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Career Planning Statistics

We know students have many questions about the legal job market, how our students are faring in that challenging market and the support in place for W&L students as they search for jobs. To this end, we have attempted to answer some of the questions students have about job placement while providing links to resources discussing the issues confronting legal employers and law graduates generally.

As always, if we can be of further assistance in any way, please do not hesitate to contact us. We can be reached by email at LawAdm@wlu.edu or by phone at 540.458.8503.

Employment Statistics for W&L Law
What is the current state of the legal job market?
How has the current state of the legal job market affected students at W&L?
What is W&L doing to help students find jobs in a difficult market?
Does W&L Law offer a post-graduate fellowship program for recent graduates?
How do most W&L students find their jobs?
How many W&L students find their jobs through on-campus interviewing?
What are the most popular job markets for W&L students?
What are the most common career paths for W&L students?
What does being employed in the Business category mean? Are these non-law jobs?
What are the average and median starting salaries for W&L graduates?

Employment Statistics for W&L Law

All statistics below are based on completed graduate employment surveys from the years 2006-2010.

Class of 2006
Class of 2007
Class of 2008
Class of 2009
Class of 2010

National Legal Employment Summary for Classes of 2007-2011
(from www.nalp.org):

Class of 2007
Class of 2008
Class of 2009
Class of 2010
Class of 2011 

For additional years (1999 - 2006), click here.

Additional Information:

Longstanding Employment Patterns for Law School Graduates Interrupted (NALP bulletin, July 2011)

Employment Market for Law School Graduates Wavers
(longitudinal study of law graduate hiring - July 2010)

Law Graduate Hiring Trends
(wealth of resources addressing shifts in law graduate hiring over various periods of time)

Perspectives on Fall Recruiting
(multi-year analyses of Fall Recruitment)

What is the current state of the legal job market?

The most recent NALP statistics (found on www.nalp.org) indicate that the Class of 2010 had the lowest employment rate since 1996. NALP measures the employment rate of graduates as of February 15, 2011, or nine months after a typical May graduation. The overall employment rate for Class of 2010 graduates is 87.6%. Only 57.3% of employed 2010 graduates received that position before graduation. And the recent statistics indicate further changes in the legal market.  NALP Executive Director, James Leipold, indicated that “Most of the structural weaknesses in the job market faced by the Class of 2009 intensified for the Class of 2010, and new high- and low-water statistical marks have been set.” For instance, of those graduates for whom employment was known, only 68.4% obtained a job for which bar passage is required, which is the lowest percentage NALP has ever measured.

Additional Reading
(from www.nalp.org)

How has the current state of the legal job market affected students at W&L?

The recession has affected our students as it has all law students. Record numbers of lawyers are now vying for fewer jobs and this has created an incredibly competitive job landscape.

Specifically, job searches are taking longer for our students and requiring more individual initiative. While some students do graduate with a job, recent data suggests that for many students it can take six to nine months after graduation to secure employment.

Additionally, our students are also casting broader nets during their job search. Students are applying for more jobs in more legal markets and occasionally including non-traditional employment options in their job searches. Not every legal market was hit equally hard by the economic downturn, and we continue to encourage our students to consider smaller- and medium-sized markets in addition to large urban centers when crafting their job search.

For a general overview of how our graduates have fared over the past few years, please review the employment statistics for our Classes of 2006 through 2010.

Employment Statistics

Class of 2006
Class of 2007
Class of 2008
Class of 2009
Class of 2010

National Legal Employment Summary for Classes of 2007-2010
(from www.nalp.org):

Class of 2007
Class of 2008
Class of 2009
Class of 2010

What is W&L doing to help students find jobs in a difficult market?

We provide many opportunities and services to help our students meet the challenges of a difficult job market. W&L is lucky to have a very strong alumni network, and we provide many opportunities beginning in the first year for students to network and build relationships with alumni. In 2010-11, for example, over ninety of our first-year students expressed an interest in our alumni mentoring program, through which we are able to pair individual law students with one of our alumni who will provide advice and support to that student during his or her three years in law school.

In addition, we continue to emphasize individual counseling and career planning. So much of the job search is about strategy, and at our school, students have unlimited access to the professionals in our Office of Career Planning as they formulate a plan that is right for their goals. We work with students throughout their time in law school on self-knowledge, helping them learn more about job preferences as well as learning and communication style. We provide mock interview opportunities with career services professionals and with alumni and other friends of the law school to help students refine interview techniques so that when they have their first real job interview, they are ready.

Realizing the significant challenge posed by a legal economy in the midst of an unprecedented decline, we have also created a post-graduate fellowship program designed to provide students with support as they embark on their careers. See below for more details.

We encourage you to review our Office of Career Planning's webpage for Prospective Students.

Does W&L Law offer a post-graduate fellowship program for recent graduates?

Yes. Beginning in 2010, our law school began offering a ten-month, post-graduate fellowship for members of our graduating class. Realizing the significant challenge posed by a legal economy in the midst of an unprecedented decline, we established the fellowship program to provide students with a bridge between graduation and future employment.

