WASHINGTON, D.C. — New employment findings from the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) show that Black and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander graduates were employed in bar passage required jobs at rates 15 and 23 percentage points, respectively, below that of white graduates. The employment rate for Native Hawaiian graduates was also 12 percentage points lower as compared to white graduates. Of employed graduates, Black, Native American, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander graduates were the least likely to be employed in private practice. These findings are part of NALP’s Jobs & JDs, Employment and Salaries of New Graduates, Class of 2021, which is available at www.nalp.org/bookstore.
Disparities also existed between graduates who were first-generation college students (students who do not have a parent/guardian with a bachelor’s degree or higher degree) and graduates who were continuing-generation JD students (students with at least one parent/guardian with a JD degree). The employment rate in bar passage required jobs was 10 percentage points higher for continuing-generation JD students and they were more likely to be employed in private practice and judicial clerkships as compared to first-generation college students.
“We continue to see that race, gender, and the level of parental education have profound effects on employment and salary outcomes after law school graduation, and we do not see those gaps closing over time,” noted James G. Leipold, NALP’s Executive Director.
“It’s troubling to me, and it ought to be troubling to the entire profession that Black, Native American, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander graduates continue to fare worse in the job market than their peers from any other groups, with large and persistent gaps in entry-level employment in private practice and in bar passage required work. Similar disparities for first-generation college students suggest that multiple factors are at work in producing these disparities. I continue to believe that the entire profession, including law schools and legal employers, have a shared responsibility to work deliberately to close these gaps over time,” Leipold concluded.
Jobs & JDs is NALP’s hallmark annual research report that presents a comprehensive analysis of the types of employment and salaries obtained by the Class of 2021, with data on nearly 97% of Class of 2021 graduates from ABA-accredited law schools.
Highlights Based on Graduate Demographics:
Disparities in employment outcomes by race/ethnicity persisted this year. White/Caucasian graduates had the highest employment rate (93.1%), while Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander graduates had the lowest employment rate (81.1%), followed by Black or African American, and Native American or Alaska Native graduates (both at 88.6%). White/Caucasian graduates also had the highest level of employment in bar passage required/anticipated jobs (81.0%), while the rate was more than 15 percentage points lower for Black graduates (65.9%), and nearly 23 percentage points lower for Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander graduates (58.5%).
The percentage of employed graduates within private practice was lowest for Native American or Alaska Native (43.6%), Black or African American (45.9%), and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (48.8%) graduates, and highest for Asian graduates (63.6%).
Median starting salaries for employed graduates by race/ethnicity ranged from $70,000 for Native American or Alaska graduates to $125,000 for Asian graduates. The higher median salary for Asian graduates can be attributed to greater levels of employment in private practice.
By gender, women had the highest employment rate (92.4%), but men had a higher median salary ($80,000) than both women ($75,000) and gender non-binary graduates ($66,726).
Employed gender non-binary graduates were more than three times as likely to take a job in public interest as compared to employed graduates overall (29.3% vs. 8.7%). Employed LGBTQ graduates were more than twice as likely to be employed in public interest positions as compared to graduates overall (17.9% vs. 8.7%).
The employment rate was more than 3 percentage points higher (94.9% vs. 91.7%) and the rate of employment in bar passage required/anticipated jobs was 10 points greater (86.3% vs. 76.3%) for continuing-generation JD students in comparison to first-generation college students.
Employed continuing-generation JD students were more likely to secure jobs in private practice (62.8%) and judicial clerkships (12.8%) as compared to first-generation college students (56.1% and 8.3%, respectively).
Continuing-generation JD students were employed in federal clerkships (6.3% of employed graduates) at almost 3 times the rate of first-generation college students (2.4% of employed graduates).
Graduates with disabilities had a lower overall employment rate (85.8%), as well as a lower percentage of graduates employed in bar passage required/anticipated jobs at 69.2%.
How are law firm opportunities changing for new law graduates? Which geographic markets provided the most jobs? Where did the graduates who are not practicing law find jobs? How do employment findings vary by gender, race/ethnicity, level of parental education, and other graduate demographics? The publication includes more than 120 detailed tables and charts with data by geography, graduate demographics, and law school characteristics to help answer these questions. Jobs & JDs, Employment and Salaries of New Graduates, Class of 2021 is now available for purchase at www.nalp.org/bookstore.
