The law school class of 2022 entered a robust job market and secured legal jobs at a higher rate than the previous classes of 2021 and 2019, which were affected by the temporary decline in new lawyer hiring due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the American Bar Association's recent release, almost 78% of the new Juris doctors from 2022 found jobs that require bar passage within ten months of graduation. In contrast, the class of 2021 had about 76%. Furthermore, almost 85% of the 2022 law graduates obtained full-time, long-term jobs that require passing the bar or jobs where having a J.D. provides an advantage, whereas it was 83% for the previous year.
This increase in employment is significant, especially considering that 366 more graduates competed for jobs in 2022 compared to the previous year, resulting in a nearly 4% growth in entry-level legal jobs. This marks the second year of employment growth after the full-time legal employment rate among the class of 2020 decreased by almost three percentage points due to the pandemic.
Among the law class of 2022, law firms saw the most significant hiring gains, employing over 52% of graduates, an increase from less than 51% in the previous year. However, it remains to be seen whether this hiring trend will continue for the law class of 2023. Due to the past year's significant slowdown in demand, some law firms have laid off associates or postponed the start dates of incoming associates.
According to Robert Kamins, a law firm consultant with Vertex Advisors, associate cutbacks have primarily focused on firms specializing in the tech industry. Therefore, full-service law firms will likely require fresh associate talent this year, particularly in areas of high demand, such as labor and employment and data privacy.
Recent data from the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) reveals that law firms have offered 2% fewer summer associate positions to second-year law students this autumn.
Meanwhile, according to the American Bar Association (ABA), the percentage of newly qualified lawyers unemployed and searching for jobs ten months after graduation remained stable at 5.3%. The rate of law graduates employed in government positions remained the same, slightly above 10%. However, the latest figures show that the percentage of new law graduates employed in public interest jobs increased from 7.7% in 2021 to 8.4% in 2022.
