Reports Indicate High Employment Among Law Class of 2023

Diverse Education

Johnny Jackson

April 22, 2024

The percentage of recent law school graduates employed in full-time, long-term Bar Passage Required or J.D. Advantage jobs has reached its highest level in the past decade.

That’s according to Bill Adams, managing director of ABA accreditation and legal education, citing employment data for the graduating law class of 2023, as reported to the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar by ABA-approved law schools accepting new J.D. students.

Adams noted that beginning with the Class of 2019, the percentage rose above 80% and has been steadily rising, but for a slight dip to 77.4% for the Class of 2020.

“This dip was likely due to the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the legal market, cancelations and delays to bar admission exam administrations, and an approximately 1.4% increase in the size of the graduating class that year,” he said.

For the class of 2023, the aggregated school data shows that 30,160 graduates, or 85.6% of the 2023 graduates of the 195 ABA-approved law schools, were employed in full-time, long-term Bar Passage Required or J.D. Advantage jobs roughly 10 months after graduation. That compares to 30,512 or 84.6% of the graduates reporting similar full-time, long-term jobs in the previous year.

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