The NALP Foundation and NALP Release Joint U.S. Alumni Study

The NALP Foundation and NALP today released their 11th joint study, Law School Alumni Employment and Satisfaction, for the Class of 2020. This annual study examines recent graduates’ employment status, compensation, and mobility, and their assessment of how well their legal education prepared them for practice.

This year’s study provides key insights into the experiences of the first class to graduate into and start work in the pandemic, with additional new queries on the number of required in office days for employed respondents working in hybrid setting, and leadership transparency and communication as a factor in graduates’ satisfaction with their current position. The study also continues to probe alumni on the efficacy of their law school preparation in professional identity formation, and the ongoing resources they turn to for this, providing important benchmarking for schools as they develop curricula and programming responsive to the ABA’s mandate.

The new data provides unique insights into the careers of this first full pandemic class three years after graduation, including:

Ongoing High Mobility: 70% of all graduates reported having held two or more positions by this point, up slightly from the prior year’s 69%. Intriguingly, the mobility rates for men, women, and graduates of color are now dovetailing, and a low number of employed alumni (13%) reported they were actively seeking a new job.

Work Location: While hybrid schedules continued to lead, levels have decreased slightly to 54% from the Class of 2019’s 57%, and rates for those working fully in office have increased to 36% from the Class of 2019’s 30%. However, the satisfaction levels for different workplaces varied only marginally, and was high overall: 86% of those working fully in the office, 85% for those working a hybrid schedule, and 82% for those working only remotely.

In-Office Days Requirements: Roughly one third of graduates working hybrid schedules were required to spend three days per week in the office (35%). Notably, another third reported their firms did not have policies mandating a set number of in-office days (36%).

Educational Debt: While overall educational debt levels dropped slightly from the prior year, to $95,286 for all graduates, this remains troublingly higher for graduates of color, at $122,697.

Mental Health and Well-Being: Mental health and well-being remain a primary concern for recent graduates, with female graduates reporting the pandemic’s continued effect on this at higher rates than males (36% vs. 31%). Female graduates also more often identified “better support for mental health and well-being” as the driver for their job changes more than their male peers (33% vs. 22%).

“This year’s study sheds important light on the early-stage career impact of alumni who graduated into the pandemic,” noted NALP Foundation President & CEO Fiona Trevelyan Hornblower, “including how their experiences both align with and diverge from their predecessors.”

“Despite the difficulties of graduating during that first pandemic summer, the data suggests that, broadly speaking, these attorneys were able to overcome the unique challenges they faced in starting their practices during that uncertain time,” stated NALP Executive Director Nikia L. Gray. “One fact that does stand out though is how many of these graduates still report that the pandemic has an ongoing negative effect on their mental health and well-being – a clear sign that many individuals continue to need support in this area.”

This year’s study reflects data collected from 1,415 Class of 2020 alumni from 35 U.S. law schools. Data collection took place between November 2023 and January 2024. All ABA-accredited law schools were invited to participate. The NALP Foundation and NALP received a generous grant from the AccessLex Institute® to support the participation of HBCU law schools and additional law schools with significant levels of students and alumni from groups underrepresented in the legal profession.

In addition to the topics noted above, the report also contains detailed information, segmented by gender identity, race/ethnicity, and law school rank, on Employment Status, Compensation, Career Trajectory, Efficacy of Law School Preparation, Experiential Education, Key Skills for Practice and Post-Graduate Law School Engagement.

The full PDF report for U.S. law schools is available for purchase from The NALP Foundation at www.nalpfoundation.org/bookstore. The comparable report for Canadian law school alumni will be released shortly.