Unemployed? At Least You’re Not a Law Grad

What’s the difference between a regular unemployed college graduate and an unemployed law school grad? About an additional $100k in debt.

A new report by the Wall Street Journal of figures released by the American Bar Association show that only 55% of the 2011 law school class were able to land long-term, full time jobs requiring a law degree. That description is important given law schools will often inflate their figures by just using employed; ie if you got a job as a TGI Friday’s busboy you were technically employed.

Only about 8% of 2011 graduates landed full-time, long-term jobs at larger firms with more than 250 attorneys.

Just a dozen schools reported that 80% or more of graduates found full-time, long-term legal jobs. The top five included the University of Virginia (95%), Columbia University (94%), Stanford University (91%), New York University (90%) and Harvard University (90%).

More than 20 schools reported that fewer than 40% of their graduates had secured such jobs. The bottom five included Whittier College (17%), University of the District of Columbia (21%), Golden Gate University (22%), Thomas Jefferson School of Law (27%) and Western New England University (30%).

Prepare to be lawyered