After Law School
A job search strategy requires careful self-assessment in much the same way as a school search strategy does. A legal career should meet the interests, abilities, capacities, and priorities of the individual lawyer. Career satisfaction is a result of doing what you like to do, and being continually challenged by it. It is up to you to determine what skills you are comfortable using, and to discern which skills are required in the specialties or types of practice you are considering.
Take advantage of any programs and workshops offered by the career services office at your law school. Place your name on file in the office, and be sure to maintain contact with the staff even after you leave school. The Association for Legal Career Professionals (NALP) is an important source of information. Both employers and students are guided in the employment process by NALP’s Principles and Standards for Law Placement and Recruitment Activities. These guidelines are promulgated to ensure that students have an adequate opportunity to make decisions about offers of employment without undue pressure and that employers will receive responses from students in a timely manner.
Employment for the Class of 2008
The charts, tables, and text in this section were adapted with permission from Jobs & JD's: Employment and Salaries of New Law Graduates, Class of 2008 (published by NALP). More than 93 percent of all 2008 graduates from ABA-accredited law schools reported employment status, and salary information was reported for 67 percent of those employed full time.
