Is The Law Grad Boom Ending?
The Class of 2023 law grads just pulled off a legal Houdini act, escaping the chains of unemployment with record-breaking ease. The National Association for Law Placement (NALP) is tingling with warning: this legal Lollapalooza isn’t going to last.
The National Association for Law Placement (NALP) reports that 2023 law school graduates achieved unprecedented success in the job market, with record-high employment rates and salaries.
However, NALP officials caution that upcoming graduating classes are unlikely to experience similar favorable conditions.
The exceptionally strong market for legal talent that characterized 2022 and early 2023 has already begun to cool. Recent data indicates that law firms have reduced their recruitment of new associates.
NALP Executive Director Nikia Gray stated in a recent report, “The Class of 2023 graduates are likely to be the last to benefit from the intense competition for talent.”
Many 2023 law graduates secured their positions in 2021 and 2022, when law firms were aggressively competing for new associates and experienced attorneys.
During this period, starting salaries for associates at many large firms increased from $205,000 to $215,000, and firms offered multiple bonuses to retain associates.
However, law firm recruitment activity reached an 11-year low in the fall of 2023. Firms made fewer summer associate offers to law students due to decreased demand in transactional practices.
NALP reported in March that the average number of summer associate offers extended by law firms dropped from 28 in 2022 to 22 in 2023, representing a 19 percent overall decrease.
This reduction in summer associate hiring is likely to result in fewer full-time positions for students graduating in 2025.
Additionally, the law class of 2024 is approximately 12 percent larger than its predecessor, which means more new J.D. graduates will be competing for available positions. This increased competition may lead to lower employment rates for the class of 2024, though data on their employment will not be available until spring 2025.
Almost 100 Percent Law Job Reach
For the class of 2023, the employment statistics were exceptionally strong. Within 10 months of graduation, 92.6 percent of graduates found employment—a 0.5 percentage point increase from 2022 and the highest figure since NALP began tracking this statistic in 1974.
Over 82 percent of graduates secured positions requiring bar passage, and the unemployment rate was 5.8 percent, the lowest since 2007.
Salaries also reached new heights. The national median salary for new law graduates in 2023 was $90,000, up from $85,000 the previous year. For graduates working in private practice, the median law firm salary increased from $150,000 in 2022 to $165,000 in 2023.
While these figures paint a positive picture for recent graduates, they also underscore the potential challenges facing future classes as they enter a more competitive and potentially less lucrative job market.
