Friday, April 18, 2014

Louisville beats nation in latest lawyer jobs report

Graduates of the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law are snagging jobs in greater numbers than their peers at other schools, a new report shows.

The latest numbers from the ABA show that, out of 127 graduates in U of L's Class of 2013, a total of 104 students — 82 percent of them — had secured jobs where bar passage is required or it is an advantage to have a J.D. Only eight of those students were unemployed and still seeking a job. Both figures are pretty much unchanged from the previous year's data on Class of 2012 grads.

The local numbers are better than the nation as a whole. For example, a friend and fellow U of L grad who is now a reporter published this online story showing the following:

"Nationally, 11.2 percent of graduates from the class of 2013 were unemployed and seeking work as of Feb. 15, up from 10.6 percent in 2012. Only 57 percent of graduates were working in long-term, full-time positions where bar admission is required, which is an increase of almost a full percentage point over 2012.

The class of 2013 was the largest ever, according to the ABA, with 46,776 students earning degrees. About 4 percent of employed graduates were working in positions funded by law schools, most in short-term, part-time jobs."

I've written about law school employment issues many times before on this blog. You can slice the statistics any way you want, but the bottom line in my view is that students are better off at schools such as U of L where tuition is relatively low, and there is not a bevy of competing nearby law schools in the area (UK and IU are an hour's drive away, and NKU is closer to 90 minutes). It also goes without saying that you probably shouldn't go to any law school unless you have a solid game plan for what you are going to do with that expensive degree. Congrats to UofL grads who are entering the job market, and good luck!