Law Class of 2021 Employment Summary
The Class of 2021 from Washington and Lee University School of Law shows another year of strong performance in employment. The Office of Career Strategy reports that 90% of the Law Class of 2021 secured a long-term, full-time job that either required bar passage or for which a J.D. degree was an advantage.
Big Law
Each year a large portion of our graduating class (64%) finds employment at law firms of varying sizes, including Big Law (defined as law firms with over 500 attorneys). For the Class of 2021, 29% of our graduates found employment in Big Law, including at many of the Am Law 100, Am Law 200, and regionally prominent firms, such as:
- Alston & Bird LLP
- Clifford Chance
- Frost Brown
- Goodwin
- Greenberg Traurig
- Jones Day
- Jones Walker, LLP
- King & Spalding LLP
- Kirkland & Ellis LLP
- Latham & Watkins LLP
- Mayer Brown LLP
- McGuire Woods
- Moore & Van Allen, LLC
- Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
- Ropes & Gray
- Schulte
- Seward & Kissel
- Shearman & Sterling
- Sheppard Mullin
- Sidley Austin LLP
- Steptoe
- Troutman Pepper
- Vinson & Elkins LLP
- Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP
- Wiley
- Wilkinson Stekloff
Judicial Clerkships
One particular area of strength for W&L Law has always been placement in federal and state clerkships. For our Class of 2021, 15.3% are working as judicial clerks; 6.8% at the federal level; 8.5% at the state level. Our graduates are clerking at courts across the country, including:
- U.S Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court, Eastern Louisiana
- U.S. District Court, Western District of North Carolina
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Virginia
- Court of Appeals of Virginia
- Vermont Supreme Court
- State trial courts in Maryland and Virginia
Government & Public Interest
Approximately 13.6% of the Class of 2021 are working for a variety of government agencies, not-for-profits, and public interest employers, including:
- Colorado State Public Defender
- Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide
- Federal Public Defender, Western District of Virginia
- National Cancer Institute
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- New York Legal Assistance Group
- Northeast Justice Center
- U.S. Army JAG Corps
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Business & Industry
Lastly, members of our Class of 2021 are working for a variety of business & industry employers, including work in policy and finance:
- Anderson Tax LLC
- Deloitte
- First American Financial Corporation
- Intuitive Surgical
- 9Round Fitness Franchising LLC
- UPS
Geographic Locations Graduates of the Class of 2021 have full-time employment in 25 states. The top geographic areas for employment are:
- Virginia (30%)
- Washington D.C. (11%)
- New York (10%)
- Texas (9.3%)
- North Carolina (8.5%)
Graduates also accepted employment in the following states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, and West Virginia.