NALP recently published some selected findings from its national law school grad employment survey (which collects information on employment 9 months after graduation). They relate to the Class of 2011 (stats for the Class of 2012 will not be published until next year).
We published the results of the Berkeley Law grad employment survey last Spring. You can find them here.
Here are some key comparisons.
Nationally, the employment rate for 2011 law grads was 85.6%. Our 2011 grads had a 94.16% employment rate.
Nationally, only 65.4% of those employed were in jobs requiring bar passage. Here, the figure was 92.07% (An additional 4.14% of 2011 employed Boalt grads are in “JD preferred” positions).
Nationally, 49.5% of employed graduates obtained a job in private practice. 53.1% of our employed 2011 grads immediately entered private practice (another 12.76% of our grads went off to clerk for a judge immediately after graduation).
Only 16.2% of private practice jobs nationally were with large law firms (+500 attorneys). In contrast, 59.74% of private practice jobs accepted by our 2011 grads were in firms of 501 or more attorneys.
Conversely, jobs at firms of 50 or fewer lawyers accounted for 59% of all private practice jobs nationally whereas that figure was 15% at Boalt.
Public interest organizations, including public defenders, accounted for 7.5% of post-law school grad jobs nationally. 15.52% of our grads went to work for public interest organizations in 2011.