-$170K in NON-DISCHARGEABLE debt – and end up landing a job where you make less than $45K per year. Do the math, kids.