The Law Schools With The Most Unemployed Graduates (2016)

Which law schools landed themselves on this unenviable list?

Too many recent law grads are wearing this name badge.

Too many recent law grads are wearing this name badge.

How is the employment scene looking for recent law school graduates? We’ll start with the good news: compared to the class of 2015, a larger percentage of 2016 law school graduates were able to find full-time, long-term jobs where bar passage was required (that were not school-funded) within 10 months of receiving their degrees. About 62 percent of 2016 graduates landed these plum jobs, up from 59 percent in 2015.

Now, for the bad news: the good news we just discussed wasn’t so good after all, as the total number of desirable law jobs recent graduates landed declined by 4 percent since 2015 — that’s 1,033 fewer jobs. The only reason that the overall employment rate increased is because there were 2,860 fewer law school graduates trying to secure jobs. As we mentioned previously, this is the third straight year that the declining number of law graduates has propped up the employment rate while the number of law jobs actually declined.

So, with fewer law school graduates competing for jobs, one would assume (or hope) that would mean that fewer law school graduates were unemployed 10 months after receiving their degrees, right? Wrong.

Law.com produced several helpful charts based on law school employment data for the class of 2016. Today, we will highlight the most alarming chart of all, the 20 law schools with the highest percentage of unemployed graduates. Here are the top 10 law schools on that chart for your sadistic viewing pleasure:

  1. Charlotte Law: 30.88 percent
  2. Southwestern Law: 28.97 percent
  3. Thomas Jefferson Law: 28.57 percent
  4. Florida Coastal Law: 27.76 percent
  5. Valparaiso Law: 24.38 percent
  6. U. San Diego Law: 24.31 percent
  7. Elon Law: 23.60 percent
  8. LaVerne Law: 23.53 percent
  9. Chapman Law: 23.42 percent
  10. U. Pacific McGeorge Law: 22.86 percent

That was depressing.

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Click here to see the rest of the law schools with the highest percentage of unemployed graduates (including where Cooley Law falls in the rankings), as well as other informative charts detailing the law schools with the highest percentage of graduates working in Biglaw and in state and federal clerkships.

Are you a recent law school graduate who hasn’t been able to find a job? 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. We wish you the very best of luck in your job search!

Where the Law Jobs Are: The 2016 Edition [Law.com]


Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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