Law Schools, Rankings

The 20 Law Schools With The Most Underemployed Graduates

You better pray that your law school isn't on this list.

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Man Holding "Hire Me!"Most law students dream of passing the bar exam after graduating from law school and finding a job in the legal industry. They don’t dream of only being able to put the “bar” in “barista” because their law school pedigree is limiting them in the job market. When you’ve got up to six figures of nondischargeable debt to service after graduation, you want to know that your résumé will make it to the hiring partner’s desk and not the nearest garbage pail.

How can you be certain that the school your law degree is from won’t be a hindrance in your job search? Are graduates of your school capable of being hired for law jobs?

The National Law Journal produced several helpful charts based on law school employment data for the class of 2015. Today, we will highlight one of the more concerning charts, the 20 law schools with the highest percentage of underemployed graduates. These law school graduates are either unemployed, employed in temporary or part-time work, or working in nonprofessional jobs. Here are the the top 10 law schools that have helped graduates land rather underwhelming job opportunities:

  1. Charlotte Law: 51.32 percent underemployed
  2. Detroit Mercy Law: 44.44 percent underemployed
  3. Southwestern Law: 40.51 percent underemployed
  4. Golden Gate Law: 39.87 percent underemployed
  5. San Francisco Law: 39.76 percent underemployed
  6. Santa Clara Law: 39.73 percent underemployed
  7. Ave Maria Law: 39.53 percent underemployed
  8. Thomas Jefferson Law: 39.00 percent underemployed
  9. Ohio Northern Law: 38.10 percent underemployed
  10. Florida Coastal Law: 37.31 percent underemployed

That’s pretty unimpressive. For what it’s worth, Cooley Law is No. 11 on this list, with 36.77 percent of its most recent graduating class considered as underemployed.

Click here to see the rest of the law schools with the highest percentage of underemployed graduates, as well as other charts detailing schools with the highest percentage of graduates working in government and public interest, Biglaw firms, and federal clerkships, as well as the schools with the most unemployed graduates.

Are you a recent law school graduate who hasn’t been able to find a full-time legal job, or a job in the legal profession at all? What has your law school done to help you? We’re interested in learning about your experiences — good or bad — and may anonymously feature some of your stories on Above the Law. You can email us, text us at (646) 820-8477, or tweet us @atlblog. Best of luck in your search for legal employment!

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Law Grad Employment Rates Up, But Class Size Is Smaller [National Law Journal]

Earlier: The 20 Best Law Schools For Getting Government And Public Interest Jobs
The 20 Best Law Schools For Getting Biglaw Jobs
The 20 Best Law Schools For Getting Federal Clerkships
The 20 Law Schools With The Most Unemployed Graduates

Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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