Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.
Today, firms of more than 500 lawyers have firmly established themselves as the single largest employer of new law graduates, accounting for more than one in five employed graduates of the Class of 2025. When firms of between 251 and 500 lawyers are included, approximately one in every four employed graduates now begins practice in [Biglaw]. That transformation has profound implications for legal education and recruiting.
— Nikia Gray, executive director of the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), in comments given concerning selected findings on the Class of 2025’s employment outcomes. The employment rate for the Class of 2025 was the second highest in NALP’s history, with large law firms emerging as the dominant employer type, which is a major transition from years past.
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.