Employment Statistics

Yale Law students are among the most sought after in the nation by employers of all types. Our alumni are prominent both within and outside of the legal profession. They work in private practice, ranging from one-person offices to major firms; in federal, state, and local government, including Congress, the Office of the President, and the judiciary; in law teaching and administration; in public service settings; for corporations and businesses; and for nonprofit organizations.

 

Yale Law School Employment 9 Months after Graduation

	Class of 2010	Class of 2009	Class of 2008
Total Graduates	207	200	200
Employed	190	193	191
Bar Passage Required	180	187	179
JD Preferred	7	6	10
Other Professional	3	0	2
Pursuing Graduate Degree	9	5	4
Unemployed - not seeking	3	1	1
Unemployed - seeking	4	1	3
Employment status unknown	1	0	1

 

Employment Types of Employed Graduates¹

	Class of 2010	Class of 2009	Class of 2008
Law Firms	35.8%	40.4%	41.4%
solo	-	-	-
2-10	1.5%	1.3%	2.5%
11-25	-	-	1.3%
26-50	2.9%	1.3%	1.3%
51-100	1.5%	-	3.8%
101-250	7.4%	7.7%	16.5%
251-500	5.9%	10.3%	5%
501+	76.5%	78.2%	69.6%
unknown	4.4%	1.3%	-
Business and Industry	4.2%	3.1%	7.3%
Government	10%	11.9%	5.2%
Public Interest 2	10.5%	13.5%	8.4%
Clerkship 3	36.3%	30.6%	35.1%
Federal	82.6%	91.5%	92.5%
State and Local	11.6%	6.8%	4.5%
Other	5.8%	1.7%	3%
Academia	3.2%	.5%	2.6%

¹ As reported to the ABA, this chart reflects the first job choices (9 months after graduation) for graduates known to be employed. 100% of the positions reflected above are full-time. On average 3-5% of each class pursue advanced degrees immediately after graduation. These graduates are not reflected in this chart.

² The public interest and government percentages include a significant number of fellowship positions.  View a list of the YLS funded fellowships here. 

³ As with the other data on this chart, the judicial clerkship percentages include only those graduates whose first job was a clerkship. In recent years we have seen an increasing number of graduates choose to work for one or two years before clerking. For example, while 36.3% of the Class of 2010 clerked in their first job after law school, to date 46% of the Class has served as a judicial clerk at some point since graduating.

 

Geographic Destinations of Yale Law SchoolGraduates (9 Months Out) as reported to ABA

	Class of 2010	Class of 2009	Class of 2008
Northeast (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)	11.1%	12.1%	11%
Mid-Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA)	26.3%	35.3%	26.7%
East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI)	3.7%	4.2%	5.2%
West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, SD, ND)	1.6%	1.6%	3.7%
South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV)	27.9%	25.3%	24.6%
East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN)	1.6%	.5%	1.6%
West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX)	5.8%	2.6%	2.1%
Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT,NV, NM, UT, WY)	3.7%	1.1%	2.6%
Pacific (AK, CA, WA, HI, OR)	13.7%	14.7%	19.4%
Foreign	4.7%	2.6%	3.1%

 

Most Popular Employment Locations

	Class of 2010	Class of 2009	Class of 2008
New York	23.7%	32.6%	26.2%
Washington, D.C.	22.1%	20.7%	15.2%
California	8.9%	10.4%	16.8%

 

Full-time Salaries of Employed Graduates

	Class of 2010	Class of 2009	Class of 2008
Total Employed Graduates	190	193	191
Number of Salaries Reported	155	169	169
25th Percentile	$57,408	$57,511	$59,309
judicial clerk	$57,408	$57,511	$57,521
private practice	$160,000	$160,000	$160,000
government	$44,000	$44,000	<5 reported
public interest	$44,000	$44,000	$42,000
Median	$64,724	$63,397	$65,000
judicial clerk	$61,245	$60,989	$60,989
private practice	$160,000	$160,000	$160,000
government	$44,000	$45,500	<5 reported
public interest	$44,000	$44,000	$44,000
75th Percentile	$160,000	$160,000	$160,000
judicial clerk	$63,945	$63,397	$62,678
private practice	$160,000	$160,000	$160,000
government	$60,500	$57,500	<5 reported
public interest	$46,000	$46,500	$46,000
Mean	$98,562	$103,223	$104,027
judicial clerk	$60,177	$59,327	$59,861
private practice	$160,129	$159,933	$154,714
government	$54,179	$58,714	<5 reported
public interest	$45,539	$47,495	$44,221

Given that so many of our graduates clerk after graduation, it is also relevant to describe our graduates' first non-clerkship job choices.

 

First Non-Clerkship Job Choices²

	Class of 2009	Class of 2008	Class of 2007
Law Firm	55%	62%	60%
Public Interest	20%	14%	14%
Government	16%	10%	12%
Business and Industry	3%	7%	6%
Academia	3%	5%	5%
Advanced Degree	3%	2%	3%

² Percentages are based on the total number of graduates reporting their non-clerkship employment plans to CDO.

Job Choices Five Years After Graduation

 

This information is derived from the 5th Year Survey Report. To view the complete survey, click here.