Students enrolled in the program take unpaid positions in law-related fields in a location and practice area of their choosing. They receive a modest stipend on a quarterly basis that helps them to relocate to the area where they have focused their job search and to gain valuable experience while continuing to seek permanent employment. For job placement reporting purposes, students in the program are included in our employed at graduation and at nine months data.

For the Class of 2010, 51 students enrolled in the post-graduate fellowship program. Only 13 students remained in the program by February 15, 2011, the rest having secured permanent employment. As of June 1, 2011, 60 students from the Class of 2011 were enrolled in the program.

As mentioned above, the positions students are engaged in during the program must be law-related. For example, we had students from the Class of 2010 working in legal services offices in Virginia and Florida, as a legislative aid intern in a congressional office, for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and doing corporate governance and immigration work for Fathers for the Fatherless.

The first iteration of the post-graduate fellowship program was quite successful. More than half of the students enrolled in the program secured permanent employment within the first six months following graduation. Several of these students were offered permanent employment with the firm or organization for which they worked during the fellowship program.

We plan to operate the post-graduate fellowship program as long as the economy continues to pose similar challenges for law graduates. The success of our students in turning these positions into more permanent employment is testament enough to the value of these experiences.

How do most W&L students find their jobs?

To find employment, W&L students use several tools at their disposal. Although fall OCI is one way that students find employment, students also find positions through a friend, colleague or other contact, a targeted mailing, by responding to a job posting, or attending an interview program. The data below is for the Classes of 2007-2010.

Top Three Ways W&L Students Find Their Job % of Reported
Fall OCI 21.45
Referral from Friend, Colleague or Other 24.34
Initiated contact by targeted mailing or networking 18.07

How many W&L students find their jobs through on-campus interviewing?

21.45% of W&L graduates report finding their jobs through on-campus interviewing (OCI). This percentage is higher than the relevant NALP statistics, which determine on a national scale how many graduates reported receiving a position through Fall OCI.  In that survey, 16.9% of students found a job through Fall OCI.

List of employers who interviewed at W&L during the last two years:

Interviewing Employers - Fall 2009
Interviewing Employers - Fall 2010
Interviewing Employers - Fall 2011
Interviewing Employers - Fall 2012


Other ways to connect with Employers:

Boston Interview Program
Northeast Interview Program (New York, NY)
Texas Interview Program (Dallas, TX)
Southern California Program (Los Angeles, CA)
Other Job Fairs in Which W&L Law Students Participate
Your First Summer Job in Law School

What are the most popular markets for W&L students?

W&L graduates from the Classes of 2007-2009 ended up in 38 different states, Washington, D.C., and Eastern/Central Europe. Virginia, Washington D.C., and New York were the locations with the highest number of graduates.

Top Three Locations % of Reported
Virginia 30.26
Washington, D.C. 12.10
New York 10.98

For additional information regarding geographic distribution (including a breakdown by region and state), please see our Employment Statistics for our Classes of 2006-2010:

Class of 2006
Class of 2007
Class of 2008
Class of 2009
Class of 2010

What are the most common career paths for W&L students?

The vast majority of graduates enter private practice. This table shows the top two career paths for graduates from the Classes of 2007-2010.

Top Two Career Paths % of Reported
Law Firm 52.65
Judge/Court 20.13

What does being employed in the Business category mean? Are these non-law jobs?

The "Business" category (under Employment Types) captures many different types of employment. It may include professional positions, such as within a general counsel's office or in a bank, and non-professional jobs, such as working in a restaurant. Of the professional positions captured in this category, some require a law degree and some do not.

Given the current state of the legal economy, graduates are including non-traditional legal employment as well as non-legal employment in their job searches with greater frequency than they did in previous years. The chart below shows the percentage of the Classes of 2007-2010 employed under the "Business" category.

Class Year % of Reported
2007 4%
2008 7%
2009 11%
2010 7.2%

Employment Statistics

Class of 2006
Class of 2007
Class of 2008
Class of 2009
Class of 2010

National Legal Employment Summary for Classes of 2007-2010
(from www.nalp.org):

Class of 2007
Class of 2008
Class of 2009
Class of 2010

What are the average and median starting salaries for W&L graduates?

Class Year Average Reported Salary Median Reported Salary
2007 $86,284 $75,000
2008 $95,526 $80,000
2009 $101,920 $90,000
2010 $73,113 $59,250
     

Keep in mind, however, that average and median salaries do not provide the full picture of entry-level compensation. To put these numbers in perspective, NALP has published a salary distribution chart indicating that few graduates earn an average or median salary.

Below are the salary distribution charts for the Classes of 2007-2010, as well as an additional chart of combined salary data for the four classes.

Class of 2007

90 students in this class reported salary information. There were 124 students in the class. 


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Class of 2008

104 students in this class reported salary information. There were 141 students in the class.


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Class of 2009

95 students in this class reported salary information. There were 138 students in the class.


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Class of 2010

111 students in this class reported salary information. There were 123 students in the class.


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Classes of 2007-2010


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